Growing Garlic

[Okanagancook]

I have been growing garlic for about 9 years here in the Okanagan, zone 6 to 7 I think it is.  I have used this website as my reference for all things 'growing garlic':  https://www.garlicfarm.ca/growing-garlic.htm.  I am no expert on garlic but just enjoy the beautiful sticky cloves that I get from my garden garlic.  Actually, it is quite expensive if one was to purchase it at the Farmers' market.  Around 50 cents a bulb.  Now, that's for really nice garlic.

 

I started with local garlic from the farmers' market.  From Galactic Farms.  I call it Galactic Garlic but I think it is Russian Red.  Then after discovering the above noted website I purchased several varieties to experiment with.  Of course I got some of them mixed up but the one variety that worked best was the Leningrad Garlic.  The cloves were quite big so they seemed to keep the best downstairs in the wine cellar.  Probably only 3 or 4 cloves per bulb.  So now that is all I grow along with the Galactic Garlic which seems to be a good keeper also.  Last year pretty well all my cloves remained rot free and I used the last bulb in about mid January.

 

I plant my cloves in early to mid October. They are mulched with four inches of leaves and covered with a cloth for the winter.  This spring they popped up early.  We have had marvellous growing conditions this year and are about three weeks ahead of normal.  The scapes were taken off about five weeks ago and two weeks ago we stopped watering them.  They should be left like this for two weeks to dry out.  I was all ready to harvest tomorrow, the two week mark, but rain was in the forecast so I did it all today.  Five forking hours of digging, cleaning and hanging up which was done twice (story to follow).  It was 35 Degrees C today!  I am now having a cold beer.

 

I will post pictures in my next post...my beer is empty !

 

 

Anyone else out there growing garlic?

 

[Okanagancook]

The first picture is the uncovering of the garlic in the spring.  The near bed has the mulch on and the far bed has the mulch removed.

The second picture is the beds after no water for two weeks.  The tops are getting quite brown.  I dug down around a couple of bulbs to see how big they were and they seemed a good size so that is when we stopped watering.

The third picture is one bed's worth of pulled garlic.  They need to be cleaned of any soil especially around the roots.

The fourth picture is the 'downed garlic'.  My dear hubby had rigged up a cord strung around an aluminum hook that is used to store the snow shovel on the wall.  Well, I got about 2/3's of my garlic hung when the hook bent and the loop of cord slipped of downing all my garlic.  The air was pretty blue!  One is not supposed to drop one's harvested garlic because then it bruises and like bananas and eggplants will be more susceptible to rot.  Yes, oh, yes, the are was blue.  So, I untied all the strings of garlic from the rope.  Then I installed a hook that was screwed in the stud and I was back in action. 

The firth picture is my string of garlic.  All 190 bulbs of them!  They need to hang for two weeks to cure.  The nutrients stored in the leaves go into the bulbs and the whole thing dries for keeping.  I have fans on them to keep the air circulating and the temperature is quite warm so should be good curing conditions.

The last picture is of the fresh garlic, not cured

Can't seem to get the pictures turned the right way up, sorry.

 

[Shelby]

I'm going to be reading this in more detail but I just wanted to say THANK YOU for doing a detailed pictorial on garlic.  I've never known what in the hell to do with mine.  I planted some like nine or even more years ago.  The greens grow up....and then I mow them down.....now maybe I will know how to harvest.  Or maybe my garlic is a different kind.   My brain tells me I planted elephant garlic.  Can that be right???  It's been so long I'm foggy.

 

Beautiful harvest.  I'm jealous.

[Okanagancook]

Elephant garlic is much milder tasting and very large cloves. I guess they would be grown the same way as regular garlic.

Thank you for your comments. I would encourage you to check out the website I referenced. It has everything you need to know to grow successfully. I would think you could grow some awesome garlic in Kansas! Your local farmers markets should be selling their garlic now.. Maybe buy a few kinds to see which kind you like then buy some bulbs for planting in the fall. Choose nice big bulbs with nice big cloves...kinda like onion sets. Keep them in a cool dark place with lots of ventilation around them.

Cheers

[LindaK]

That's a lot of garlic! I'm jealous.

 

I've been growing garlic for a few years now and have found it to be pretty foolproof, even when I've planted as late as December.  My gardening is limited to a small community garden plot, so the area devoted to garlic is small compared to yours.

 

Last year I noticed that I had quite a few volunteer garlic or onion (I couldn't tell which) plants coming up along one of my garden borders, likely thanks to a neighboring gardener letting his/her plants go to seed. They never got very big and I just left them alone.  They came back this year and are maturing along with the rest of my garlic.

 

 

 

My volunteers are clearly a different strain of garlic--look at the difference between the scapes.  I'll be interested to see what kind of garlic it is. In the meantime, one of the joys of growing garlic is a bounty of scapes!

 

 

 

[Okanagancook]

Nice patch of garlic Linda K.  I actually miscalculated how much garlic I have (my DH pointed that out).  I have 240 bulbs!  Yes, I know it IS a lot but I grow some for my brother who doesn't have space for a veggie garden and for a couple of friends.  Then you need to grow bulbs to plant for next year.  Oh well, we seem to use it all.  I often roast bulbs in foil then freeze for later use.  I have also done some confit garlic.  I don't know a lot about what to do with the scales.  Any suggestions other than chopped up in salad.

[Martin Fisher]

I've been growing garlic since 1980.

I usually only grow a couple cultivars but this year I have five, German Extra Hardy, Martin's Heirloom (Martin Longseth's namesake, not mine), Kettle River Giant, Inchelium Red and Dr. Pound.

Edited June 29, 2015 by DiggingDogFarm (log)

[Okanagancook]

Those Martin Heirlooms look nice and big!  It will be a challenge to keep the various kinds in order!

[BonVivant]

Green with envy! I did try growing but it didn't work out. Somehow it's bushy in the spring and fall, the rest of the year it's just dead. Maybe I should give it another go later in the summer...?

 

Brought back elephant garlic from southern Chile to eat. When I make it back to Chile I'll take several kilos in my checked baggage.

[huiray]

 In the meantime, one of the joys of growing garlic is a bounty of scapes!

 

 

My understanding is that *that* may be expected consistently with hard-necks – but not with soft-necks, if at all. (Badly stressing soft-necks is reported to tend to produce either some scapes, or bulbils just above ground in the stem, depending on the type)   So both your actually-grown garlic and the volunteer-garlic are hard-necks, I imagine.

[LindaK]

Nice patch of garlic Linda K.  I actually miscalculated how much garlic I have (my DH pointed that out).  I have 240 bulbs!  Yes, I know it IS a lot but I grow some for my brother who doesn't have space for a veggie garden and for a couple of friends.  Then you need to grow bulbs to plant for next year.  Oh well, we seem to use it all.  I often roast bulbs in foil then freeze for later use.  I have also done some confit garlic.  I don't know a lot about what to do with the scales.  Any suggestions other than chopped up in salad.

 

I like to stir fry or just steam the scapes, cut into 2-4" pieces. They're also good pureed with some olive oil and grated parm cheese for a pesto of sorts, nice on pasta or crostini.  Lots of recipes for the latter on the net.

 

When faced with a glut of scapes. I toss them in the freezer. While never as tender as fresh from the garden, the hit of garlicy goodness in January will make you very happy.

 

 

My understanding is that *that* may be expected consistently with hard-necks – but not with soft-necks, if at all. (Badly stressing soft-necks is reported to tend to produce either some scapes, or bulbils just above ground in the stem, depending on the type)   So both your actually-grown garlic and the volunteer-garlic are hard-necks, I imagine.

 

Good to know, thanks.  While clearly different types of garlic, the scapes were equally tasty.

[Okanagancook]

Thanks LindaK.  I have a mitt lode of scapes in the freezer so will try some of those ideas.  I have some garden peas for dinner so will try steaming some scapes to mix in with them!  I wonder what garlic scape butter baked on some bread would be like.  Probably needs some regular garlic on there too.  May have to try that with the lamb chops and peas tonight.

 

The garlic is drying nicely. I have two fans on them and keep the garage doors open during the day for good air circulation.  It is nice and toasty warm in there which is optimal for curing.

 

huiray:  yes, soft necks don't produce scapes and are mainly the variety found in supermarkets because they don't require hand planting like the hard necks.  The website I reference up thread has some good information on the varieties of garlic.  Both mine are porcelain hard necks which tend to grow better in my neck of the woods.

[huiray]

 

huiray:  yes, soft necks don't produce scapes and are mainly the variety found in supermarkets because they don't require hand planting like the hard necks.  The website I reference up thread has some good information on the varieties of garlic.  Both mine are porcelain hard necks which tend to grow better in my neck of the woods.

 

The website you use is very nice – although they did not talk about soft necks not producing scapes, which is why I mentioned it to LindaK.  There are other websites that also have lots of info, of course.

 

As for supermarket garlic being mainly soft neck types, that seems to be true in many Western supermarkets, yes, although I have found hard neck types in some of my local ones.  In Chinese groceries, I don't consciously recall soft neck garlic being offered/sold; only hard neck types register in my consciousness.

[hummingbirdkiss]

I grow 100 heads a year and always in the fall (one year someone convinced me to try a spring crop so I did and it was small and not nearly as flavorful! ) …I am so lucky it grows so well here! Looks like I will  have a brilliant harvest ready in a week or so ..and am  so excited! I love growing garlic …half soft neck and half hard neck I usually replant my largest cloves each year…but always add more from farmers mkts and grocery stores when I find some I like I plant it .…I plant 50  hard neck and 50  soft neck … rotate the beds every three years …the scapes are my first crop and then I thin the green garlic for the second crop and then finally in a week or so ? I will pull and cure them and have my third crop and chose the ones I will save to keep the cycle going ..I have been growing garlic in the Puget Sound for about 25 years now. I am always scouring farmers mkts for seed garlic ..I love garlic and can not get enough of it ..If you have not grown it ..it is a very friendly first crop to try for a beginner gardener with no space…I had my colleagues who lived in apartments growing it on their balconies in pots because it is is just so delicious when you grown your own

Edited July 4, 2015 by hummingbirdkiss (log)

[sparrowgrass]

I just pulled mine last night.  A little late--the stems were about gone, making the bulbs hard to find.  I started with a pound of cloves from (I hate to admit this) Walmart, about 5 years ago, and have not had to purchase garlic since.  And I so love garlic--generally put in 5 times as much as the recipe says.

 

I made some pickled garlic a couple years ago--delicious. The cloves are sweet and crunchy, not overwhelming.

[Okanagancook]

The garlic has been drying for three weeks in the garage.  It is good and dry now.  Usually I dry it for two weeks but there was so much of it I wanted to make sure the air got to all of them. 

Need 240 cloves for replanting next year.  Sorted it all into non-seeding and seeding.  First picture from outside on the cleaning bench and the second one of them hanging in the wine cellar where it is nice and cool (and not too damp).

 

A friend's husband planted hers the pointy end down.    Needless to say her crop is not that great so I have some seed cloves for her garden.  Never hurts to grow more than you think you can possibly need.