FREEDOM, Maine — Thirty-one years ago, Meredith Coffin went to the Belfast Co-op, purchased three heads of garlic, then took them home to Freedom, where she broke them up and experimentally placed the 30 cloves of garlic in the ground.
“Lo and behold, I got 30 heads of garlic,” she said. “I liked this exponential growth.”
Smitten by her first experience as an allium grower, Coffin decided to keep it up. About a decade ago, she learned how to raise garlic bulb stock for Fedco Seeds, the cooperative seed company based in Waterville. These days, she grows between 500 and 700 pounds per year of organically certified garlic at Wild Cat Farm. She took some time from her autumn planting schedule to share tips for those who haven’t yet planted garlic.
First of all, is it too late to plant garlic?
No. In this area of the country, central Maine, October’s an ideal month. I’ve even been known to plant on Nov. 1.
Where should people find good cloves to plant?
I think they should buy them from Fedco or some reputable seed company. I know that when I sell to Fedco, my garlic heads have to be at least 2 inches in diameter. Sometimes they’re 3 inches. They’re big. They’re giant. You shouldn’t get them from the grocery store. You’re not sure where that garlic was grown. It might not thrive in your climate. I would go local. And the bigger the clove, the bigger the head, the bigger the return. I know the Red Russian variety does really well. A few other types do OK, too.
OK, I’ll go find some good local garlic. Now what?
You can have the best-looking garlic, but if you put it in poor soil or too acidic, it won’t do well. It likes good soil. I pay attention to the pH of the land. I’m in the process of liming my soil, and my husband will till it in. When I plant, I’ll plant with some amendments, such as bone char, something that supposedly helps the root find necessary minerals.
Once the soil seems ready, do I just tuck the cloves in the ground for the winter?
When the soil is fluffy, I just plunge the cloves in. They end up 6 inches underneath the ground, and each clove is about 8 inches apart. The pointy side has to face up, and the root side of the clove has to go down. It does matter. Garlic will turn itself upside down and will come up, but it will use a lot of its energy doing that.
All planted! What’s next?
We mulch it at the end. We can use lots of things to mulch. If you shred your leaves, that makes a beautiful mulch. I don’t have a shredder, so I always go back to hay with no seed in it.