Garlic is an easy and delicious crop for home gardeners

I have a particular fondness for garlic in my cooking so I planted some last fall. I’d like advice on when I can use it.

— Beverly Stevenson, Round Lake

Garlic is an easy crop for home gardeners to grow. In our region, it’s planted in the fall around the first fall frost date, which is in mid-to-late October and should be well-developed by July. Many garlic varieties are available — from mild-flavored to strong and zesty. There are two types of garlic: hard-neck and soft-neck. Hard-neck varieties are generally hardier than soft-neck varieties and are a good option for this area.

The garlic that emerged as shoots in spring should be ready to harvest in late July. Cut off the flower scapes when they appear (if you are growing hard-neck varieties) so the energy of the plant goes into producing the garlic head and not into making a flower. A garlic scape is the tender stem and flower bud of a hard-neck garlic plant. They are long and curly with a flower bud at the end. The scapes are a delicacy and can also be eaten. They have a mild garlic taste and are popular for pesto. The leaves begin drying up as harvesting time approaches and when there are about five greenish leaves remaining, the garlic is ready to harvest. Use a garden fork to carefully dig the bulbs out of the ground, taking care not to pull too hard on the stems to avoid breaking them off. You can use fresh cloves right away. For best storage, leave the stems attached to the garlic heads and let them cure for a couple of weeks in the garage or other cool, outdoor space. Then clip off the stems and store them in mesh vegetable bags. You should be able to keep them for most of the winter. Do not let them freeze — it is best to move them into the basement or other cool storage for winter. Order next year’s crop in August or early September.

For more plant advice, contact the Plant Information Service at the Chicago Botanic Garden at plantinfo@chicagobotanic.org. Tim Johnson is senior director of horticulture at the Chicago Botanic Garden.