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Garlic is one of my favorite vegetables to grow. I love that I get two harvests from the bulbs I plant in the fall. The first harvest, because I plant hardneck garlic, is the long, loopy garlic scape. Then a few weeks later, I pull the garlic bulbs to dry and store through the fall and winter. In this article, I’m going to share tips on trimming the scapes, as well as when to harvest garlic.
I usually spread my garlic crop out over a couple of my raised beds. If I still need space, I’ll pop a few extra here and there in an ornamental garden. I generally plant hardneck garlic, because it’s better suited to the climate where I live. For warmer climates, there is also softneck garlic. We have an article that explains the differences between hardneck and softneck garlic.
Before we talk about when to harvest garlic, let’s first discuss how to harvest garlic scapes and ensure they don’t go to waste!
When to harvest garlic scapes
Garlic scapes in my cold climate garden usually start to make their appearance sometime in June (this may differ if you’re in a different growing zone). Not all of my varieties are always ready at the same time, which is nice because I can harvest garlic scapes in batches and enjoy them for longer.
Garlic scapes are easy to discern from the rest of the plant because they kind of look like green onions with a long elf hat (the bulbil) at the end. You’ll know your scapes are ready to pick when they form a spiral. Simply cut the scape (I use my garden scissors) at the base where it comes out of the stalk. If the scapes become straight, after they’ve gone through their curling phase, they’re past their prime. They’ll be tougher than a younger fresh scape and taste more bitter.
Once I have a handful of scapes, I usually whip them into garlic scape pesto (some of which I’ll freeze in ice cube trays). I snip off the “elf hats” and simply use the stalk. If you don’t cut your scapes and leave them on the plant, the bulbils turn into flowers and seeds. Even if you don’t intend to eat your garlic scapes, it’s still a good idea to snip them at the base of their stalk so that all the energy can go back into growing the bulb underground.
When to harvest garlic
After you cut the garlic scapes, you have about a month or so until the garlic itself is ready. Keep an eye on your garlic as you’ll see some of the bottom leaves start to die back. The tips of the leaves may also start to turn yellow and brown in color. When there are two dry, dead leaves at the base of the plant with a third starting to die, this is when you should pull your garlic.
It may be hard to see the first leaf. The bulb is wrapped in several leaf layers. As a leaf dies, the soil bacteria help it to decompose.
How to harvest garlic
The best way to remove a garlic bulb depends on the variety you’ve planted. For Turban, Artichoke, and Silverskin varieties, you might want to use a sturdy trowel or even a small shovel. Make sure you place the tip of your tool slightly away from where the bulb is. You don’t want to damage it underground. Gently lift the soil beneath the bulb. Usually this nudges the bulb up a bit, loosening the soil enough to pull the stalk. Gently remove excess dirt, being careful not to bruise the bulb. Bruising affects the storage life.
If the soil seems reasonably loose, I’ll try pulling hardneck varieties, like Rocambole and Porcelain, because the stalks are super-thick and sturdy. You want to avoid breaking off the stalk because then you’ll need to go searching underground. Without a winter mulch, I’ve found myself before with a broken stalk in my hand and a clove of garlic still hiding beneath the soil.
Sometimes the soil and bulbs need a little coaxing. I’ve found that when I mulch my raised bed with straw in the fall, the soil is much looser than if I just leave the bed exposed for the winter.
What if you pull garlic too early?
It’s sometimes hard to know if a smaller head of garlic will keep growing, even if the bottom three leaves have died away. There is a rapid growth stage just before garlic is ready to harvest, so a few days could make a significant difference. But then sometimes a bulb is just going to be a runt no matter what.
Keeping squirrels away from your garlic
Even if though they don’t like garlic, squirrels seem to have special radar for disturbed garden soil. I’ve gone out to the garden to find a perfectly good clove laying on top of the soil. A layer of straw mulch helps to deter rodents. You can also lightly sprinkle hen manure over the site to deter squirrels.
Drying and storing garlic
Curing garlic basically means drying it out. You want lots of air flow and a cool place to cure it. Drying racks are great options because you can use them for other veggies and herbs, as well. I made my own drying rack out of screen stapled to a scrap wood frame. I place it on a stack of bricks or buckets in my garage so air flows underneath. In years past, I’ve also hung my garlic in bunches, secured by twine around the stalks, in the garage. You can braid the stalks to store, as well.
After my garlic has dried, I’ll “clean” it by gently removing dirt and debris, and perhaps one outer dried layer, over a bucket. I’ll trim the long stalk off, so I have a clove like what you’d see at the grocery store. I learned a clever storage trick from Jessica. She stores garlic in egg cartons.
How long does the garlic need to dry out?
Hi Suzanne, I would give it about three to four weeks.
I have been growing garlic for several years in southern Ontario. I would try to store them in a cool dry place over the winter but they would only last until about Jan/Feb. then they would dry out/go moldy. Last year I learned about FREEZING garlic, and it is by far the best way to keep it’s flavor and prevent it from going bad.
It is a bit of work but well worth it. You have to peel each clove of its skin, then put them all into freezer bags (you can pack the bag as full as you wish), and pop them in the freezer. It is a good day’s work (I grow a few hundred bulbs so it takes considerable time), but so worth it at the other end. It is now mid- June and I just used my last frozen clove (thankfully I now have the scapes to tide us over). As I wasn’t sure how it would work, I didn’t freeze as much as I wish I had. Moving forward, I plan to freeze most of it this year so I won’t have any go bad or, run out.
Best part of frozen garlic is that when you want to use it , you just grab as many cloves as you need from the bag, and they are already to use – no mess, no fuss. I just run them under warm water for a few seconds, and they are ready to slice, and they press beautifully.
Hi Kirsten, I think this is great advice. The winters aren’t as cold where I live, so I’m finding my garlic isn’t lasting like it used to in my garage. I’m going to try freezing it this year!
Hi Tara,
Some of my garlic recently grew scapes and I snapped them off and just munched on them while weeding the rest of the garden (I was only going to eat just one but they were ridiculously good and I ended up eating 4 of 12 🙂 ).
Does harvesting the scape have any affect on how the bulb will turn out?
I’m a bit bummed that another bed of garlic I planted that I had labeled as hardneck has grown NO scapes. They were planted the same time and have been treated as close to the same as possible. I wonder if I was given a softneck bulb by mistake? Is there any way to tell from the finished bulb?
Hi Benjamin,
Harvesting the scapes is actually good for the bulb, because the energy goes into growing the bulb and not producing flowers from the scape. Softneck bulbs don’t produce scapes, so it’s possible that’s what you received. Is it possible the other scapes just haven’t come up yet?
Can I get away with curing garlic outside in the shade? Our dryer vents into the garage(poor design) so it’s often hot and muggy. I’m in a dry high altitude climate but we are in our two months a year of hot weather. Would I be better off bringing it in the house with AC and stashing in a closet?
Hi Jessica, I haven’t dried mine outside as I’d be worried about heat. A closet is probably okay as long as it has good ventilation all around it – and you don’t mind it smelling very strongly of garlic. I would ask around and see what other high-altitude gardeners do with their harvest.
I believe I made a mistake of cutting off the stalks from the garlic bulbs soon after pulling them. Is the integrity of the bulb ruined as they are not yet cured? Thanks!
Hi Cyndy,
It’s possible they’re okay. You may just find they have a shorter storage life.
Hi there!
I was wondering if you had any suggestions about storage? My basement and garage are too warm and humid, so ai keep them in a cooler area at the back of my house, but inevitably they are shrivelled by February.
Thanks!
Sue
Hi Sue,
I’m not sure what to suggest if there aren’t any places to store. Paper bags with holes can promote air circulation, but if it’s too humid, they’ll probably still shrivel. But what you could do is before February, grate your last garlic cloves into ice cube trays (measure it out in teaspoons) or smaller moulds so that you can take it out to thaw before making a dish in the winter.
One more question! My garlic is getting soft at the base of the neck and starting to lean a little. Is that normal? It’s close to harvest time, but concerned about getting so much rain!
Thanks again!
Sue
Hi Sue, Softneck garlic is a bit more flexible, so it should be okay, but perhaps the rain had something to do with this state if it’s hardneck… it’s been an unusually wet year in some places, which may affect a variety of harvests.
The leaves on my garlic are drying from the top down this year. It has been very hot is that why? My garlic is nice and big but a few scapes I left have not fully formed the heads on top which confuses me as other years I harvested the garlic when those heads on the scapes would start cracking open so I could see the seed. Can I take the garlic out even if those heads on the scapes are not fully formed.
Hi Holly, It could be a lack of water that caused the leaves to dry out. My garlic was ready very soon after I cut the scapes this year. The weather definitely was a factor.
I have harvested my scapes off of my hardnecks. I also have softnecks growing. When do I cut water off to each if these? Thanks.
Hi Carol, When you can tell harvesting is imminent, stop watering about a week before you pull your garlic.
Hi Tara, I was rereading this article a second time. I came back because where I live in SW Missouri my bottom three leaves were dead or dying before my scapes came up (about 3 weeks). My question is whether you wait till the scapes come up and then count the leaves from that point? I gave it a week after removing the scapes, which means that about five leaves had died, and I will say that some of the garlic bulbs had lost too much of their covering underground. Any advice? Regardless, Thank you for this wonderful article and the other resources you link.
Hi Eric,
Usually there isn’t much die-back when I’m harvesting my scapes, but we’ve had a very dry spring, so this year I noticed that the leaves were dying back sooner. I’m not sure what’s happening underground, but I suspect the garlic is ready sooner than usual. In past years, I will pull a test garlic when I think it might be ready to see where it’s at.
Hi Tara, I’m just following up on my post last year and your reply. I think you’re right about the dryness from last year. This year I received a good rhythm of rain in SW MO. I had scapes come in May and removed them reasonably quickly. I harvested the garlic in early June. I’d say I had about 5 or 6 leaves that died back on soft and hard necks. But the bulbs were very healthy with no decay. It was a good harvest. Again, thanks for the article and advice.
Hi Eric, I’m glad to hear you had a better crop this year!