garlic rant

[shevitz]

As with all things garden, I have tried a bunch of varieties. Garlic grows really well in NM and is actually a fairly easy crop to grow. The must do success secret is to plant in fall for July-ish harvest, and if hardneck, to cut the scapes. Other than that, it's pretty much foolproof. I routinely get 3" diameter bulbs some as big as 4". Mine should be ready to harvest in just a few weeks. It's bulbing now. I'll post pictures when ready.

Of all the varieties I've grown, I have 3 keepers. They are:
1) German Extra Hardy, hardneck, most productive, largest bulbs and plants, good flavor and keeper
2) Georgian Crystal, hardneck. As far as flavor goes, for me, garlic is garlic. Some are hotter, some are mellower, but all taste basically the same. Except for Georgian Crystal. It's just better. Hard to articulate why, but no garlic has a more garlicky flavor which is distinct from being hotter. Somehow it hits me just right. Simply adding Georgian Crystal to a dish elevates it. I can't say enough good things about this one. If I had to grow one variety it would be Georgian Crystal although German extra hardy is a very close second.
3) Red Toch, softneck, smaller cloves, best keeper, and don't need as many plants to replant.

I still have useable garlic from last July hanging in my garage. Also the hardneck scapes are a delicious vegetable that is hard to get/buy otherwise unless you grow it yourself. I still have some in the fridge. It has a vegetable garlic flavor with no heat. It's like a garlic vegetable stir fly with a single vegetable.

I've kept mine going for probably 10 years now.

BTW, the giant hardneck bulbs have maybe 4-6 cloves. A single clove of my garlic can be larger than a whole store bought bulb.

D

[shevitz]

Also, my guess as to why the trend is toward smaller cloves is simple economics. The cloves are planted for next years crop. With my hardneck at 4-6 cloves per bulb, I lose 1/4 - 1/6 of my harvest just to replant. With tiny cloves that cost drops to 1/20.

[Nmiller21k]

Seriously! I can't find anything solid anymore at any of the major grocery stores in MN. We use it so much too, it's frustrating.

Check the farmers markets for the hard neck

[gladius]

Bulbs are coming in larger each week here in So. Cal.
Time for a new batch of Mojo de Ajo!

http://www.rickbayless.com/recipe/slow- ... rlic-mojo/

[Ut_ron]

Bulbs are coming in larger each week here in So. Cal.
Time for a new batch of Mojo de Ajo!

http://www.rickbayless.com/recipe/slow- ... rlic-mojo/

Thanks for that link. Will be making this next week. Hmm love me some garlic.

[Chefcallari]

What's the deal with all the tiny cloves of garlic these days? Am I mistaken in my recollections that a garlic bulb used to contain primarily large cloves vs. these tiny little pustule things that dominate today? Anybody else notice this? It takes three times as long to mince garlic with all these little guys.

Garlic takes 280 days to grow... Lol its very time consuming... Today we are in a little bit of a food renaissance. People are "foodies" now and are cooking at a higher level at home as well as in restaurants. More people cooking= more people buying fresh ingredients. Our food supply is already stressed beyond belief. Farmers have to harvest sooner to get product to us. Everything is harvested sooner, put on a truck , pumped full of ethaline gas to ripen and stuck on a shelf.

[shevitz]

As promised, this picture is of my garlic harvest. It's 30 bulbs and will last me all year. The garlic is from left to right: Georgian Crystal, German Extra Hardy and Red Toch. Notice how the left two hardnecks have different color and shape stems, are larger and have fewer cloves, but you can't see that. The measuring tape is hard to read, but extended a little more than two feet. This wasn't my absolute best garlic year. My biggest bulb was just a little bigger than three inches.

[jbart65]

Good looking bulbs, Shevitz. But it wouldn't last long for me. I go through at least 2-3 bulbs a week.

I may give it a shot this fall.

[shevitz]

I could grow that much (125 bulbs), I just don't need it...

FWIW that much garlic grew in a 5'x2' space, 10ft^2. Growing out 125 bulbs would only take about 40-50ft^2.

[shevitz]

BTW if you ever want the tips and tricks, post or PM.

[gladius]

BTW if you ever want the tips and tricks, post or PM.

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Share them here if you don't mind, I'm sure more than a few of us have interest.

[snipes]

BTW if you ever want the tips and tricks, post or PM.

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Share them here if you don't mind, I'm sure more than a few of us have interest.

Yes, I'd love to hear them. I'm planning for my second planting season this week or next down here in the South.

[shevitz]

What I love about this forum is how nice the people are and how tangents are, if not encouraged, at least tolerated. I'm sure it is all part of Mark's master plan for world domination . Next thing you know there will be a gardening sub forum...

I live in the desert in about the worst possible place imaginable to garden. The soil is pH 8, we have zero organic matter in the soil, there is no rain, the municipal water I need to irrigate is alkaline, the insects are horrible,... That said, garlic is probably the easiest thing I grow. I have never had a problem with it. Go to the gardening forums (which I don't actually read) if you want infinite discussion or YouTube also has an infinite amount of info. FYI, my gardening philosophy, is that I am an avid/rabid non proselytizing organic home gardener who only plants open pollinated varieties.

In very few words, here is a list of what actually makes a difference to me in growing good garlic.
1) plant in the fall, depends on where you live, but for me (zone 4-5) that's october-november. I plant when I get around to it, not by any mystical time. When it starts feeling frost at night I plant.
2) plant about 1-2" down. Any more and the garlic has a little trouble coming up. Too shallow and it will fall over the next year.
3) make sure the clove is right side up
4) mulch with organic matter. Bare uncovered soil is the bane of living plants.
5) give enough space. I plant 6" apart in rows about 1' apart. You can plant on a hexagon, it just doesn't matter that much. Rows help me keep my varieties apart.
6) in spring when the shoots come up (don't worry if they come up in the fall, it's no biggie) mulch more around the shoots.
7) make sure these is enough carbon/plant/organic matter in your soil
8) I don't need to fertilize, the organic matter handles that
9) rotate the location
10) cut scapes on hardneck in the summer and cook them. They are a delicacy.
11) harvest at the right time. This is the hardest thing. Too early and the bulbs are too small. Too late and the bulbs separate into cloves and won't keep. The plant should be 1/3-1/2 dead.
12) Love your plants.

You'll notice there is really very little to do. Only 1), 4), 6), 10) and 11) are actions. It's pretty foolproof. There is nothing profound here. I'm not claiming any mystical knowledge...

[gladius]

That's pretty easy and similar to most everything else...plant/harvest at the right times, at the right spacing and depth and mulch organically. Bare naked ground is a no no. I garden organically as much as possible but I do supplement with epsom salt and wow I can tell the difference. Since garlic draws sulfur I bet you'd see significant better crops with epsom. I am going to plant some this fall. Thanks.

[shevitz]

Good tip on the epsom salts. I've used them for tomatoes but never thought for garlic... I'll try it this fall.
Our soil is sulfur deficient as well. I believe epsom salt is magnesium sulfate. I amend with gypsum which has calcium and sulfur and is much cheaper. I have never done an A-B test with epsom salt vs. gypsum to see if magnesium is important.

[snipes]

Thanks for the tips. I just put a calendar reminder for October to plant garlic.

[snipes]

Just placed my garlic order through Southern Exposure. Looking forward to a vampire free spring.

[gladius]

Good tip on the epsom salts. I've used them for tomatoes but never thought for garlic... I'll try it this fall.
Our soil is sulfur deficient as well. I believe epsom salt is magnesium sulfate. I amend with gypsum which has calcium and sulfur and is much cheaper. I have never done an A-B test with epsom salt vs. gypsum to see if magnesium is important.

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Magnesium plays the following role in plant growth:

It helps in the activation of enzymes involved in photosynthesis and respiration.
It is involved in the synthesis of DNA and RNA.
It is a constituent of the structure of chlorophyll.
It helps in maintaining the ribosome structure.

ref. https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden ... ciency.htm

http://www.pthorticulture.com/en/traini ... t-culture/

http://gsrpdf.lib.msu.edu/ticpdf.py?fil ... 721101.pdf

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnesium_in_biology

http://www.ipni.net/ppiweb/bcrops.nsf/$ ... e23-25.pdf

[snipes]

Alright I have a silly question. I just received my garlic presumably to plant. It showed up looking just like the stuff I get in the grocery store as a finished product. That explains why the price seemed so high for seeds....So what the heck do I do with it now? The package came with planting instructions etc., but do I simply pull the bulb apart and plant the cloves or did I not order the correct item?

TIA

[gladius]