Garlic Question

[stryper]

So the wife has two garlic bulbs that have been sitting on the window sill all winter. Three of the cloves have green shoots.

I am assuming I can shove them in some dirt and let them go.

Is that correct?

[nedwina]

So the wife has two garlic bulbs that have been sitting on the window sill all winter. Three of the cloves have green shoots.

I am assuming I can shove them in some dirt and let them go.

Is that correct?

Sure. Break them apart and press the cloves in about an inch or so, and let 'em rip. No guarantees that you'll get a super duper bulb later, but you'll probably get something useable at harvest time. Lots of people use store bought garlic as seed stock. (The gateway drug to growing yer own garlic, LOL.) Usually they're planted between Halloween & Thanksgiving. Early spring planting, though not ideal, will be ok for a first run if you don't have big expectations.

[gumbo2176]

So the wife has two garlic bulbs that have been sitting on the window sill all winter. Three of the cloves have green shoots.

I am assuming I can shove them in some dirt and let them go.

Is that correct?

I did that year before last and it did make bulbs, but they were very small in comparison to real seed garlic. They had a nice taste and were quite strong but a PITA to get to peel because they were not only small, but also thin cloves.

This past fall I got some true seed garlic and I'm hoping for a nice harvest sometime around June.

[stryper]

thanks,

I figured it "should" work.


So garlic, onions, and parsnips are overwinter crops?

[nedwina]

So the wife has two garlic bulbs that have been sitting on the window sill all winter. Three of the cloves have green shoots.

I am assuming I can shove them in some dirt and let them go.

Is that correct?

I did that year before last and it did make bulbs, but they were very small in comparison to real seed garlic. They had a nice taste and were quite strong but a PITA to get to peel because they were not only small, but also thin cloves.

This past fall I got some true seed garlic and I'm hoping for a nice harvest sometime around June.

Have you tried the "two bowl method" of peeling garlic? It's amazing, it works so well. Take two stainless bowls that are the same size, drop your garlic cloves in, put them together and shake like crazy. Makes a real racket. When you open the bowls, there are cleanly peeled garlic cloves and bits of skin inside.

[jal_ut]

Sometimes when you spring plant garlic it will make a round instead of a divided bulb. The rounds can be eaten or planted in the fall to go for a big multi-segmented bulb next year. Also at times small cloves planted in the fall will make a round, but it will be much bigger than the clove planted. To get the big multi-segmented bulbs it is best to plant the largest cloves that you have in the fall.

Ya, go ahead and plant them, you will get a larger bulb or a round. I have a few I am going to go plant, maybe today, if the ground is dry enough to get on it.

[DoubleDogFarm]

thanks,

I figured it "should" work.


So garlic, onions, and parsnips are overwinter crops?

I start my onions early Feb. Use the search engine above. Many topics on onions.

Peeling garlic. I use the flat side of chef knife. Lay a garlic on the cutting board. Put the chef knife on top of the garlic and whack it with your fist. The skin comes right off. If you like add a little salt and scrape it into a paste.

Eric

[mattie g]

Peeling garlic. I use the flat side of chef knife. Lay a garlic on the cutting board. Put the chef knife on top of the garlic and whack it with your fist. The skin comes right off. If you like add a little salt and scrape it into a paste.

That's the way chefs go about dispatching of their garlic. Quick and easy - the only way I do it.

[webmaster]

I don't whack it. Never heard of whacking it. Seems like you can cut yourself whacking a knife balanced over a piece garlic. If you saw a chef do that on television then you can bet he was showing off. That's not the way to do it.

The way I was taught to do it twenty years ago (by an Italian who learned it from her mom who learned it from her mom) is simply lay the knife on top of the garlic and if it's fresh it will split open with even pressure pushing down with the flat palm over the knife where it meets the garlic. I put the slow even pressure on with the heel of my palm. If it's not fresh then the garlic will resist cracking.

Chefs do a lot of things that are stupid tricks or simply unhealthy.

[DoubleDogFarm]

If you are scared of knives, use a wood mallet, makes no difference to me.

Here is a youtube video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TzjH1zaDfw

Eric

[GardenGnome]

[quote="jal_ut"]Sometimes when you spring plant garlic it will make a round instead of a divided bulb.

A month or so I posted is this a onion or garlic I think you just answered what was happening. So the cloves planted at the wrong time turns them into this?
[img]https://i1268.photobucket.com/albums/jj565/ericmgilson/2012-02-05_14-02-30_389.jpg[/img]

[GardenGnome]

Does this happen to garlic left in the ground for years.
I have garlic in the ground and its been in there for a year or two.
What should I do with it?
Dig it up? Can I store it to replant in the fall?

[nedwina]

Man, if I whacked very single clove of garlic when mass processing the annual pesto supply, or for pickling or dehydrating, I'd be there all day~

Basically it's all the same function. Distort the garlic with force to burst the skin...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0d3oc24fD-c

[gixxerific]

Woah talk about going off topic, wasn't there a thread just closed for this.

OP yes plant that garlic, but as stated it may not grow like you expect, with seperated cloves. It will still be edible, but I would replant the single bulb again in the fall te reap the full benifits the next season.

Garlic is great in the way that is one of the easiest to reproduce exponentially. Take one bulb with five cloves and plant each clove that fall than next year you have 15 plants the next year you have 75 on and on. That is if you can resist not eating any.

I love garlic, I wish all plants were this easy to play with.

[jal_ut]

Does this happen to garlic left in the ground for years.
I have garlic in the ground and its been in there for a year or two.
What should I do with it?
Dig it up? Can I store it to replant in the fall?

I would not dig it now, but wait until about August to dig it. You can then dry it and store some for later use, then in late October plant some of the larger cloves.

[GardenGnome]

Could I dig it up and move it? I wanted to line a path way with it.

[stryper]

Thanks for all the advise. It's good to know that my instincts were correct. Turned out there were 6 cloves that had green shoots on them. So I planted them in a temporary pot for not as the retaining wall for the bed they are going into isn't finished yet. It's amazing how an 11 month old and a 3yr old hinder construction.

I am going to have onions in the same 9'X12' bed so keeping them an extra year shouldn't be a problem.

[GardenGnome]

Your telling me I have a son turning 5 and a girl turning one. All I know is time flys and you don't get much done.

[stryper]

so after two days of rain I have garlic shoots in my temporary pot.

Retaining wall is finished so now just need the soil for the bed and planting can begin in earnest.

[DoubleDogFarm]

Retaining wall is finished so now just need the soil for the bed and planting can begin in earnest.

What, I thought you live in Belleville.

Sounds good, keep us posted

Eric

[stryper]

Belleville, IL yes.

[KeriFord]

Could I dig it up and move it? I wanted to line a path way with it.

soo...GardenGnome, did you dig it up and move it and how'd that work out for you?

my dad told me to plant the cloves out of the grocery store in Jan. I did. I have tall green stalks growing out of my garden and they don't look like they'll be dying off anytime soon to harvest. I pulled one up yesterday and it was just a single bulb.

by the comments it looks like the grown bulbs would be great to replant and get great garlic in the fall. but they are right in my way. when I planted I didn't expect them to be there that long.

Or has anyone left them in water in a kitchen window? I've heard you can keep green onions for a long time like that. cut off what you want and it'll grow back. that sort of thing.

thanks anyone who can give me advice. otherwise I'm going to be slicing them up for eating soon.

[DoubleDogFarm]

my dad told me to plant the cloves out of the grocery store in Jan. I did. I have tall green stalks growing out of my garden and they don't look like they'll be dying off anytime soon to harvest. I pulled one up yesterday and it was just a single bulb.

Don't harvest your garlic until the tops are 1/2 to 2/3 brown, between July and August. Then lay them out to cure. Single layer on a table in the shade or floor of a shed. You could also braid and hang if they are a soft neck variety.
[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/Double%20Dog%20Farm%20%20%20Fruits%20and%20Vegetables/GarlicMusicJuly22nd2011011.jpg[/img]

Eric

[KeriFord]

thanks Eric. and thanks for the picture!

Tomorrow I'll replant in out-of-the-way spot. if they live, they live!