October 2012, New England

Yes, the last of the fresh eggplant, tomatoes and peppers. I like eating my own organic veggies, that is why I go a bit crazy trying to preserve as much of the harvest as I can. As my cherry tomatoes are ripening I am dehydrating those. I need to make a few jars of green tomato pickles and then I should be done, hopefully this weekend.

Oh, well, darn it, then there is still beets and carrots and cabbages to deal with... I guess I wont be done this weekend.

Planted the last of the garlic today. This is softneck. 118 cloves into a 4x6.

You planted today of all days? ROFL!

I planted yesterday, in hopes today's rain would really get them worked in. Mine were hardnecks, 5 per square, 16 squares, 80 altogether.

Did you cover yours with dirt, or leave them exposed like that? Hadn't seen that before. I'm sure you covered them.

Amazingly I still have power. Can't believe it. Hope everyone is okay.

P.S. - Good idea shelling them all first. I shelled as I went along and then I kept thinking - wait a minute. Did I plant the last one here, or here?

I went through all my bulbs of garlic and took the largest cloves off, then drew lines in the prepared bed and placed the cloves. After I snapped this photo I pushed all the cloves into the MM about the length of my thumb, about 2 inches. The rain will fill in the holes.

Congrats on getting your garlic planted!

I just wanted everyone to know that roasted tomatoes I froze in double bags last season are still good in my freezer. I used some this week in my meatballs and spaghetti and they were great. So now I know they keep at least a year in the freezer.

The only things left in my garden are kale, Swiss chard and parsnips. I still haven't harvested any parsnips since we haven't had any frosty nights yet. We had one over a week ago but that was it. Days here now are back in the 60sF. My garlic are planted for next year on Oct 10th and have broken ground with greenery so their roots must be growing. They'll overwinter just fine now. I'll cover them with a layer of leaves and straw when the freezes come.

Swiss chard on Oct 24th.

Now's the time for me to plan and replan my next year's garden. Its such fun for me and I make changes quite often, right up until planting time next spring.

Nice garlic & swiss chard photos, ladies! So pretty.

Well, we made it thru the storm and I'm feeling so grateful. All we had were gusts to 80 mph and 1/3 inch rain. Small branches and lots of leaves down. And my tulle made it thru intact except for one corner came lose and that's it! Amazing.

I picked a bucket full of greens for my daily lunch salads this morning. Will pick chard tomorrow. Besides the lettuces/greens, I have beets, carrots, chives, scallions, celery, peppers, radishes, beans, peas & cherry toms still going, but thinning.

Time to blow this Popsicle stand (work). How was everyone else s Sandy experience?

CC

Oh crud! I somehow missed that we're suppose to peel the garlic before planting it. I planted mine this morning and watered them in well. There are 3 different kinds, along with a couple of shallots, so I did like you did, Camp, and let them show before pushing them down in. This way I'll have a photo of where which ones are incase the markers don't make it thru the winter.

Should I dig them up and peel them?



CC

CapeCoddess wrote:Oh crud! I somehow missed that we're suppose to peel the garlic before planting it. I planted mine this morning and watered them in well. There are 3 different kinds, along with a couple of shallots, so I did like you did, Camp, and let them show before pushing them down in. This way I'll have a photo of where which ones are incase the markers don't make it thru the winter.

Should I dig them up and peel them?



CC

You are not supposed to peel the cloves. You done good CC!

I have never planted garlic, but aren't you supposed to peel off the outside layer of the bulb, break it apart and plant the individual cloves. The garlic in Capecoddes picture looks like it has the outside wrapper on the garlic bulb. I see something sticking up from each of her garlic bulbs.

Actually I planted the cloves but didn't remove the paper from them.

This is what they looked like before I broke them apart:


I guess alot of the 'hard neck' & 'soft neck' parts stayed with some of the cloves. (really...I have no idea what I'm talking about here):

CC

That's right, the cloves are the individual parts of the bulb. When you break the bulb apart, some of the paper is lost. But when you plant you want the keep the paper on the individual cloves, if you can.
This is what mine looked like before planting.

I always plant with some of the papery skin still adhered to the individual cloves. Only the really loose stuff is removed.

Hmmm...I actually *did* peel my cloves before planting them. I posted on another topic about some suspect seed garlic I got from a vendor. The company sent me replacement garlic, but I was still suspicious that the new bulbs might also have mites, so I did some research & found where some folks have good success at pre-treating the cloves to kill any unwanted fungus or parasites by soaking them in a solution of one tablespoon baking soda & 1 tbs liquid seaweed to one gallon of water overnight followed by a 3-4 minute dip in rubbing alcohol.

The pre-treatment loosens the skins so you end up with nekkid cloves. There was another pre-treatment consisting of soaking the cloves into varying degrees of really hot water, but that protocol was rather complicated, so I weighed my alternatives & decided to go for the seaweed bath. It was either that or not plant any garlic at all. I'm glad I did it because I found another variety from a different vendor that was likewise highly suspect & the cloves had looked pristine before peeling them. The mites themselves don't pose much of a danger to us (I'm sure I've cooked & eaten more than a few in my lifetime) or to the plant by themselves except that they're a vector for other more serious diseases to find a way in.

So there you have it: nekkid garlic in the garden...I kinda like the sound of that...

Beautiful gardens and such great pictures and explanations! I need to plant some garlic!