Gorgeous Garlic

I'm a dork....

Yesterday I read this post then went off to the grocery store. With the picture of your amazing garlic crop in my mind I picked up a garlic or two.... to plant. I totally forgot the part where you said to plant it in November... ooops. :o) I caught my self just as I set the grocery bags on the counter.

It just looks so dang impressive!!

Nice - garlic is the next thing on my list to plant in the fall. So far I'm planning lettuce (again), brussel sprouts, mustard greens, onions (again - on time), and garlic.

I have a funny garlic story. When I was in high school I lived in southern Spain with my parents. One day an old man knocked on the door and asked my father for work. My dad asked him what he could do. One of the things was "garden". So my dad took him out behind our house and asked him if he could plant a garden for us. YES, of course he could! My dad said he'd pay him to put in a "vegetable" garden and that he could plant anything he wanted. Dad was just trying to give him work... Anyway, we come home from school/work and our WHOLE backyard is dug up. Okay.... well Dad, you did ask for a garden. Later on... it's planted and the whole garden is growing. Only... it's ONE thing. We don't know what he planted. Turns out... it's garlic. The man planted our entire backyard in garlic. Funniest thing ever! When it came time to "harvest" the old man dug up all of the garlic and presented it to my dad (who had been paying this man every week for tending the "garden"). My dad took several of the garlic bulbs for us and gave the entire rest of it to the old man and told him he could have it. I'm SURE that old man thought my father was a crazy American. We laughed about that garlic garden for years.

Tril wrote:I have a funny garlic story. When I was in high school I lived in southern Spain with my parents. One day an old man knocked on the door and asked my father for work. My dad asked him what he could do. One of the things was "garden". So my dad took him out behind our house and asked him if he could plant a garden for us. YES, of course he could! My dad said he'd pay him to put in a "vegetable" garden and that he could plant anything he wanted. Dad was just trying to give him work... Anyway, we come home from school/work and our WHOLE backyard is dug up. Okay.... well Dad, you did ask for a garden. Later on... it's planted and the whole garden is growing. Only... it's ONE thing. We don't know what he planted. Turns out... it's garlic. The man planted our entire backyard in garlic. Funniest thing ever! When it came time to "harvest" the old man dug up all of the garlic and presented it to my dad (who had been paying this man every week for tending the "garden"). My dad took several of the garlic bulbs for us and gave the entire rest of it to the old man and told him he could have it. I'm SURE that old man thought my father was a crazy American. We laughed about that garlic garden for years.

THAT is a GREAT story!!! Thanks for sharing.

krazikandiland wrote:I'm a dork....

Yesterday I read this post then went off to the grocery store. With the picture of your amazing garlic crop in my mind I picked up a garlic or two.... to plant. I totally forgot the part where you said to plant it in November... ooops. :o) I caught my self just as I set the grocery bags on the counter.

It just looks so dang impressive!!

This is another one of those things they tell you not to plant the grocery store stuff. It too has been treated to keep it from sprouting. However, very often even the grocery store variety starts to sprout. So I plant it and use it. Where I live, garlic bulbs are only available for sale in SPRING which is so dumb since they are supposed to be planted in FALL! Last fall I planted some grocery store stuff that was starting to sprout on me as well as some I got from a gardening friend. Then we made an unexpected trip down to see my mom last fall and I found lots of Red Russian garlic for sale at roadside fruit stands. So I bought some, brought it home and planted it too. The grocery story variety started growing last fall. I was afraid it might not grow anymore this spring, but it has. My Russian garlic has caught up to it though and it will be interesting to see the difference between the two when I harvest them.

Gwynn

I get mine from a local farm stand that only grows organic foods and they assure me they don't treat their garlic with anything.
I feel it'll be safe to grow. I planted them around Columbus Day (that's the time to do it around here in Maine so they roots have a chance to start growing) and they are doing well so far.

Here's a Chinese cabbage and 4 garlic beside it a week ago.

Only the hard neck types of garlic will produce scapes. Artichoke garlic plants are soft neck types, and do not produce scapes, but will have great leaves you can braid after the plant dries. Hard necks are more primitive varieties of garlic, and usually are the ones with a hotter or more spicy flavor. What you usually find in the grocery stores are soft necks, like the variety grown in mega-acreages in California. If your garlic never sends up scapes, and you are able to braid them after drying, they are the "artichoke" variety. Google for a local garlic source of bulbs, and they will be delighted to give you more education in garlic than you really want, but it will be fascinating and give you a whole new outlook on the stinking rose. Here's one I like (somewhat local for us): http://www.filareefarm.com/