GARLIC
Regenerative & Organically Grown
Homestead Produce has been growing and selling garlic for several years, providing our community with exceptional quality culinary & seed garlic. We save the highest quality bulbs for our seed and offer you the same.
All of the garlic is grown organically with no GMOs, and in nutrient-dense soil to produce high-quality garlic bulbs. Growing results from our small regenerative farm, enables us to offer the highest quality garlic cloves to gardeners and farmers who have successfully grown garlic or are interested in trying it for the first time!
Our garlic menu is grown to provide garlic intended to grow in your garden or field so you can have a successful garlic crop! Good seed garlic is an investment & we continually inspect the garlic in the field during growing, during the curing process, and again while we package the harvest. We intend for you to receive your order in perfect shape and ready to grow or eat.
A large majority of our current customer base purchases garlic for culinary purposes so check out our "Garlic Menu" thinking of your food, maybe you can try something new!
Garlic Powder Journey
Growing Garlic is a story, a long term investment, and a labor of Love! We plant garlic in October (planting is done by hand) and it lies somewhat dormant in the ground all winter. The cloves awaken first thing in spring in our northern climate. Often by April we have green shoots poking up out of our organically managed beds. In June we walk the rows and tend the garlic plants by cutting scapes. Scapes are a curled stock that produce a bud. (See our pictures) If left on the plant these will bloom. We snap them off so the plant will put more energy to the bulb of garlic and also for our tasty Garlic Scape Pesto! Paying close attention to nutrients, and water during the growing period leads to a mid July harvest. Pulling the garlic out of the ground is like a celebration! We call all the hands available to help on these days. If you have not worked with us before you will be reminded how to handle these bulbs gently as they can bruise easily. We hang them in a string system in our drying shed and fans are installed to keep air moving around our crop to cure the bulbs for the best storage. After the bulbs are graded, packaged, and orders shipped out we start to make our garlic powder! If you stop by in September or October you can smell the wonderful smell drifting around our farm stand. If you open the top of your Fresh Garlic Powder Bottle and take a little sniff you can now join us in passion! Soil in spring while plants are small, the memories of the summer, hands joined in work together, & the raw scents of harvest as the season ends. All this sensation of fragrance means quality, and the astounding flavor difference confirms again a farm fresh, product! Come Back To Quality Food!
The shelf life of your garlic powder is one year. It will store longer but you will be ready to taste our next years fresh batch!
“Oh how I love the garlic powder! I MUST buy a few more jars! It’s like no other that I’ve bought before! ”
Our Garlic Powder Story
Nothing in here but Garlic filled awesomeness!
Yes, it's true the only item in our garlic powder is garlic. no preservatives, fillers or additives!
Making garlic powder often ends the garlic season and fills our farm stand with delicious smells as the mornings in fall are frosty.
Our customers say Fresh Garlic Powder is a totally different flavor than what they have been experiencing from their grocery store! The most common type of garlic found in most grocery stores is softneck garlic. This is because softneck garlic stores well, and has a milder flavor, We make our Garlic Powder from Hardneck Garlic!
Garlic Menu
All varieties come clearly labeled and packed in their own bags for storage until you are ready to cook or plant.
Growing garlic is very labor intensive. Every head of garlic is handled a minimum of 5-6 times before reaching you from the time it was planted.
We offer shipping or pick-up options at check-out!
Talk To Garlic Growers:
If you have any problems ordering garlic or have questions about growing garlic, please give us a call. We answer with a hello!
(no phone systems to run through)
Ordering Questions - 208-946-9753
Growing Questions - 208-946-1910
This stuff is the best! Absolutely love it!
- Savanna Kurtz
I was admiring how you hung the garlic today!! Smells amazing in your farmstand!! 🥰
- Joleen Magnus Halford
Bought from Jordan last year. Wonderful garlic. Will buy again.
- Sandra Write
Tips for growing garlic:
Plant Garlic in the fall, usually Mid-October. Jordan looks for a warm window in the middle of October. If you are local to us and follow our newsletter we will notify you when we plant.
Garlic is a heavy feeder, amend your soil with compost.
Separate the cloves from each bulb.
Plant garlic into prepared soil about 3" deep about 6-9" apart with the tip of the clove up and the root side down.
Cover the tip of the clove with approximately 1” of soil.
Put 3-6” of mulch over your garlic.
You will see roots forming a few weeks after planting and the plant will show itself in early spring.
In June, look for scapes. By removing the scapes you are sending more energy into the bulb size. See our blog for our favorite Garlic Scape Pesto recipe.
Harvest when you have 5 full green leaves remaining or 50% of the leaves have died from the bottom. Take a fork and loosen the soil around the bulbs. Be careful not to damage the bulbs.
Cure garlic out of the sun in an area with good air circulation until they are dry - about 3 weeks.
Store your garlic to enjoy all year.
How to Pick Garlic Scapes
As soon as the scape starts to curl, it is ready to be snapped off. The easiest way to snap the scape is to find where the garlic is emerging out of the leaves, and snap it with your thumb and 1st finger.
When To Harvest Garlic
Where we grow our garlic in north Idaho, We harvest our garlic in mid-late July. Each planting zone will have its own harvest date which will be earlier for those south of us and just a bit later for those north of us. Timing the harvest of your garlic is more about garlic bulb maturity than it is about the month, day, or year. Remember the temperatures of the season may push the harvest a few days earlier or later.
It is always a good idea to start checking your garlic a few weeks before harvest. Our goal is to harvest the largest bulbs possible. Water lightly during the last 3-4 weeks of maturing and gaining bulb size. The soil should be moist, but not saturated.
About 3-4 weeks after picking garlic scapes, garlic plants start to die back from the bottom and the leaves start to yellow. Just watch for the plant to start dying back. This is our signal that harvest time is near. If you are local and following us with our weekly email you will be notified when we harvest our field if you would like to gauge you garden off of our decision.
Curing Garlic Tips
The curing process begins right after harvest. One key point to remember is garlic bulbs are delicate, especially freshly dug. Handle them gently. We hang our garlic at harvest & if you follow these simple tips, you will maximize your storage potential.
Be gentle with the bulbs, whether your loosening the soil around them or piling them together fresh garlic can damage easily.
Keep the bulbs out of the sunshine. We like to use our farm stand to hang our garlic - it’s breezy and shady.
Ensure you have good airflow. You can even use a fan.
Curing takes approximately 3 weeks from when we harvest.
The cure is complete when there is little to no "green" inside the stem of the garlic.
Storing Garlic for Planting & Eating
Whole bulbs of garlic can keep for 6-12 months or more when properly stored at the right temperature and in the correct environment.
Store garlic in a paper bag, cloth bag or mesh in your pantry. The key is letting the garlic breath. We have also had good recommendations on storing garlic in the crisper drawer in the refrigerator. Find out what works best for you. Humidity and temperature are the factors of storage.
If you ordered garlic you are waiting to plant, you can store it in the same box as we shipped it to you. Keep the garlic in your basement, house, or any cool, dry place with plenty of airflow.
Whether you are storing garlic from your garden or garlic purchased from us it must be kept in a cool, dark place, away from heat and out of sunlight.
FAQs
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Garlic can be planted into the frozen ground. Most believe some garlic is better than no garlic. If you have to plant in frozen ground, it should still grow into a great plant, but also may not allow the clove enough time to send its roots and hold onto the ground during the frosts and be heaved out to lie on the surface in spring. Try soaking the cloves for faster rooting, and mulch the garlic well to give it the best chance possible.
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Garlic can be planted in the spring, although not ideal it is better than no garlic. It does not produce as well, and the harvested bulbs are usually smaller. They may only develop into solo garlic without clove development.
Good garlic seed is usually very limited in availability in the spring and what is sold in garden centers and big-box stores is usually imported from other countries and does not grow well here in Idaho. Using local seed is your best chance for success.
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The grade of garlic speaks to the size and quality. Our Seed-Grade Garlic is large, perfect 2” or bigger bulbs that we would plant ourselves, free of blemishes!
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No rules here, but with garlic you get what you plant! It’s like a clone from the clove you put in the ground. Our culinary grade is 1 1/4” bulbs or bigger and sorted out as our second grade.
Health Tips
To get the most health benefits from garlic, source garlic grown organically. Most garlic that floods the US grocery stores at a low price is cheap because it has been irradiated, sprayed, and fumigated.
Do you eat garlic raw?
For the highest nutritional benefit, eat garlic raw. Simply slice or crush it and let it sit for about seven minutes before consuming. Some folks suggest following it with a glass of milk to mellow the bite!
Filling a pill capsule is also a great option!
