Garlic

We've had a terribly cold winter and I was afraid the garlic I set on November 20th 2010 would have died. To my surprised delight, I saw several shoots this morning (Jan 4th)

Whoooopeeeee!

I always plant my garlic in the fall and through our winters up here it always sprouts right up in the spring. I plant both onions and garlic in my rose beds and it seems to keep the black spot mold that gets on rose leaves at a minimum and I always get large heads of garlic. Congrats on the first sprouts of the season.

Here, our garlic, multiplier onions and walking onions stay in the ground year around. All start sprouting in October but were late this year due to drought.

I set them up as perennial beds. I do need to relocate one as DH built the GH almost on top of the garlic. I don't think he likes garlic much ~ lol.

Thats funny, I have to sneak garlic into my cooking. My husband will just look at me and say "welp you did it again" hehe But its healthy for us. Garlic..The perfect aroma shield. lol

And I love it... probably don't smell that swell after I enjoy it though. lol I say that as we have customers that ooze the garlic fragrance. Phew!

got a smell picture of that...phew is right..

My hubby eats raw garlic! Sometimes I threaten to light a match! At least I've got him to stop eating it just before we go to bed, but it's hard to stay in the same room with him at times.

podster - I like your perennial bed idea for the garlic and onions.

Light a match... lol I won't tell you what my husband says I smell like. But at bedtime, I can understand.

We have a customer that consumes it in large quantities and rubs it on any skin injuries as an antibiotic. If I am not at the store when he has been there, I can walk in and know George has been there. No sneaking up on anyone when you smell like garlic.

True, but the vampires don't have a chance either.

Personally, I love garlic so much that I take garlic pills. Works great to lower blood pressure and blood sugar, kills germs and fungus.

I'm not bothered by misquitos in the summer and I've always said its because of the garlic suppliments I take.

LOL the vampires. I will think that kind thought when he breathes garlic on me! DH won't knowingly eat garlic but he takes the garlic pills too.

The garlic probably does keep the mosquitoes away. To keep mosquitoes down, I found that if I chopped up a clove of garlic in standing water weekly, it deterred the mosquitoes from laying their eggs in the water and it did not seem to hinder the frogs, toads and little water snakes. I dislike using any chemicals, especially here as I had edible foods in the standing water and my cats and dogs as well as birds would drink from the water so garlic was an excellent solution.

Companion plant garlic with your roses. Helps them stay healthy. I have garlic coming up all over my beds. Pod, the blackberry lilly seed you sent 3 years ago has been wonderful. Every single seed germinated (in ground) and is spreading. The blooms were beautiful last summer.

acts238 - I used to be bothered by mosquitoes - until I gave up eating sugar. I used to weigh 200lbs! This morning I was 135lbs :)

Big time congratulations to you, Honeybee!
I'd say that is a wonderful success. Ya done good! I bet you feel great, too!

Shoe

Horseshoe - thanks - and, yes, I feel GREAT! It took 18 months to get it off, and I'm NEVER going back there again. I've managed to keep off the pounds for three years now.

I've kept some of my "Old Me" clothes just as a reminder as to where I've been. I have shorts that two people could fit into!

Just think what great scarecrows some of those old clothes would make!

I think it would make a great photo, too. Skinny you in the garden standing next to a scarecrow made with your former clothes, both of you amongst those nice garden beds of yours. A contest winner for sure.

Shoe (back to the paperwork, ordering supplies, wondering if we really will get that snow in the forecast)

Horseshoe - I just looked up Efland, and it seems you are North of I40 - so I'm guessing you'd better get out your snow shoes!

The weather prognosticators can't make up their minds as to whether or not we'll get snow here in Charlotte. As long as we don't get freezing rain, I'll take anything the weather gods have to offer. The last time we were hit with freezing rain the power was out for five days!

Wow Honeybee, Congratulations on losing and keeping off the weight and also finding a good repellant for bugs.

Yes! Congrats on the weight loss. I have never tied sweets to mosquitoes.
That is most interesting, I will watch folks for that connection next summer.
Arghh! Imagine looking forward to ( ugh ) mosquitoes!

Awesome, Honeybee!

Here's a photo of the garlic that was set on Nov 20th 2010 - it's about 4" high and looking great!

Honeybee the garlic looks good and healthy. When will you be able to harvest it. Mine are still in the cold frozen ground.

HoneybeeNC - The garlic is usually ready to harvest around the beginning of July. I started these a month later than usual, so am not sure if that will delay the harvesting schedule.

This is my first year growing garlic... I put a big layer of mulched leaves on top to protect them from the tons of snow we have...

Just wondering if anyone has transplanted garlic before? I really want to rearrange and expand my garden this spring and the garlic is not in a very good spot. I will leave them alone if I must - I really want some pickled garlic this summer!

You can dig them up and relocate in my experience. I would let them air dry a few days in case you cut into the garlic when digging. That will help prevent rot. I have moved my garlic bed twice and need to do it again as the greenhouse was built too close to the current bed.

Alright, I'll give it a go. Hopefully I don't mess it up... thanks podster!

Here's a photo I snapped today of the garlic and onion bed:

Movin right along....and lookin good...:) We've had a couple of nice days in a row so I'm hoping to see some growth. Then it's back to rain and cold next week. ugh!!

honeybee,

Have you harvested your garlic?

If so, how did it turn out?

beachdiesel - yes, I harvested the garlic the first week of July. The cloves are smaller this year. The bed I planted them in gets more shade than our other raised beds, so I think that might have caused them to be small. We'll still have enough to last us several months, just not enough to share very many with the neighbors.

Honeybee - Did you harvest the scapes and if so what did you use them in?

SusanKC - the garlic I grow does not produce scapes. I don't know what type garlic it is. It was originally purchased from the supermarket about three years ago. Each fall, I set the largest cloves from the previous year's harvest.

It sounds like a sotneck variety. Softneck garlic is generally sold by grocery stores and don't have a scape. We have grown those in the past. They don't always make it through the winter in our area so we've switched over to the hardneck variety. I'm still figuring out what to do with the scapes. So far we've mostly used them in a stirfry or saute.

You can pickle the scapes... http://tinyurl.com/43yrcf5

Irene may have taken care of any questions.