Raised bed garlic vs. in ground

It is an accepted fact that in this part of Texas raised beds don't work. It's too dry and impossible to keep moist enough for plants to thrive. At least that's what folks keep telling me. Well, here's the proof I need to refute them. This is ordinary wild field garlic -- not the elephant kind. Last October when I moved from the country I dug up several small clumps to get a start on this new property. I planted one clump in a lasagna bed and the others in soil that I dug deep and amended with compost and sand. Neither have had any fertilizer and both had the same frequency of watering. Can you tell which was planted where? Remember that these started out the same size and were planted at the same time. I included a 12" ruler to show perspective.



I wish I had planted more in the lasagna bed. BTW, I am convinced that I would have had the same results in 10-12" of Mel's mix, but hadn't even heard of it last October.

So nice ! Ok the larger ones were planted in your lasagna beds? I love garlic Its an essential.

Thank you for sharing
Ha-v-v

Yes, the larger were planted in a raised bed. The individual cloves are larger than some of the bulbs that grew in the traditonal manner.

Very very nice Belfry,
I did read about the lasagna beds from the site you posted on another thread. I thought it was an excellent way to do things I have some store bought garlic I planted and Im experimenting. I go to google and ask ..can I do this, it says yes. I did read you can trim the scapes to make the bulb bigger. Did you ever do this with your garlic? The store bought garlic is growing well, and I did trim the scapes per an article I read. Its nice to see others with experience. My experience is in the making.

Thanks again for sharing, those garlic look lovely. If I get garlic out of the garden this year and its big enough Im roasting it and making Buttah

Ha-v-v

Ha-v-v wrote:Very very nice Belfry,
I did read you can trim the scapes to make the bulb bigger. Did you ever do this with your garlic?
Thanks again for sharing, those garlic look lovely. If I get garlic out of the garden this year and its big enough Im roasting it and making Buttah

Ha-v-v

I always cut off the flower stalk -- otherwise the energy of the plant goes into making seed instead of growing large bulbs. I love roasted garlic!

Oh thank you so much belfry. Can you do this with onions too? I planted white onion bulbs and the shoots are a foot tall now. I have a lot of onions planted in a square, I was thinking I could trim some and let some grow making some onions smaller and bigger. Does that make sense? Trim some onions and leave some?

The first time I made roasted garlic was when we had goats and I was able to make a nice soft herbed cheese to put on a toasted bread with it. I thought why havent I had this before !! Roasted garlic on anything makes it taste better, well almost anything. :-D

Ha-v-v

Belfry :-D another garlic question. Now that you have the garlic out of the soil, how you will treat them, i.e. how will you store them and dry them?
Ha-v-v

4" garlic Roasted garlic

Ha-v-v wrote:Oh thank you so much belfry. Can you do this with onions too? I planted white onion bulbs and the shoots are a foot tall now. I have a lot of onions planted in a square, I was thinking I could trim some and let some grow making some onions smaller and bigger. Does that make sense? Trim some onions and leave some?

Ha-v-v

Unless the onion put up a flower stalk (which they normally don't do), let them grow until they are crowded and then pull a few out while they are still small to give room for the others to grow larger. I begin by pulling up every third one, ansd then every other one, if necessary. Onions are great at all stages of development.

Ha-v-v wrote:Belfry :-D another garlic question. Now that you have the garlic out of the soil, how you will treat them, i.e. how will you store them and dry them?
Ha-v-v

If the bulbs are not split, I wash them right away and tie several stalks together and hang them in the shed to dry for a week. Since this garlic is stiff necked, I've not been successful at braiding them. If the bulbs are split, as one of the large ones in the picture, I wash well, separate the cloves and let them dry on a screen. I store both cloves and bulbs that have lost their tops in mesh bags in a dark place. I identify three or four bulbs as "seed bulbs" and don't wash them. I brush off as much dirt as possible, and tie together to save for Fall planting. Although the wild garlic usually comes back on it's own from little bulbets that fall off the main bulb.

Belfry,
Thank you again I will do that, let them grow until crowded. I love onions too. We lived a while in a campground in Pa, (we traveled for a while with my husbands job) and my husband and sons would find wild onions, they werent any bigger than a big big pearl onion, but were so sweet and good. We made a stew and they were a big part of it. I planted two more squares of onions last week and they are already peeking out of the top. This has been the best garden yet for me

Ha-v-v

I identify three or four bulbs as "seed bulbs" and don't wash them.

What would make a bulb an ideal seed bulb? What are you looking for?

Looks great belfry!

That's awesome results.

Can you give a quick tutorial about growing garlic? We've thought about doing it, but haven't looked to see if you need to do anything special yet.

Ha-v-v wrote:

I identify three or four bulbs as "seed bulbs" and don't wash them.

What would make a bulb an ideal seed bulb? What are you looking for?

A well rounded medium-sized bulb that isn't split. They keep longer.

Thank you Belfry again :-D !! Now .. lolololol I pray our house is up and I have 4 walls and a roof at least So I have a drying area this year The wheels are turning as to where if its not done by harvest lololololol

I love this forum. The information is like walking into a library
Ha-v-v

Kabaju42 wrote:That's awesome results.

Can you give a quick tutorial about growing garlic? We've thought about doing it, but haven't looked to see if you need to do anything special yet.

The garlic I grow is wild field garlic. At my previous property, I just identified three or four clumps in the field close enough to get a water hose to, dumped on lots of manure and compost as soon as the shoots emerged in the fall, and other than a bit of watering let nature do her thing. When I moved here I dug up several clumps and you see the result.

This coming fall, I will plant individual cloves four to a square in which I've added extra compost and aged manure (this is one place that Mel and I disagree as he suggests 9 to a square). Water regularly. Cut off the scape when it appears, and harvest the garlic when half the top had died back. That's all there is to it. Just be sure and find a garlic that is adapted to your area.

Awesome. I have to find garlic to plant next year or in the fall, it'd be fun.

Awesome. I have to find garlic to plant next year or in the fall, it'd
be fun.

I have some friends that live in Finland. Her husband loves garlic, plants it from the store into pots, he then cuts the scapes to help the bulb grow he gets to use the scapes to eat. Finland has a short growing season so they use pots and they are in an apt. You could use them like a live condiment thing, just keep scissors handy. We have someone in the forum that uses cilantro this way, I thought this was the coolest idea I have store bought garlic in one square and I have cut the scapes for the first time. We will see when its time to harvest a couple
Belfry's garlic has encouraged me tremendously.

Ha-v-v

I planted garlic last fall for the first time. We are getting lovely scapes starting the end of last week.

How long do I have to harvest the scapes, for best results? And if I need to harvest them in the best interest of the garlic, how long do they last for cooking?

belfrybat wrote:

Kabaju42 wrote:That's awesome results.

Can you give a quick tutorial about growing garlic? We've thought about doing it, but haven't looked to see if you need to do anything special yet.

The garlic I grow is wild field garlic. At my previous property, I just identified three or four clumps in the field close enough to get a water hose to, dumped on lots of manure and compost as soon as the shoots emerged in the fall, and other than a bit of watering let nature do her thing. When I moved here I dug up several clumps and you see the result.

This coming fall, I will plant individual cloves four to a square in which I've added extra compost and aged manure (this is one place that Mel and I disagree as he suggests 9 to a square). Water regularly. Cut off the scape when it appears, and harvest the garlic when half the top had died back. That's all there is to it. Just be sure and find a garlic that is adapted to your area.

Dear Belfrybat, What are scapes? If these are the greens making up the top, how can you tell when half of the top has died back as a key to harvest time? Here in Hawaii, I've never grown garlic but people do this in the fall and then harvest 6 to 9 months later. I would like to try this so please let me know how you succeed. How deep will you plant the cloves?

martha wrote:I planted garlic last fall for the first time. We are getting lovely scapes starting the end of last week.

How long do I have to harvest the scapes, for best results? And if I need to harvest them in the best interest of the garlic, how long do they last for cooking?

Each garlic bulb puts up one scape (flower stalk). Cut them before they straighten out if you are eating them so they will be tender. The wild garlic I grow has a scape stem that is always straight and I cut it off as soon as I identify it. Haven't tried eating them, and now will have to wait until next year.

Joan Larcom wrote:
Dear Belfrybat, What are scapes? If these are the greens making up the top, how can you tell when half of the top has died back as a key to harvest time? Here in Hawaii, I've never grown garlic but people do this in the fall and then harvest 6 to 9 months later. I would like to try this so please let me know how you succeed. How deep will you plant the cloves?

Scape is the flower stalk. It is round with a bulb on top and comes from the center of the bulb. See above post. When the garlic bulb is mature, the leaves will turn brown and die. I harvest when about half the plant has died back. I plant in late September/ early October here and usually harvest early June. Plant the clove rounded end down 3 times as deep as it's height.

belfrybat wrote:
Just be sure and find a garlic that is adapted to your area.

I'm growing stiff-necked garlic for the first time this year. (We had plenty of elephant garlic which escaped from my grandmother's garden - it is mild and not a true garlic - and we never grew the real thing before.) My husband's cousin sent us cloves from his patch in New York. Since we are in Missouri, does this mean his garlic won't do well here? It is growing tall, but the stems and leaves are much smaller than the elephant garlic plants. I assumed that was normal.

How do you find which garlic is adapted to your area?

Missouri is cold enough that garlic from NY will do just fine. Here's an article that explains different garlic types. It's geared for southern gardeners since that is where I live. I'm sure you can find similar articles using an Internet search for northern varieties. http://www.gourmetgarlicgardens.com/growsouth.htm