Garlic Lovers Thread - Growing and Eating in the MAF

No, Coleup, you have me well-supplied with garlic! I need to get some pots ready....

Geez, that's high for a garlic bulb... even if every clove gives you a bulb, that could end up being like $1 per bulb for garlic from your own garden!

I got back home last night... had a great gettaway visiting Jim's folks, but really really missed seeing everybody Saturday!

Umm... I don't know how hte garlic worked out (although I hear I missed a fun tasting event), but if Terri has some for me and if I own anybody $, please let me know!

What is everybody doing to plan on planting the cloves?

From what I read it should be a few weeks before the forst, planted 2 inches down? 5-8 apart? Rich soil and mulch with leaves or hay to help regulate the soil temperature to prevent thawing and refreezing, which lets be honest is a problem in this area.

My little town, Delray Beach holds a yearly garlic festival in February. Will we see any of you down here then?

http://www.dbgarlicfest.com/


Sylvain.

ROAD TRIP !!

Sally, you planted them already? I was going to hold off for a week or two.

Critterologist, Yes Terri has garlic for you and we are square money wise.

Garlic Math.

---Seed Grade Garlic (biggest and best of harvest).
2 heads of Chesnok @ $8 = 16 cloves. 16 cloves planted = 128 cloves harvested. or $.062 per clove

--Eating Garlic (what the grower doesn't use for replanting ie from Garlic Man)
2 heads of Chesnok @ $1,50 = 12 - 14 cloves planted = 70 -90 cloves @ $.02 per clove

Additionally, seed grade has shipping/handling/packaging/taxes... and is usually sold as "disease free".

Paul, will try to address planting and to mulch or not and when to mulch or not later this evening. Those of you who received a single clove of Georgian Fire will need to consider planting it soon to avoid drying out or tendency to sprout once removed from head. More on that, too.

Terp and Sally, It is ok to plant them now but they will almost definitely put up top growth before now and "winter". All they really need to do before cold is put out roots and be ready to grow in "spring". Less top growth now, more bulb growth/development in spring (You don't want your daffodils to sprout too early only to be killed back...)

Mulching garlic is mainly for weed control and then some winter protection where warrented. A bigger concern with mulching before freeze is that too much moisture will be retained in soil and rot out the cloves. After they have put out roots and cold weather arrives would be better timing on any winter protection mulch.

Garlic is very winter hardy! The problems come with growing it in warm/cool winter climates, not the other way around.

Are you planting your daffodil bulbs now? I plant mine around Thanksgiving! My garlic (in containers) will go in beginning of Nov, except for Georgian Fire which I've got the pot ready for now and will keep a good eye on so it doesn't dry.

This message was edited Sep 19, 2012 12:55 PM

No I'm not planting daffs for a while. I am putting in tulips though. I got a couple dozen from brookside gardens this year (they were free) and due to the awful awful year of impatiens need to plant some mums in my naked front bed.

Need to put the tulips in under mums. I'm waiting to borrow the bulb drill attachment from a friend.

I will def wait for the garlic to go in, I might till up the spot now though.

They are being stored in a dark closet until that time.

Don't laugh, but that might be the sort of road trip that would appeal to DH... especially if I could promise him a week on a quiet Gulf beach after... too bad it isn't a little later in the year when rates drop a bit, but hmmm..

Lours, it's fun to see you here in the MAG forum!

Delray Beach is a very interesting destination for a chlorophil addict.

The American Orchid Society has its headquarters, garden and greenhouse here. Across the street from the AOS is Morikami Japanese Gardens and Museum.

We are 1 hour away from Fairchild, or Viszcaya. It's only 20 minutes from Mounts, 20 minutes from Butterfly World and if you want to see the Everglades, a bit over an hour takes you into Everglades National Park where you'll see more alligators than you can shake a stick at. They've all seen humans before. They don't run away when someone walks by. You can observe them all at leisure. They even pose while you take pictures.

An airboat ride through the Everglades is 20 minutes away from here and Delray Beach is 2.5 miles away from here. And let's not forget: Gail and I live here year-round. The possibilities are just about endless. You can't swing an overripe pineapple around here without hitting a golf course. Let's face it: there are worse things in life than being stuck in Delray Beach in February during the Garlic Fest. Think about it. It's a good thing, I tell you.

Sylvain.

Paul,
Sorry- I meant, when I planted last year's garlic, that's what I did. The leaf mulch was probably much later, our leaves don't finish until late November, in fact, pretty sure that we used neighbors' shredder in Thanksgiving week or after. YEA, it was, because my younger son made a huge enormous leaf pile for older son to jump when he came home for TG week.
(((sons)))
So we shredded leaves after all that.

((sons)). Heehee. Ours would rake paths through the leaves and play leaf tag. Now they do it with their own kids. I love it.

Yay, ROAD TRIP!!!! I wish. Sounds great.

Anybody planted yet?
I am going to dig up my sweet potatos on Thursday and will decide where to put the garlic after that.

Sally, I found the discussion of when to plant in MD interesting and informative. Can you believe that someone planted each of the 540 varieties and compared them!!! That's my kind of 'scientific' approach.

Recommended time to plant Oct 15 - Nov 15. Garlic Man says a couple of weeks yet.

If your bulbs start to sprout or 'soften' go ahead and plant them asap. Later planting means less weed growth.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/allium/msg07125011629.html?16

Did you know that one of the compounds that form when garlic is crushed is almost identical to a compound in skunk spray?

thanks for the time frame, I can relax

Gardeners supply catalog has a half pound of organic garlic for fifteen dollars

Too bad I only plant inorganic.

lol, if you plant inorganic garlic and grow it organically, what you harvest will be organic!

Last time I played how many bulbs of garlic in a pound, I came up with 8 - 10. So say $3 each from Gardeners Supply?

Sally, did you see the Garlic Grow Bags they offer? 24 inch diameter by 8 inches deep...plants 18 - 20 cloves. Good info for those of us who will be using containers

Inorganic garlic...like plastic? Haha.

Yes coleup did see those. And the size did seem ok for the 18 - 20 cloves they recommend it for . Lots of other cute things there. Lots of pricey things too.

I was considering planting this weekend....course I have many things I "think" I'm going to accomplish...ugh...more time in the day would be appreciated...LOL

I came back to recheck planting times. Looks like we can keep the garlic handy to ward off vampires on Halloween, then go ahead and plant
Tee hee.

SO?
Is it time to plant them? I still have not. Bed is ready....E. side of my shed. AM sun until 2PM-3PM.
It will be next to my Strawberry plants and a Chive plant that has been there forever....

Please save me some time and tell me:
--How deep do I plant them
--Do I plant single cloves? more than oneclove in the same hole? May not have room for just single cloves...
--How far apart?

**Can I plant some kind of easy annual over that area next summer until the garlic sprouts?
Like Marigolds ir Impatiens (shallow rooted)???
Will that affect the growth and production any?

I know I printed out all the directions--but then i would have to go looking for them.

Thanks, Gita

Gita- Depending on source, directions counsel planting 2 to 6 inches deep, 4 to 8 inches apart, one clove to a hole. The deeper and closer figures are said by some to result in smaller bulbs. Annuals above the cloves would be the same as weeds - competitors for moisture and nutrients - diminishing bulb size. The hardneck garlic produces scapes in a figure "4" that add interest to the planted area if you choose not to cut them. If you cut the scapes then the plant's resources will be directed solely to bulb development. Besides, the scapes can be used in cooking.

Any unplanted cloves can, of course, be used in the kitchen. :-)

This message was edited Nov 12, 2012 9:42 AM

Thanks, David.

I got an asst. goody bag of a few Garlic types, at Sally's Swap, that was on the gift table.

I know there is a 1/2 head of Elephant garlic in there--plus a couple others.
You may remember that growing garlic was all thr rage at that time--headed by coleup.
They even had a roasted garlic tasting--again--prepared by coleup. Yummm...

I am not a huge garlic eater--use it in dishes that call for it. I like a touch of garlic as a flavor--
but not the heavy taste some prefer. Same as I do not eat overly spicy foods. NO hot peppers for me!

Thanks for the input! Will try to get to it soon. All kinds of other commitments and stuff to do
this time of year. Gita

lol, I guess I was too busy with garlic swapping and tasting to even know we had a gift table!

To add to David Greenthumbs response...

---The elephant garlic is the "mildest" and should have most growing room per large clove
---Smaller cloves can be planted 5 - 8 in a 3-gallon container or larger. I set mine in a pile of leaves for the winter (and then relocate them to sunnier sites if desired or necessary in early spring) You could do that with 'overflow', or just pop one in almost anywhere.
---I'm planting a row between the edge of my garden and where some tomato plants will be set out. They shoud be harvestable before the maters really take over.

Thanks -- that is helpful for me as well. I'm going to do them all in containers (I think), with my fingers crossed.

So has everybody planted? I did, I think, first week November.
Mine ended up about 3 inches deep give or take not sure how much the covering layer will settle. About six inches apart in rows that are 8 or ten inches apart. I'm trying not to be anxious over when I see sprouts of green. The ELephant cloves I gave more room.
When I took the heads apart I realized it would have been smarter to buy more than one so I'd get more big cloves. Oh well. Then I did one from the store just labeled product of Mexico, just to compare. It had a much yellower inner skin than the 'china white' I bought and grew last year.


This message was edited Nov 20, 2012 11:15 PM

Sally---

I am still struggling with taking the 1st step in this. My little area has been dug up and
amended long ago. Thinking I may get it done this week. Not cooking or going anywhere
for Thanksgiving. Aina and Mark wanted to go to her Dad's for dinner. Big crowd.
Better than the 3 of us sitting down to a delicious meal. More people is better....
It is OK! --even though she feels guilty about leaving me without.
I have already had my Feast at HD--and made a big pot of soup from 3 of the leftover carcases
that I took to work last Sunday and let everyone "go at it"....Yummmmmyy....

Anyway--back to garlic.....
In your 1st picture, Sally, will you also plant the smaller cloves? I would guess--no.
I have not yet taken the garlic I have (from the gift table--probably contributed by coleup)
apart. It is on my agenda asap.
In your last picture--that is a hardneck---right? From the store--right? Nice big cloves.

In my goody bag are:
--Grey Shallots--3-4 slim bilbs
--Oregon Blue softneck--one head
--Half a head of Elephant garlic.

Will be fun to see what comes of it all next year. About WHEN would harvesting happen?
How will I know I can dig them up?

Gita

been thinking.......(dangerous!)---

Is the Oregon Blue softneck the garlic we all buy in the stores?
It looked like it when I was pulling apart the cloves.....

Just asking......

Gita-
The biggest cloves come from the outer parts of the bulbs. If you even plant only the four biggest cloves, then you should get maybe eight or twelve good sized cloves off next year's four bulbs. I planted almost all of these cloves but yes many were quite small. We'll see what I get, and try to save all the biggest cloves from the harvest and then the year AFTER hope for plenty of big ones.
My pic number two is a softneck grown in Mexico. It looks so yellow I am thinking it is a different variety.

Pic 3 is the elephant.

Somewhere I read that the great majority of grocery store garlic is 'China White', but don't quote me on that. It's nearly pure white.

At times I've bought garlic in the store , with purple streaks in the clove skins.

Sometime over winter or early spring they will grow leaves. About May the leaves may fall over at the base and start yellowing. That's when you look to harvest them. I'm pretty sure you could harvest by mid June at the latest and be sure of having the garden space for bush beans, cukes, or yellow squash.

Sally--
Thank you for all the info--it will make me more relaxed....?????????????????

Now--How about the Shallots??? I have 3 really good-sized bulbs--but also about
4-5 much smaller, slimmer bulbs. Should I plant those individually, or a couple to the same hole?

Have you grown Shallots???? It would be great if they produced well. Shallots are so expensive!

Hopefully, tomorrow, i will get to plant these. May just "kill" myself with some of the remaining
Yarden work tomorrow. Thinking--It is NOW--or never. I hear more frost is coming after the weekend.

I wish you a happy Thanksgiving Feast! Gobble everything in sight! Yo all are slim as a beanpole--
Just go for it! An extra couple of pounds will look great on any of you!
NOT on me!!!!

Gita

Plant shallots each in their own hole too. They all want to enjoy room for the roots and plenty of water- no competition limiting them.
I WILL eat a lot tomorrow after I get done cooking it all!

Isn't it amazing how long the prep and cooking time and how quickly it disappears?!!!

YEAH! Planted all my Garlic cloves today. Scratch that off my list!

Did other stuff s well--wore my back out digging up my raised bed.
I was being careful--NOT turning over the shovel-fulls. just digging straight in to cut up
some of the fine tree roots that have invaded this bed.
Well! it became a bigger job than planned--as usual.

Did not want to actually turn over the soil just now--but just cut up the roots--but after about half
the bed, it became imperative that I hand sift through each shovel-full to remove all these roots.
I am SOOOO upset--that the tree roots have invaded this bed. It has now become a "lost cause"
to what I had intended this bed to be.
It was obvious that there were serious breaches in my commercial, double layer of weed-block.
So--a new "YUK" bed is in its infancy!

Here are the pulled up roots I just threw out behind me as I was digging....
And--a closer pic of them--these are so tenacious....they go everywhere--and then become bigger roots.
It is impossible to keep up with this.....

--Pulled up roots on lawn next to the bed...
--Closer look at these "feeder roots"....

Happy Thanksgiving garlic lovers! Hope you incorporated some garlic into your day. I put some cloves under the skin of my turkey this year. Unfortunately I then fell asleep (up all night delivering papers stuffed with black friday ads1) so my turkey was a little dry BUT, the garlic was excellent! teehee.

I have my first green sprout today!

coleup--

I thought of you tonight as i was looking through all the ads in my 2 huge bundles of newspaper.
WHY? Because I was tossing them all. Many of them were just for today (Thursday)
and the rest were for tomorrow. Not going shopping this weekend.....

I am in a stage of life where I do not need anything...so why shop?
It is more of a want--than a need.....
Gita

lol Gita, I feel after delivering all my "ads held together by news" that I've done my part to stimulate the economy for another year! And, its not too bad to deliver a paper where the entire front page is 'good news' unlike most of the rest of the year when 'violence sells'.

Glad to hear of garlic planted and garlic growing. Let's get our garlic on!