Garlic is a great place to start as a new gardener. First, to raise a successful crop, you must know if hardneck or softneck garlic is best for your climate.

The garlic will emerge in spring. Hardneck varieties will put up a stalk called a scape in early to midsummer. Scapes can get all zany and curly; some even put them in flower arrangements.

Garlic: I can’t live without it. I’ve been growing this onion relative since the mid-1990s and have learned that good garlic is the product of both nature and nurture – good genes and good ...

Garlic should be planted between Oct. 1 and Nov. 15 to give the clove a chance to develop some roots before it goes dormant for the winter. Separate cloves from the bulb and plant root side down ...

Bob Steffen’s giant hardneck garlic is a variety of garlic for drought, floods, and other changing climate conditions. Betsy Samuelson with ‘Bob Steffen’s’ hardneck garlic. Readers ...

Refrigerate hardneck garlic for four to eight weeks—the longer, the better—for spring planting. Softneck varieties need less chilling but benefit from three to four weeks of cold.