The 2024 Fall Fair is now a happy piece of P.I. history, and already planning has begun for the 2025 version scheduled for Sept. 6, 2025.
Will you be ready for next year's fair with your GIANT GARLIC?
Written by Mike G. former garlic professional:
Believe it or not, there are some things that need to be done now to prepare your entries for next fall’s fair, namely The Largest Garlic Bulb competition.
The winning bulb in the 2024 Fair weighed in at 7.5 ozs (or 178 grams). If you’d like to beat that bulb, here’s what you have to do this month, according to Mike and Andria Gillespie, DIGS’ growers who used to run their own commercial garlic farm in the Ottawa Valley:
First you have to understand that garlic is not a difficult crop to grow and by following just a few directions now you could be in next year’s winning circle.
Find a sunny, fairly dry spot to grow your bulbs. It doesn’t take a whole lot of space. Keep in mind garlic doesn’t like to “get its feet wet” so water sparingly during dry spells.
Prepare the soil this month by working in lots of compost to feed the fungi and bacteria. Remember, at this point, you are feeding the soil, not the plants. That compost will be broken down to feed the garlic when it’s planted. Also, it’s time to work in a little fertilizer, (they all have three numbers on the bags. You’ll want one with a low nitrogen rating — first of the three numbers. You don’t want to produce a lot of leafy growth, rather something to help the roots develop (that’s the job of phosphorus, the second number). The third component is potassium, another key nutrient. A mix of 4-10-10 is something to aim for.
The type of garlic you plant should come from a reliable garden centre or garlic grower. (Planting bulbs from the grocery store is a non-starter since they are often chemically treated to stop them from sprouting). Look for a variety like Red Russian and a bulb size of at least two inches across at the base. Store bulbs in a dry, cool place until you’re ready to plant.
Planting in this region is generally best at the end of October into early November. Here’s how to plant:
The day before planting, crack open each of your bulbs (by sliding a blunt blade between the cloves and twisting to loosen the first clove — the rest can now be pulled off).
Press each of the cloves four inches into the soil (butt end down). Space your cloves at least four inches apart in rows. Cover the plantings, sprinkle a handful of fertilizer over the bed and then top with a mulch of chopped-up leaves or straw.
Your crop is now ready for winter. Underground, while there’s still some warmth in the soil, the cloves will establish a small root before going into dormancy.
Come spring, the cloves will start to shoot through the mulch, which can either be left in place to help control weeds or teased off the shoots.
By mid June each of the plants, now about knee-high, will begin to produce a “scape” — a small bulb coming out of the top of the plant. Once that scape has coiled around, snap that coil off and remove the tough grassy spike at the top. Your scapes can be enjoyed fresh, chopped up into one-inch pieces and sautéed in butter or olive oil until soft (delicious on rice, new potatoes, fish, etc.). You can also chop them up, pop them into the freezer and use all winter in stews, sauces or soups. Be aware, to leave scapes on the plants will suck all the bulbs’ energy, so make sure you take them off.
By mid-July when half the plants’ leaves have turned brown, it’s time to harvest your crop (it’s a seasonal dance — bulbs left too long start to lose their paper and won’t store well, picked too soon and they’ll be missing out on potential growth).
Pull the bulbs gently from the bed, tease the dirt from the roots and bunch them (10 to a bunch is good), then hang on a rack in a dry shed to cure for two weeks.
Now you’ll soon be ready to start preparing your entry (follow the directions) for the Fall Fair’s garlic competition.
Be sure to save a quarter of your crop for replanting next fall. Just leave your good-sized bulbs hanging in the shed until planting time. For calculation, just remember there’s usually about five cloves to a bulb, so keep that in mind when planning the size of next year’s crop (e.g.: 10 bulbs will produce about 50 plants — an amount eaten by the average family over the winter. But don’t forget, too, bulbs for your next crop.
Happy growing!
Mike G. for Digs
