Author Topic: Garlic and other fall veggies (Read 27607 times)

KONASDAD · « **on:** October 03, 2007, 10:36:22 am »

I have nevere grown garlic before. I know a bunch of you do. Suggestions? Also, any other ideas for fall plantings for a veggie garden would be cool.

I just harvested my last green tomatoes that wont ripen and will pickl'em tonite. Now have lots of room to plant if I want.

Cindi · « **Reply #1 on:** October 03, 2007, 10:53:31 am »

OK Konasdad, here we go, my advice on growing garlic. In our climate, we plant garlic from about the middle of September to the end of October, it should be planted in the fall. I have planted it in the spring, and good luck with that, it doesn't work well. Garlic needs to grow silently underground for the wintertime, it grows and grows, you may or may not see it growing, depending if the green shoots come up from the soil before the hard winter freeze, doesn't matter either way, if the green shoots come up, OK, if they don't OK.

Plant the garlic before the ground is frozen, obviously you can't plant it then.

Garlic loves good nutrition, important. Wintertime not so important, but spring rapid growth, needs nutrients and lots of it.

Plant garlic cloves (yes each single clove) about 3 to 4 inches apart (or more if you choose). The cloves will turn into bulbs by the middle of next summer and they need room to mature. Picture the size of a garlic bulb when you buy it at the store, and add a little bit onto it for the bigger ones that I know yours will turn into :) ;)

In the summertime (it is usually mid July for us), when about 1/3 of the foliage has began to turn brown, pull the garlic up. Lay it in the sun for about 6 hours to cure and then take it into a warm and air spot and hang it to dry for another two weeks. The stalk acts as a wick and draws the moisture from the bulb and cures it properly. After that point in time, cut (or rub off) the roots on the bottom of the bulb, cut the stalk off about 1/2 inch above the bulb and there you have your beautiful, home grown garlic.

I grow garlic by the thousands and they are certainly yummy!!!!!! Haven't bought garlic in years and years and years. And, there is always the garlic cloves that you miss that you can harvest later too, yeah.

Another thing, when you see in the summer when the garlic is setting the flower stalks, it is a good idea to cut them off to put the power of the plant to grow the bulbs, you don't need the flowers.....unless.....you want to delve even deeper into garlic growing.

I am doing that this year, I allowed quite a few plants to go to seed. I harvested these seeds and will plant them (actually I throw them around and scuffle them over with my foot). Next year when they make a bit bigger seed (like a little round pickling onion), I will uplift these and replant them, then the next year they will make the beautiful big bulbs, but that takes two years, it is a long process.

So, if you need any more information, ask away, your keyboard is your tool!!!! Have a wonderful day, you will get lots of other opinions from our forum friends, compile them in your mind, and you will have a wealth of knowledge on how to grow beautiful, clean garlic, hopefully ones that will not set your mouth on fire too badly!!!!! Cindi

KONASDAD · « **Reply #2 on:** October 03, 2007, 01:04:46 pm »

where do you get cloves to plant? Do you remove all of the skin as if you were going to cook w/ it?

randydrivesabus · « **Reply #3 on:** October 03, 2007, 01:21:12 pm »

i think my climate is more like yours kdad...i'm going to plant mine after it gets colder..i'm thinking late October. i got 5 lbs of the stuff from another vendor at the farmers market i sell at. you don't want them to sprout above ground until next spring. i will just seperate the cloves in the heads and plant them individually. I dont think you need to remove the outer papery cover.

o...btw...there are 2 types of garlic...soft neck and hard neck. if you want to braid it then you need to grow soft neck. hard neck is supposed to keep better. Elephant garlic is not really garlic but a different kind of allium.

Cindi · « **Reply #4 on:** October 03, 2007, 06:36:35 pm »

Konasdad. If I were you, I would get in touch with your garden centres, there is many cultivars of garlic and so many for different tastes. YOu can just plain and simply get them from the supermarket if you so choose. But seed companies offer some pretty nice ones.

I ordered mine long ago through a company called Salt Spring Island Seeds, but that is in Canada. They offer many nice varieties, so if I were you contact your locals, if you have some. I do not know what cross-border selling is allowed, but I think Salt Spring has a website, google it, you may find something cool.

Garlic cloves are NOT PEELED. The silvery skins are left on, I do not know why, but there must be good reason because it was advised when I ordered the garlic cloves.

Many times here I have had the garlic sprout underground and the leaves grow throughout the wintertime. Freezing does not do any injury whatsover to the leaves, so if you plant them and they do sprout, do not worry, they will weather fine, even through the freezes. Good luck, nothing like that beautiful home grown garlic!!!! Best of a great day, Cindi

KONASDAD · « **Reply #5 on:** October 04, 2007, 11:45:42 am »

alright gang, thanx. Bought some garlic off ebay. Romanian hot, Italian purple, Georgian sweet and some elephant which they say is a leek. I love elephant for grilling whole and making a garlic spread w/ a little olive oil. Spread on toasted bread, put bruschetta on top and enjoy!

reinbeau · « **Reply #6 on:** October 05, 2007, 08:05:31 am »

Konasdad, you can plant that garlic at the end of October. You don't want to plant it too early because you don't want huge sprouts going into the winter. Plant it about 1 1/2" deep. Plant in good fertile soil, I like to use a good bulb food, my favorite is Espoma Bulbtone. Once the ground freezes, mulch heavily with shredded leaves to keep that ground good and frozen over the winter (and pray for snow! It's a wonderful mulch). In the spring you'll see the little green shoots coming up through the mulch.

randydrivesabus · « **Reply #7 on:** October 14, 2007, 03:46:38 pm »

i planted my garlic today. will irrigate it tomorrow morning. i planted it 6" apart and got a row of 80'. i guess if its too much i'll sell some. or eat more :-D

Cindi · « **Reply #8 on:** October 15, 2007, 12:51:54 am »

Randy, so 80 feet, 6 inches apart. If my calculations are correct, you will get approximately 16 bulbs. Each of those bulbs may have 4-8 cloves, depending upon the cultivar you planted.

I don't think that that will be too much. You will be surprised to see how much garlic you will eat when it has been grown by your ownself. I don't plant mine that far apart. I usually plant about 3 inches between each clove. I always make more than one row too, I plant a zig zag pattern, that way I can accomomdate more garlic in less area.

I have my leftover garlic from last year ready to go into the ground, but I haven't quite got to that point yet, I have been awaiting a little bit more sun to dry out soil so my knees won't be mud packed. Tomorrow will be the day, if it doesn't rain.

Just for the fun of it, I will try to count how many cloves (approximately) that I plant. I will venture it will be around the 200-300 mark. We use lots of garlic around here. I also saved many of the little bubils that the flowers of garlic create when they are left on the plant. I have thousands. I will sow these, some I will take the time to place under the soil. The others I will caste to the wind and turn under with my Mantis rototiller. What grows will grow, many will become bird food. Next year I will dig up these bubils that will be a single round clove, and replant, they will make the garlic cluster bulbs that we all know and love in the following year......Have a wonderful and beautiful day in this great life we live. Cindi

randydrivesabus · « **Reply #9 on:** October 15, 2007, 07:05:59 am »

Cindi-do you mean 160 bulbs?

Cindi · « **Reply #10 on:** October 15, 2007, 10:32:55 am »

Randy, oops, yes, I meant 160 bulbs. Sorry, missed out the zero. Garlic is great to grow. Next year when you see the flower stalks begin to grow, it is suggested to remove these stalks to promote the bigger bulb growth. Or leave some to flower, then you can plant the bulbils from the flower and get hundreds of potential garlics in the year after the next. It takes two years for bubils to make full sized garlic bulbs. Have fun with it!!! Have a beautiful and wonderful day. Cindi

KONASDAD · « **Reply #11 on:** October 15, 2007, 12:12:16 pm »

received my garlic while out of town for anniversary. Will plant this weekend weather permitting. Yeah!!!

reinbeau · « **Reply #12 on:** October 15, 2007, 10:07:39 pm »

The other thing you can do with garlic scapes is eat them - I've got a recipe around here somewhere for garlic scape pesto I'm hoping to try next season. They're great in stir fry, also.

BenC · « **Reply #13 on:** October 15, 2007, 10:26:43 pm »

Hardnecks are the way to go! I used to plant between 50-60lbs of seed garlic every fall here in MD. Haven't grown any for a few years now. At my location I figure I've got 2 more weeks to plant, the sooner the better. Ideally the roots will start to grow and anchor the plant, don't worry if you see a green leaf or two, they will grow through the winter on warmer days. Straw or grass clippings makes good mulch, forgetting to mulch is not an option. Nothing is more disheartening than walking out in February and seeing an entire planting heaved up out of the ground. Mulch should be removed w/a pitchfork in spring to allow faster warmth of the soil and to prevent leggy, kinked stalks. Based on my experience, I've got to disagree with Cindi, don't let garlic lay in the sun for even 5 minutes! Get it out of the field and into the barn pronto, it will sunburn in a heartbeat. If you feel the need to pinch the scapes (hardnecks), do it after they have done a loop and keep them for stir-fry. I have never observed any increased yield from scape removal but some think it helps. Italian Purple is a pretty bulb, typically 4 big cloves. I also liked (If I remember correctly) one called musik. Once you have purchased your "seeds" there is no need to buy again unless you are looking to try a new variety, just save your biggest and best from year-to-year. Don't try to evaluate varieties until the third year, some garlics take that long to acclimate to your specific soil and then they will really take off ;)

Randydrivesabus, have I read before that you sell at the Blacksburg Farmers market? I lived there for a while and recently found out that someone I know sold at that market this year! Big whoop I know :roll: just thought that was kind of neat!

Cindi · « **Reply #14 on:** October 16, 2007, 12:12:56 am »

BenC. You are probably correct with the advice to not even let the garlic lay in the sun for 5 minutes. Where I live is a very temperate zone. The advice "for my specific area" is to dry in the sun for about 6 hours, no more. Then hang upside down as the stalk acts as a wick and draws moisture from the bulb.

I can truly believe that in the hotter climates, the burning sun would cook the bulb before your very eyes. So absolutely, go with how your weather conditions allow.

Personally, I really see no reason to dry in the sun for 6 hours. When the garlic bulbs (and attending stalk) are left to dry, they dry pretty quickly. When I reap the garlic harvest, in all honesty, by the time I am done with the very last of bulb pulling, I take them to my airy open part of my greenhouse and hang them up. By the time I have completed the harvest, it has been hours anyways, so I guess they have some fun in the sun........

My choice for the cultivar is Hardneck too, it possesses a longer keepin quality than the soft-necked.

The scapes are wonderful to put in the dehydrator and to use in those wintertime soups!!!! Yeah!!!!! I also pick the garlic leaves all summer to have a zesty green onion/garlic flavour to my potato salads, and anywhere where I use green onions. Actually haven't bought green onions in years and years and years due to the amount of chives that grow wild around my property, yeah!!!! The lull between the beginning of November until the beginning of January for chives leaves me in a saddened way, no green oniony stuff for a couple of months, having to rely only on the purple or white onions that we used pounds and pounds and pounds and pounds of, all year round. And yes, we have beautiful breath!!!! ;) :roll: :) Have a beautiful and wonderful day, greatest of our great life. Cindi

randydrivesabus · « **Reply #15 on:** October 16, 2007, 07:04:50 am »

Quote from: BenC on October 15, 2007, 10:26:43 pm

Randydrivesabus, have I read before that you sell at the Blacksburg Farmers market? I lived there for a while and recently found out that someone I know sold at that market this year! Big whoop I know :roll: just thought that was kind of neat!

yes I do. who do you know that sold there this past season? i've been selling there for 16 years.

Brian D. Bray · « **Reply #16 on:** October 21, 2007, 12:59:39 am »

If you don't harvest your garlic it comes back up the next year. My parents let a few cloves of elephant garlic go to seed, now I have it like hair on a dog in places--those we don't mow. Also they seed out pretty heavy if left in the ground. If you want to develop the cloves it is best to break the flower stems over after pollenation.

Cindi · « **Reply #17 on:** October 21, 2007, 01:17:14 am »

I have garlic sprouting and growing everywhere, like you say Brian. Places where I never would have imagined. Once you have planted it, and have the area to let it grow wild, it will be with you until the end of your days. Beautiful, garlic, home grown, if only everyone could be so blessed.

I want to plant groves of garlic chives this coming up year, I have gathered the seed in mass amounts. The perfume from the garlic chives was beyond what you could ever believe, I think that it would create a wonderful sniffing area :) :) :) :) I liken the perfume of the garlic chives to lilacs, clear, sweet and beautiful. Have a wonderful day, best of our great life. Cindi

randydrivesabus · « **Reply #18 on:** March 22, 2008, 01:58:23 pm »

I went out to check how my fall planted garlic is doing and there is a very good looking row of green garlic leaves out there. It looks like just about every bulb we planted has done well. And i'm guessing that deer are not into munching on them or they would be gone. :-D

Cindi · « **Reply #19 on:** March 29, 2008, 11:12:13 am »

Randy, yeah!!!!! Glad to hear that the garlic fared through, just wait until the harvest, yeah!!!! Deer I don't think would eat the garlic leaves, they taste just like garlic. You can pick parts of the leaves later on if you want to have a little garlic greens, yummmmeee!!! BEautiful day in this beautiful life. Cindi