Garlic

[Patchouli]

Recently came across some discarded gardening magazines from the 1980s and rummaged through the pages, pulling out what interested me.
This one came from “The Family Food Garden.”
The author wrote there are no secrets to growing garlic and he or she (Terry Tucker Francis) plants it in spring and fall. Everything I’ve read on planting garlic always said plant it only in the fall.
Terry said it is among the simplest of herbs or vegetables to raise successfully.
Do you grow garlic, when do you plant yours? Do you have a favorite kind? How do you store it?

 

[Pearl]

Recently came across some discarded gardening magazines from the 1980s and rummaged through the pages, pulling out what interested me.
This one came from “The Family Food Garden.”
The author wrote there are no secrets to growing garlic and he or she (Terry Tucker Francis) plants it in spring and fall. Everything I’ve read on planting garlic always said plant it only in the fall.
Terry said it is among the simplest of herbs or vegetables to raise successfully.
Do you grow garlic, when do you plant yours? Do you have a favorite kind? How do you store it?

I have an old garlic patch my mom planted about 25 years ago. I have no idea what kind it is, but it's very hardy. When I dig some up I lay it out to dry on the concrete, then put the bulbs in the bowl in my kitchen window. It will be good 6 months or more. Probably none of that is the correct way to deal with garlic, but it works. I think mom planted it in the spring. It even survived one of my dog's peeing on it, it was one of his favorite spots for a while. I never water it or pay it any mind, and it is in the shade. I would really love to know what others do!! Good thread!

 

[LadyLocust]

In response to the thread title:

I love garlic

I have planted in both spring and fall - if I don't get to it in fall, it happens in spring, like this year. I keep it in a terra cotta "keep" that sits on my counter next to the stove - keeps all year. Last year I ran out so I planted more & this year I still have a lot so might plant a little less. I will try to get a pix of the keep and post it. It has a hole in the top of the lid so gets air.

 

[Patchouli]

That’s silly, @LadyLocust !
Lurch. Lol
So at this point neither of you remember a particular garlic name. I don’t mean Lurch or Morticia. Lol
Alrighty then, sounds VERY easy.
What I buy at the store I always have put in the fridge but it doesn’t keep well. Someone gave me garlic from his garden but the cloves were very small. I’d prefer something a little larger.
Sort of a self-tending crop, @Pearl ?

 

[Rebecca]

I almost always plant 'porcelain music' and 'purple stripe' because I enjoy the flavor. Those are the two I have planted the most right now. The Music can be random in size..same bed can give relatively small bulbs..or massive ones. The Purple is an average size I would say.
I also have an unknown variety given to me by a friend last fall.
I always try to plant in the fall. But sometimes I add a new bed and don't get around to it until spring. It still grows ok, but a bit slower to mature obviously and maybe not as large.
I plant garlic both because I love cooking with it, and because I use it as a companion plant to help with repelling insects and deer.

To store I have two methods.
The more common plait or braid and hang it up. This is a little challenging with hard neck garlic but doable. And the best way to keep for replanting.

The less common is a French recipe I found preserving it in oil and canning it. I will ask here, please everyone, kindly do not come at me with your USDA and CDC says it will kill you thing. I am not American and really don't care what your government has to say about it. Other countries and people do this just fine and manage not to die of botulism. I like it this way because it's instantly ready to add to the pan, and also flavors the oil which can then be cooked with.

I do not do the crushed and stored in the fridge method for the simple reason of I do not own a fridge.

 

[Patchouli]

I’ve never heard of preserving it the French way. I don’t know if any of us here care what the cdc and usda say about it!
I keep it on the door of my fridge. A clove or a few eventually shrivel or start growing greenery. And that’s after less than two months, but I still use them. Thank you for your response, @Rebecca

 

[elkhound]

yes i grow garlic...i plant it in fall so it develops just enough root system but not put a bunch of green above ground to battle winter cold.the taller it is the harder winter is on it.

i grow martin heirloom garlic...since martin died last fall only place to get it is filaree farms unless an individual has it to get it from.

pull it in mid junish and dry and put in barn to cure till fall time then i gather it up in basket for storage in cool dark place.

 

[joel]

You can plant garlic any time that the soil can be worked. Most Northern state plant in the spring, because of the soil freezing like concrete for months.
In the Southern state, we plant in the Fall as early as October or as late December. If you can plant in the fall you will get bigger bulbs.
Spacing six inches apart & mulching to hold down weeds & keep the cloves from freezing also helps, as well as rich soil & water.
I grow three garlic now.
A elephant Garlic Abandoned homestead in the North Carolina Mountains, (not way of knowing how long it grew there).
My BIL gave me a start of it many years ago & I still grow it, there are only two kinds of elephant garlic on record, so no big deal.
I just love telling a good yarn, even if it is totally true.
I also grow Georgian Fire, I love the the bright heat that it impart raw & that it wash away with a drink, never burns the taste buds like hot chills.
I also pick another to grow, just to see what it will do.
I have grown 12 different kinds of the eight varieties, only four or five varieties in the last twenty years.
Well, I also have Allium vineale L growing wild on my land, but I hate it as a weed. Many people eat it & grow it, but i see it as a wild fire on a windy day.
I leave an after taste in the fresh milk, year after the cow were gone I learned, if you lock the cow away from the garlic two hours before you milked the cows, the taste would be just milk, no garlic.
So any one wants strong wild garlic I have it.
https://extension.tennessee.edu/publications/documents/W157.pdfPlease tell me if I got something wrong or left something out.

 

[elkhound]

martin lived in sun prairie,wisconsin and planted garlic in fall to over winter.there was a large commercial producer there way back and martin said one year winter came early and he helped guy out planting and they used a pick to chop frozen ground to plant in that year. it done fine.so i dont know how far north you can plant it. i know theres at least one producer in ontario but i have no idea plant time.

once someone asked about when was latest you could plant garlic and when was earliest in new year you can plant . well martin being martin said the latest you can plant in a year is december 31st and earliest is january 1st...i about rolled outta my chair when i read that !!

 

[joel]

I almost always plant 'porcelain music' and 'purple stripe' because I enjoy the flavor. Those are the two I have planted the most right now. The Music can be random in size..same bed can give relatively small bulbs..or massive ones. The Purple is an average size I would say.
I also have an unknown variety given to me by a friend last fall.
I always try to plant in the fall. But sometimes I add a new bed and don't get around to it until spring. It still grows ok, but a bit slower to mature obviously and maybe not as large.
I plant garlic both because I love cooking with it, and because I use it as a companion plant to help with repelling insects and deer.

To store I have two methods.
The more common plait or braid and hang it up. This is a little challenging with hard neck garlic but doable. And the best way to keep for replanting.

The less common is a French recipe I found preserving it in oil and canning it. I will ask here, please everyone, kindly do not come at me with your USDA and CDC says it will kill you thing. I am not American and really don't care what your government has to say about it. Other countries and people do this just fine and manage not to die of botulism. I like it this way because it's instantly ready to add to the pan, and also flavors the oil which can then be cooked with.

I do not do the crushed and stored in the fridge method for the simple reason of I do not own a fridge.

I have no problem with you can garlic in oil, but I have often copy & Paste the USDA warning.
I believe if you can right, no problem, but new people need to know, so they will be careful or they could die from home canning.
This is the big problem with the internet, what they do not know can kill them.
I am glad you said botulism, now anyone reading this thread can do the research & learn the best way for them.

 

[elkhound]

 

[elkhound]

if you want strong garlic taste and care free...but extreme slow growing and you need to be careful not to over harvest.plant ramps in edge of woods or in woods. its a spring time edible. but it takes at least 7 years from putting seed in ground.theres a thread here on them if interested.

 

[joel]

elkhound
It may not be cold enough here for that garlic, but think I will try it.

"once someone asked about when was latest you could plant garlic and when was earliest in new year you can plant . well martin being martin said the latest you can plant in a year is december 31st and earliest is january 1st...i about rolled outta my chair when i read that !!"

When I first started ordering garlic online EVERY SITE quoted that line & I always wondered who they were quoting.
Now I know!

 

[Pearl]

That’s silly, @LadyLocust !
Lurch. Lol
So at this point neither of you remember a particular garlic name. I don’t mean Lurch or Morticia. Lol
Alrighty then, sounds VERY easy.
What I buy at the store I always have put in the fridge but it doesn’t keep well. Someone gave me garlic from his garden but the cloves were very small. I’d prefer something a little larger.
Sort of a self-tending crop, @Pearl ?

My cloves are small! I do realize I'm leaving myself open for all kinds of jokes........

 

[Plainflatlander]

Planted 285 bulbs of garlic this past fall. Here in the northeast fall planting is the best. A mix of german hardy, duganski, krandasger, chesnok red, and an unknown variety that we bought years ago.

 

[Plainflatlander]

My cloves are small! I do realize I'm leaving myself open for all kinds of jokes........

Some varieties have very small cloves at maturity.

 

[Patchouli]

You guys crack me up.
Thanks for sharing your garlic variety names too.

 

[Bacpacker]

I've grown it before and stopped for a few years. Not real sure why. But this fall I planted 4 different types. All bought from Filaree Farms. They have a great variety and stand behind their product. Fall planting gives bigger bulbs I think, and an earlier harvest.
I plan to pick the types we like and that grow the best and keep for replanting. Then by other to try next year. I want to end up with 3 to 5 types for long term.
I will follow up with what I planted this year once I can locate the names

 

[Bacpacker]

In response to the thread title:
View attachment 81893 I love garlic

I have planted in both spring and fall - if I don't get to it in fall, it happens in spring, like this year. I keep it in a terra cotta "keep" that sits on my counter next to the stove - keeps all year. Last year I ran out so I planted more & this year I still have a lot so might plant a little less. I will try to get a pix of the keep and post it. It has a hole in the top of the lid so gets air.

I gotta know....Where did you find my picture at


YOU RANG

 

[viking]

My cloves are small! I do realize I'm leaving myself open for all kinds of jokes........

I like small cloves, no joke. I've had a self sustaining elephant garlic patch that's over 20 years old, I mostly use it to give to people that want to start growing garlic and if I can catch the garlic as the flower buds are just coming out, I pick them and when they are steamed they taste really good, much like asparagus, they are very tender. My favorite garlic is the purple ones with small cloves, much more flavor than the elephant garlic, but I've never had much success growing those. Elephant garlic is good dehydrated and ground up, when it's fresh it's a bit bitter.

 

[Patchouli]

So how do you know when they are ready to pull up? Does the bulb stick slightly above the ground or you’re estimating the grow time? And have you ever put it back after seeing maybe it wasn’t ready?

 

[Plainflatlander]

So how do you know when they are ready to pull up? Does the bulb stick slightly above the ground or you’re estimating the grow time? And have you ever put it back after seeing maybe it wasn’t ready?

When 1/3 of the top growth dries, here in the northeast Second week of July.

 

[Plainflatlander]

Also, first week of June we harvest the scapes, and we make pesto and freeze them in ice cube trays for soups and such.

 

[JustMe]

I've grown (am growing) it here in the NW, planted in fall though I have planted in Spring as well. I don't know the varieties, and may have been cloves from the store that sprouted. Though a neighbor did give me a clump of huge cloves last year that I planted right away. Probably elephant garlic from the size of it. We'll see how well it does later this summer.


I'm not an expert but have read that there is 2 types of garlic. soft necked and hard necked. One is a longer keeper than the other I just don't remember which one is which, but should be an easy search to find out.

Last year was really my first major harvest of garlic and I got quite a bit, mostly small cloves. I peeled a bunch and put in a jar with oil like @Rebecca mentioned and have kept it in the fridge. It is one way of doing it, but I don't really care for the taste of the garlic or the oil after a few months.....it changes from fresh.. But that's just me and others may like it or maybe not notice or care of the change. I doubt that I'll save it this way again.

The rest of my harvest was peeled, dehydrated (outside or it stinks up the house & makes my eyes burn), then powdered.. It's alot stronger flavored than store bought garlic powder or granulated.

If/when I harvest any this year, I'll probably just braid it cause I like using fresh garlic more than any other method.. But if it looks like it's getting soft or going bad, then I'll probably dehydrate & powder.

It's possible the size of the cloves are determined by how long they've been growing, space available to grow, soil conditions and variety.....that's my guess anyway

 

[Bacpacker]

I went back and looked at my order. I got the 4 following types and varieties.
Porcelain type - Music variety
Rocamole - Martins Heirloom
Sliverskin - Nooka Rose
Red Creole - Donostia

I'm excitied to see how they perform and what goes the best taste vs harvest amount.
I store mine after drying in a pole barn, in the basement to keep it cool. But we store it on the counter as well. Don't seem to make any difference. Never tried in the fridge, sounds like I don't want to.

Elkhound I'm curious how the Martins garlic will do here, compared to your area.

 

[joel]

Planted 285 bulbs of garlic this past fall. Here in the northeast fall planting is the best. A mix of german hardy, duganski, krandasger, chesnok red, and an unknown variety that we bought years ago.

Bulbs or cloves, I do know a person who planted the bulbs, not single cloves.
Chesnok Red is a good garlic IMO.

 

[Plainflatlander]

Bulbs or cloves, I do know a person who planted the bulbs, not single cloves.
Chesnok Red is a good garlic IMO.

Thats right, I meant cloves, usually get 6 or 7 cloves per bulb.

 

[Pearl]

When 1/3 of the top growth dries, here in the northeast Second week of July.

That was my question too! Should apply anywhere, maybe just different timing!

 

[viking]

Usually elephant garlic has a five year cycle from planting bulbs, or bublets to where they will clove, you also have to break off the flower heads, otherwise all the growth energy will go into producing the flower head and often what will happen is the garlic will just produce a bulb, some people like just the bulb because they have a higher amount of garlic oils in them, in fact the neighbor that was growing the garlic commercially had Japanese buyers that only wanted the bulbs.

 

[joel]

That was my question too! Should apply anywhere, maybe just different timing!

Yes, when the leave dies the same clove cover dies/ rots also. So if you wait til more then half the tops die, the garlic will not last as long in storage.
The only reason to wait till the leaf/ blades die 1/3 is so the garlic will have time to get as big as possible.