Anyone have garlic going?

jal_ut · Mon Jan 31, 2011 4:32 pm

I harvest garlic about mid August. It then has to be dried for a time so it will store good. I just store it in a cardboard box in the garage.

Spring planted garlic will give you a good sized round. It will be larger than the clove you planted. You are not likely to get a multi-cloved bulb.
Try a few in the spring just for the heck of it.

gixxerific · Mon Jan 31, 2011 5:10 pm

I did some spring garlic last year and though it wasn't what I wanted it was still good. Just not very big.

sprout · Tue Feb 01, 2011 12:20 am

I planted mine late October. It is all 3-8 inches tall now depending on the variety. One variety has strange low, curled leaves. I do not know which variety is where since the kids pulled out all my plant markers.

Gary350 · Tue Feb 01, 2011 7:38 pm

I planted 100 garlic sets in early October and covered them with 2" of compose and 8" of pine needles. I noticed today the garlic plants are sticking up above the pine needles about 2".

applestar · Sun Feb 13, 2011 4:56 pm

gixxerific wrote:They are nestled under about a foot of ornamental grass I didn't have hay to cover them so why not all my ornamental grasses.

I was out getting (seed starting

) supplies and drove past a quite a few residences and businesses with really tall/big clumps of ornamental grasses that had not been cut down, reminding me of this thread and Gixx's comment.

GOOD THINKING ON YOUR PART

I really think that, listening to marketing hype all our lives, we're brainwashed into thinking we have to PURCHASE specific items/products marketed for narrowly defined purposes/uses AND are brainwashed into thinking we MUST to throw away things that -- given half a chance to do some creative thinking -- everyone should realize they could be USED for the same purposes.

gixxerific · Sun Feb 13, 2011 8:43 pm

So true Apple. Marketing hype is not part of my vocabulary.

I like you and many others on here do what we can with what we have. Maybe cause we are cheap or broke or maybe just why not. I can build just about anything with nothing, kind of a saying around our job. "We have done so much for so long with so little that we can now do anything with nothing"

Take for example my seed starting area it is built from scavenged wood from a job site. The lights used to be in my garage (well most of them) the tomato containers I found in a dumpster ( I have tons more I got for free from local nursery's). The mix I used is mostly opened bags that they sell for nothing. The water comes from used milk bottles. You just have to open your eyes to what is around you and make it work for you. That in my mind is a job well done. It comes from the heart and that is the best job there is, something you create yourself.

GardenRN · Sun Feb 13, 2011 8:59 pm

Gix, this is the first year I did it right as well. All of my garlic is sticking up about 4 inches above the ground. (Planted last Nov.) They look a little bit sad, I never put hay or ANYTHING over them and they got snowed on and everything so I hope they're ok. I did minimal snooping and when I dug down enough to uncover the bulb the root structure was deep enough that even with the entire bulb uncovered it wasn't going to pull out with any little tug. So I just decided to cover it back up and leave it alone.

As for little bit of yellowing in spots on some of the leaves, I think it's just from some cold and dampness. But since they have made it through the toughest part of winter, I figure I'll just leave them alone. Especially since this entire week is supposed to be in the 50's and 60's and up to 71 degrees on Friday!!

gixxerific · Sun Feb 13, 2011 9:21 pm

From what I know the reason for covering garlic is to protect the roots from the freeze thaw cycle in spring for the most part. The idea being that the heaving of that action could separate the bulb from the roots and kill the plant.

Father's Daughter · Mon Feb 14, 2011 8:19 am

Newcomer here with a garlic bed. This will be my second year growing it and Ihave about 120 bulbs wintering over -- German White and Music. Last year I planted about the same number and harvested at the end of July. What wasn't used for seed stock for this year (or given away to family) has been happy closed up in a couple of heavy paper bags in the back of the veggie drawer set to low humidity. There are only two of us, so it will last at least through the middle of summer.

While I can't wait to harvest this year's crop, I think I'm looking forward to scape season more than anything. I'm down to my last two containers of scape pesto!