For the past number of years, one of the bulb vegetables has been increasing in popularity at a rate that is much faster than other vegetables. This growth is also more sustained that other “flash in the pan” vegetables, which rise and fall within a one to three seasons (cough, cough … kale … cough, cough). That vegetable has been popular for several years, but the number of acres in production has been going up. Many farms are growing it is significant quantities and you can find locally produced garlic in various forms at most markets throughout the year.

I can’t necessarily speak to the “whys” of the sudden increase in demand from the consumer side, but the growers have been responding to good, strong market pulls and prices. It is also a nice crop to grow, which is a bit shifted from the norms, meaning that the demand on time is different than other crops.

Here are some of the things that I like about garlic, and somethings that you should probably watch out for.

• Fall planting versus spring planting

I really like that garlic gives you a chance to plant it in the later part of summer or early fall, often some of the other crops have wrapped up or aren’t quite ready for harvesting. I’m a fan of fall planting, since it lets the garlic go to work long before you can get into the field. It takes advantage of the spring moisture and cooler conditions and gets a jump on things.

Spring planting is possible, but you might just have to wait to get into the field and you have to wait a bit to harvest.

• You have some control over your own seed quality

One of the issues that growers were seeing for a few years was that the seed that they were bringing in from other regions had some issues, whether it was diseases or pests or whatever.  This resulted in a reduction in productivity and survival of their crops. Because garlic is vegetatively propagated, the problems were perpetuated throughout the farms.

Over time, we’ve seen growers work hard to clean up their crops and carry that quality forward. Growers still need to spend some time maintaining that quality, but once they’ve got things in a good place, they can usually keep it there, with care.

The other benefit is that there is a net increase in garlic quality as the seed quality increases, since seed is often sold within the province it is grown in (often, but not always, obviously).

• Garlic can be propagated in different ways

Other than taking garlic bulbs and breaking them up for the individual cloves to plant, garlic can also be propagated from seed or from bulbils produced in the scapes. Growing from scapes (or the seed within them) yield many little garlic mini-bulbs (I’m sure that there is a proper name for these), which can be used a spicy pea-like units in processing, or which can be grown on further to produce larger bulbs.

If you can get clean plant material, taking the bulbils or the scape seed and growing a nursery stand of garlic seems like a pretty good option to me.

• Competition isn’t ideal

While garlic can grow pretty well, it will be affected by competition. It is important to keep the weeds under control as much as possible, as they steal moisture and nutrients from the developing crops, as well as creating an environment that is conducive to foliar diseases. They can also shade the plants and harbour insect pests. Ultimately, weeds will happen, but less weeds are always better, for a host of reasons.

• Notable diseases and pests

There are a few bulb diseases (often soilborne) that can have an impact on garlic.

Fusarium basal plate rot can take out plants, as can other diseases. Most of them tend to show up with there is damage to the bulb, so be careful when weeding or working around the crop.

Aster yellows has been an issue for years, although a recent survey showed that it had dropped off somewhat from previous years. Hopefully this stays true, as it can really sap the productivity of garlic crops for years and years.

There are nasty invasive-type pests, such as stem and bulb nematodes that you never want to see established in your fields, so be careful with the quality of the seed that you bring onto your farm, as it is almost impossible to go back from an issue you introduce.

Conclusion

In the end, there are lots of good things to say about garlic. While the increased supply has meant that the overall average price has come down quite a bit from levels a few years ago, the price is still decent, regardless of your market channel.

And for those of you that worry about vampires, garlic is supposed to keep them away, so an increased acreage should have a net positive benefit in that realm.