A Gentle Start to Garlic Season: Planting in Central Oregon

As autumn settles in and the air turns crisp, the garden begins to exhale. September and October offer a natural pause — a chance to reflect on the season behind us and ready the soil for what's next. In Central Oregon, that means it's garlic season — a time to tuck tiny cloves into cool earth with the promise of harvest months down the line.

At Schilling’s, we’re especially excited to offer locally grown, organic seed garlic from Deschutes Canyon Garlic, right out of Terrebonne. These bulbs have been lovingly cultivated in the same soil and climate you'll be planting in, which means they’re already well-suited to thrive in our high desert conditions.

This year, we’re offering two hardy, flavorful varieties:

Chesnok Red

An heirloom hardneck variety from the Republic of Georgia, Chesnok Red is a favorite for a reason. Its rich, sweet flavor holds up beautifully in cooking — especially when roasted. It produces large, uniform cloves and stores well through winter. Gardeners love it for both its taste and its resilience.

Music

If you're after a classic garlic flavor with a touch of heat, Music is your variety. These large, porcelain-skinned cloves are easy to peel and incredibly satisfying to grow. Music produces tall scapes in spring and is known for its strong, aromatic presence in the kitchen.

Why Plant Garlic in Fall?

Fall planting gives garlic a head start. In Central Oregon, the trick is to plant before the ground freezes but after the temperatures have cooled — typically late September through mid-October. The cloves will begin to root before winter sets in, then go dormant during the cold months, only to burst to life in spring.

Garlic loves loose, well-drained soil, so working in compost now helps set the stage. Choose a sunny spot, break apart the bulbs into individual cloves, and plant them pointy-side up, about 2 inches deep and 4–6 inches apart. Mulch well to protect from temperature swings and suppress weeds.

How to Plant Garlic (And What to Expect)

Planting garlic is one of the simplest and most rewarding things you can do in the fall garden. Each bulb you buy is made up of multiple cloves — and each clove becomes its own full head of garlic by next summer.

On average, a single bulb of garlic contains 6 to 10 cloves, depending on the variety. So if you plant 5 bulbs, you can expect 30 to 50 full-sized heads of garlic come harvest time. It’s a small investment now for a big return later — not to mention a year’s worth of homegrown flavor.

Here’s how to plant it:

1. Separate the cloves
   Just before planting, gently break apart the bulb into individual cloves, leaving the papery skins on. Choose the biggest, healthiest cloves for planting and save the smaller ones for cooking.

2. Prepare your soil
   Garlic loves loose, rich soil with good drainage. Work in some compost or aged manure to feed the cloves through fall and spring.

3. Plant the cloves
   Place each clove in the soil with the pointy end up and the flat root end down. Plant them about 2 inches deepand 4–6 inches apart, in rows spaced about a foot apart.

4. Water well, then mulch
   Give them a good drink after planting. Then add a thick layer of straw, leaves, or mulch to insulate the soil through winter and help retain moisture.

5. Let nature do the rest
   In the coming weeks, the cloves will quietly begin to root. By late spring, you’ll see bright green shoots, and by early summer, you’ll be harvesting your own full-sized garlic bulbs — each one a reminder of the work you did back in fall.

Grown Here. Grown for Here.

One of the reasons we’re proud to carry Deschutes Canyon Garlic is because it’s more than just local — it’s grown for Central Oregon. These seed garlic varieties have adapted to our unique climate, from our chilly nights to our dry summers. Starting with locally adapted seed gives your garden the best chance for success.

There’s something deeply satisfying about planting garlic in fall — a quiet act of hope that reminds us gardening isn’t only about what we see today. It’s about planning ahead, nurturing the soil, and trusting the process. By the time summer rolls back around, you’ll be pulling up your own bulbs, cured by the Central Oregon sun and ready for your kitchen table.

Stop by the garden market to pick up your seed garlic while it lasts — we have limited stock of both Chesnok Red and Music, and they always go fast. Here’s to a beautiful fall and a bountiful harvest ahead.