Garlic is a wonderful crop. In addition to it being an essential cooking ingredient, it also have amazing anti-viral and other health properties. It has very few pests. I’ve heard a few reports of deer munching on garlic, but very rare (and they must be an Italian variety of deer!). And, it is a prized and valuable farmers market item, holiday gift item or great for bartering for other things you need. So, grow plenty. There are usually 400 or so cloves planted here every year. Keep in mind that you need about 25% of the harvest for next years planting.
Plant your garlic in last October or early November, like you would a fall flower bulb. Garlic will then ‘get its feet in the ground’ before freeze up and be staged and ready for spring. It is one of the first out of the ground, as soon as the ground thaws and warms a bit.
These photos were taken on April 14th, and the garlic is coming up nicely through the straw mulch. By mid-May it will be at least knee high, and by mid-June up to your chest. It is a heavy feeder, so give it lots of compost. It also like a lot of sulfur in the soil to make it as garlicky and spicy as possible.