Green Spring Garlic

Green spring garlic may look like green onions, but it’s actually immature garlic plants that haven’t formed into bulbs yet! These plants are usually in this form in early spring beginning in May and lasting until the garlic starts to bulb in June or July for most of the United States. You will find green garlic around the same time asparagus and spinach are harvested.

This rare gourmet treat has a green onion texture with a mild garlic flavor. They are great sautéed with other spring vegetables like spring greens, spinach or asparagus. They are also wonderful grilled and added to the top of grilled meats such as steak or chicken, bringing a gourmet flair to your dish. In the spring, we always add green garlic to tuna salad, egg salad, potato salad, quinoa salads, and similar dishes. We also sauté them and add them to soups, taco meats, Italian sausage, and red sauce, and the list goes on! We add green garlic to every springtime dish. Pinterest has some great green garlic pesto recipes too. Overall, they are a great addition to any dish cooked and absolutely wonderful raw when you’re looking for a mild garlic/onion flavor.

There are 2 main ways to find green garlic:

1. You can grow your own. See instructions below.
2. In the spring, farmers’ markets will usually have spring garlic. Or, if you’re lucky, you might find them at specialty supermarkets or health food stores that purchase from local farmers.

Either way, you must try this rare springtime treat!

Green garlic is so easy to grow. You can grow them in pots or in your garden. They can be planted any time, but use the seasonal growth patterns to get your planted cloves into a green garlic stalk.

If you are looking to plant green garlic this spring, there is still time and we have some great varieties of spring garlic available! We are shipping immediately and you can plant the garlic in pots or in your garden. Click on the pictures below to learn more about each variety.

Growing Spring Green Garlic in Your Garden

1. In the fall (preferred) or early spring, plant garlic cloves 2″ apart pointy side up and root side down into your garden.
2. If you are planting spring garlic, you can choose to plant the large cloves to grow into garlic bulbs, and use the smaller cloves to use as green garlic where you will harvest them as they are similar to a green onion in the spring and harvest the larger cloves that will bulb out larger in the summer.
3. Another option is to plant small garlic bulbs whole about 3-4″ apart. When planting a whole bulb, there will be about 4-10 sprouts that will grow into green garlic. When planting the whole bulb, you will harvest them just like a bunch of green onions, and they are usually thinner and can be a bit harder to clean, but taste just as good!
4. Cover with mulch to protect the garlic, retain moisture, and reduce weed pressure.
5. In the spring when the onions are the size of a pencil, you can start to harvest them. Just harvest as you cook or eat them.
6. Continue to harvest until the bulb starts to swell.
7. If you planted individual cloves, these will eventually form into small garlic bulbs.

Growing Green Garlic in Containers or Raised Beds

1. In the fall (preferred) or early spring, plant garlic cloves 2″ apart pointy side up and root side down into your containers or raised beds
2. If you are planting garlic cloves outside of the fall season, remember, garlic cloves like a cold period first and then once they start to warm up they start to sprout and grow. That is why we plant garlic in the fall. Garlic needs the cold period and once it starts to warm up it tells the sprout to grow and as it gets warmer the plant continues to grow and eventually starts to form a bulb. Our spring bulbs have been in cold storage to mimic winter, so they will spout and grow right when planted. Your goal is to mimic this fall, winter, spring then summer growth pattern if you are growing indoors.
3. In the spring when the onions are the size of a pencil, you can start to harvest them. Just harvest as you cook or eat them.
4. Continue to harvest until the bulb starts to swell.
5. If you plant individual cloves, these will eventually become small garlic bulbs.

Harvesting Green Garlic

We start to harvest green garlic when they are the size of a pencil and look like a green onion, and keep harvesting until we start to see the bulb form. As the bulbs start to swell, the hard neck starts to harden and become tough although parts of the stem and undeveloped cloves can still be used for flavor. Many Asian dishes use the entire plant where just the bottom roots are removed and the entire plant and leaves are used for the dishes.