2010 Garlic Harvest

[DoubleDogFarm]

I harvested my Music hardneck garlic today. Let it dry before storing.

[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/DSC02401.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/DSC02406.jpg[/img]

Eric

[applestar]

So how come the ones in the middle are so white? Didyou peel the outer skin off? They look really good to me. Would they have been even bigger without the rust, or did they overcome?

[DoubleDogFarm]

Apple,

I harvested the white ones last Friday and yes, I removed some outer layers.

Harvested the garlic about two weeks earlier then last year. The rust didn't seem to effect the size. Maybe it didn't matter because the disease came on late in the development.

Eric

[TZ -OH6]

Nice size. Mine were smaller than I had hoped. I think they needed a shot of nitrogen somewhere along the line. I have clay soil so I took the hose sprayer to each one to clean it up while the clay was still damp.

[Gary350]

WOW. Your garlic looks great.

My garlic is too small to eat it never grew any larger than the day it was planted I'm not sure what it needs.

[DoubleDogFarm]

I'm not sure if washing off is a good thing or not. I've always stopped water about a week before harvest. They come out of the ground with some soil on the roots, but the bulbs are fairly clean. I'll store them with the roots and tops cut off. Remove a few outer layers for presentation when brought into the house or given away \ sold.

[applestar]

I've tried washing off, and found that if I do this on a sunny hot day and hook the bulbs on the rabbit fence with the neck kinked, they dry beautifully. Washing at the end of the day or on overcast days have led to moisture staying inside the middle of the garlic with subsequent spoiled cloves. My last 4 harvested, I left them hanging and they got rained on! Soggy spot in the middle caused spoilage even though the bulbs were allowed to dry, and LOOKED dry from the outside.

[TZ -OH6]

I saw something somewhere about nematodes being transfered if you wash them off in a bucket. Maybe something about virus transfer too, which is why I did each one individually with the hose gun. It sprayed the outer layer off but the inner layers seem to be drying fine. I had a heck of a time last year trying to trim dry muddy roots off of bulbs for roasting and was not going through that again.

[LindsayArthurRTR]

WOW! Will you guys go through all of that in a year?

[DoubleDogFarm]

WOW! Will you guys go through all of that in a year?

It's currently only Me guy. I will be bartering, selling, eating, gifts and saving some to replant in October \ November. I'm also trying to get my foot in the door of a new restaurant. Their menu is local produce and meats.

Eric

[Ozark Lady]

Very nice garlic harvest!

I also dry my garlic complete with dirt. Then when I have let them dry I take a cloth and wipe off most of the dirt, then just remove what I need to before braiding and hanging my garlic in the house.

Gary, did you plant spring garlic? Don't dispair, save those little ones, and plant them back out in September for your 2011 harvest.
I have a huge crop of garlic seedlings for this fall, all were spring planted. And they aren't alot larger, but they are now bulbs not cloves.

[GardenJester]

wow, that's lots of garlic breath.

I'm thinking of growing some garlics for the scapes next year. any suggestion on what kind of garlic are good for that?

[DoubleDogFarm]

gardenjester,

This variety, Music, puts out nice garlic scapes. I think I read only hardneck garlic produces scapes

Here is a picture from this year.

June 15th 2010
[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/Garlic%20June%2015th%202010/DSC02300.jpg[/img]

[GardenJester]

woooo... those are some big and thick scapes, are they edible?

[DoubleDogFarm]

Most people use scapes for pesto.
https://allrecipes.com//Recipe/rudys-garlic-scape-pesto/Detail.aspx

I've chopped them up and suateed in a little butter. There are many recipes on the net for scapes.

[GardenJester]

I love chopped scape omelets. I guess I should plant the cloves in the fall and let it winter in the ground.

[TZ -OH6]

I tried making the pesto, and didn't like it because....... it tasted like pesto. The rest were sauteed and eaten as green bean substitutes. Nothing better!

[applestar]

I ordered my Music -- not Melody -- seed cloves for fall planting.
Am also getting Elephant Garlic. Hopefully will not keep bats that I'm trying to attract to live in the bat house away....

[TZ -OH6]

It is an urban myth, old wives tale, etc. that vampyres can turn into bats. No scientific proof at all, so just because the garlic works for vampyres does not mean it will drive off your bats. SHEESH

[applestar]

[DoubleDogFarm]

Hopefully will not keep bats that I'm trying to attract to live in the bat house away....

Well if you have a short hair style, they can echo off your head and keep them away. If you have long loose hair, look out, you may have bats moving in.

[sweet thunder]

I used to grow Music when I lived in New York. I loved it! Always did beautifully, stored well.

This was my first year growing garlic in California. I grew Inchelium Red and Red Toch (had to switch to softnecks for this climate) and they did better than I expected, considering they get a decent amount of shade. The problem is I can't seem to remember which is which! I thought I wrote it down, but I didn't, and they look really similar. I'm going to try a taste test. Anyone familiar with these two have any advice on telling them apart?

As for curing, I've never washed bulbs. I hang them somewhere shady and breezy, under cover if there's a threat of rain, and when they're dry I trim the roots and maybe peel off the outer layer if I think I can spare one.

[DoubleDogFarm]

As for curing, I've never washed bulbs. I hang them somewhere shady and breezy, under cover if there's a threat of rain, and when they're dry I trim the roots and maybe peel off the outer layer if I think I can spare one.

I do pretty much the same. Use my Felco pruners, cut the tops and roots right off.