2013 Garlic harvest...:)

[Collector]

Here is our garlic for this year, German red Hardneck. I had to watch a You Tube video to learn how to braid it LOL. this years garlic looks much better than last years, so we must be getting better at growing it. We are planning on trying a different type this fall until find a variety we like.

 

[RidgebackRanch]

Looks pretty good Collector! I just trimmed ours and hung it in a mesh bag in the basement.

We grew two soft neck varieties, and I am pleased with the harvest. I'm going to plant some of them for next year. I was fun and I highly recommend growing it.

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

just pulled mine this morning too. but i cut the leaves/scapes off and let them dry in the house. also kept the flower heads on so i could use them for growing more in the coming years. now i can't wait till the potatoes are ready for pulling! some nice mashed potatoes and garlic sounds good right now!

 

[RidgebackRanch]

What is the difference between soft neck and hard neck? The newspaper said that soft neck stores longer? Does hard neck taste better or is it more based what zone it is grown.

Also ours never had scapes or flowers is this normal as well?

Anyway garlic will always have a home in this garden.

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

well, i had a softneck i grew this year called Susanville. it did something strange i wasn't expecting but i have not tried growing softnecks before. i know they don't produce a scape with a bulb at the top. instead they tend to just grow the leaves and the stem stays soft. mine seemed to grow some large cloves just above the surface of the ground like it tried to produce a scape and it got caught in the neck. they still produced a bulb under the ground that was decent sized. this was the only softneck that produced for me.

the rest of what i pulled up were hardnecks and they produced scapes with flower heads which i left on my plants. Ridgeback, do you know the names of the types you planted this year?

 

[RidgebackRanch]

I planted Karl's Soft Neck and Inchelium Soft Neck. They came from one of my customers in Grand Junction. I was told a few weeks ago that they did not grow these varieties this year so I will be sure to replant them again this from my stash.

It's odd that garlic comes into the garden centers in August around here even though it's planted in October.

 

[thistlebloom]

Looks good Collector! That braiding must be tricky. I pulled my moms when I was down there and tried to braid it, it was laughable it looked so bad. How does the German Red taste? I don't have an appreciation for the different flavor nuances. My taste buds are only skilled in "garlic...or... not garlic"

 

[Ridgerunner]

What little do I know about softneck versus hardneck garlic?

Hardneck is better suited to northern climates. Softneck is better further south. Hardneck has fewer cloves but they are normally pretty much all about the same size and reasonably large. Softneck tends to have a ring of larger cloves on the outside but a cluster of fairly small cloves in the middle of the head. I often toss those little cloves.

Softneck is supposed to store better and is easier to braid. Hardneck forms scapes, softneck doesnt.

 

[baymule]

Beautiful garlic ya' got there! Learned to braid it too! Isn't it fun to have a place like this where folks are impressed with your newly found garlic braiding abilities? Where else could you go to have this kind of admiration for garlic braids?

 

[RidgebackRanch]

Beautiful garlic ya' got there! Learned to braid it too! Isn't it fun to have a place like this where folks are impressed with your newly found garlic braiding abilities? Where else could you go to have this kind of admiration for garlic braids?

I agree 100%