The Garlic is Taking Off-- It Must Almost Be Spring!

[Jane23]

We had such warm, dry weather last fall so I was late planting my garlic, not getting it in the ground until November 21st. For the first time I ordered a couple of early cultivars, Thai Purple and Shandong. They suggest that the early garlics aren't necessarily as tasty as the later ones, however being able to harvest fresh garlic earlier is supposed to compensate for this. I am surprised to see how much top growth they have put on in just a few weeks compared to the main season garlic. If you look very closely a few shoots of 'Japanese' and 'Silverwhite' appear in the background-- but they are barely breaking through the soil. The early cultivars are about 5-6" tall already. View attachment 54496

My garlic is going nuts. I am already looking to order it for next year. I have also been getting emails from various vendors. Who has the best hardneck garlic for the price? I planted regular garlic this year and got lucky with a mild winter. I am guessing I won't get lucky twice.

 

[Crealcritter]

My wife cut scapes yesterday evening and made scape butter last night.

Jesus is Lord and Christ

 

[Zeedman]

Last fall I planted a couple of Turban hardneck garlic varieties for the first time, and when I checked yesterday they are each beginning to scape. There is Shandong which originates in China, and Thai Purple which they indicate was sourced from a market in Bangkok. Hood River Garlic company says that the Turbans are a sub-species of artichoke garlic, and they find that they do well in the Pacific Northwest. My goal in growing Turbans was to create a longer harvest window, so as not to be overwhelmed by all of the garlic maturing at the same time. Next up will likely be Japanese, which is an Asiatic garlic.

I would have to respectfully disagree that Turban garlics are a sub-species of Artichoke types. When I grew them, they not only formed scapes, they produced large pea-sized bulbils. Artichoke varieties are "soft neck" types, and in my experience, only form cloves within the stem... and that only when under stress.

I really liked Turbans, and hoped to keep a couple in my permanent collection; but they are not winter-hardy enough to reliably survive my Wisconsin winters. Probably a good fit for the Maritime climate of the Pacific Northwest though.

 

[flowerbug]

... Treat garlic as if it was edible tulips.

tulips are edible (the flower petals and the bulb) for most people. mild onion taste according to my brother. you should not eat the stems or leaves or base part of the flower. personally, it is not something i've tried (i love onions and not as much the milder onions, but i do have to admit that some mild green onions are delicious).

 

[Zeedman]

The garlic is finally starting to mature; I've dug 5 of the 8 varieties this week. They were planted in a raised bed, which is intended to keep the bulbs above our normally waterlogged soil. Unfortunately, with this long dry spell, the good drainage actually was counter-productive. Even with irrigation every 3-4 days, the soil was barely damp 4-5" down. The soil clinging to the roots was like coffee grounds, and easily brushed off. The bulbs are not terrible, but noticeably smaller than they should be. Hopefully by the time the remaining varieties are dug, I'll be able to post a photo.

 

[Branching Out]

Glad to hear that your garlic is maturing Zeedman! My garlic is all out of the ground now, with the last batch dug this afternoon. The final variety was Nootka Rose, a soft neck that looked green a few days ago and then suddenly went totally brown and fell over. Clearly I was a little late in harvesting that one. All of the garlic at our place was dry to the point of being scorched, and the bulbs were much smaller than what is typical. Like you, much of mine was planted in raised, well-drained soil and that turned out to not be a good thing this spring. I am culling a few cultivars that did exceptionally poorly with the hot, dry conditions and will focus my energies on the ones that were able to produce a good sized bulb in spite of the high temperatures and lack of rain.

 

[flowerbug]

i'll be needing to lift mine soon. it's getting close. with rains in the forecast and also higher temperatures today might be the best day to do it. it's hard choice for me as i really would like to get the garden weeded i've started but i can do that tomorrow or the next day or ... so probably will do it today.

 

[digitS']

Ours is all hung under the carport roof. I now have the opportunity to do the composting-in-place in that part of the backyard garden.

Oh yes, the garlic. All smaller bulbs this year.

Many cucumbers and @Dahlia 's post in @Cosmo spring garden 's thread with these garlic harvests ongoing made me think of Vietnamese cucumber salad. I can't quite go it – not a fan of such a garlic-dominant recipe and, certainly not of fish sauce. (I'm eating fresh cucumbers as fast as I can, however .)

Steve

 

[Branching Out]

Ours is all hung under the carport roof. I now have the opportunity to do the composting-in-place in that part of the backyard garden.

Oh yes, the garlic. All smaller bulbs this year.

Many cucumbers and @Dahlia 's post in @Cosmo spring garden 's thread with these garlic harvests ongoing made me think of Vietnamese cucumber salad. I can't quite go it – not a fan of such a garlic-dominant recipe and, certainly not of fish sauce. (I'm eating fresh cucumbers as fast as I can, however .)

Steve

I had never thought of composting-in-place once the garlic came out; what a good idea. I will add that to my mental list of options. So far one small garlic bed has been flipped to short rows of peas, Tezier French filet beans, cut-and-come-again lettuce, turnips, and Fun Jen; it gets afternoon shade from a hedge, and is managing okay so far. A hot, dry raised bed has been converted to peppers, nasturtiums, and an Escalator Climbing Zucchini. Another super hot bed is now a late round of mostly winter storage tomato seedlings and Petit Gris de Rennes melon starts (thank you Ninny Mary for bringing that melon variety to my attention; may be a bit late to get fruit from these, but worth a shot). The last big bed, which is located in the actual vegetable garden, is now a nice long row of three kinds of carrot seeds (Nash's Best, Napoli, and Kuroda Nova)-- all covered with pieces of plywood, to keep the seeds moist until germination. Carrots can be so tricky, and I really am wishing that they will be able to sprout and put down deep roots. We even have rain in the forecast for Monday--yay! Let's hope the rain drops don't dry up before they hit the ground, because we could sure use some precipitation.

 

[Dahlia]

Ours is all hung under the carport roof. I now have the opportunity to do the composting-in-place in that part of the backyard garden.

Oh yes, the garlic. All smaller bulbs this year.

Many cucumbers and @Dahlia 's post in @Cosmo spring garden 's thread with these garlic harvests ongoing made me think of Vietnamese cucumber salad. I can't quite go it – not a fan of such a garlic-dominant recipe and, certainly not of fish sauce. (I'm eating fresh cucumbers as fast as I can, however .)

Steve

Here is a great way to eat a cucumber - dip it in rich, chunky blue cheese dressing and just eat it like that by itself for a snack!