There's a spreadsheet on my personal page, in the .sig below. I've got something less than half cracked, and none planted, though the bed just needs a couple more passes with Mr. Troy-Bilt to make sure the buckwheat cover is dead. I should be planting in a day or two, which is earlier than my usual late date in upstate New York..
Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G
Cool, I was hoping at least one or two garlic head still hung out here.
This is my first year of expanding and doing anything more than dabbling, so hopefully I'll be successful enough to start building my seed stock. I didn't plant a green manure in my bed, but have loaded it with rabbit manure, and plan to use chopped leaves for mulch.
I just joined SSE about a month ago for next year, so am curious to see their offerings next year.
A few questions:
Is the "# planted" bulbs or cloves?
From the "source" column, it looks like you buy new stock every year, or does that just mean where you got your originals from?
What does column Q represent (the length inc buffer feet one) ?
Have you ever tried saving and planting from bulbils?
That's the original source, in some cases years ago. I'm not really sure that belongs in the spreadsheet, because there's a separate accession file with considerably more detail.
I need to add info in the footer; the cloves go in a 4' wide bed at 6X6" or
8X8" spacing, depending on variety. That number, with the total at the bottom is how long the bed will be. That helps me tweak the numbers planted to fit. This year, the bed has 103 feet available, with only moderate fertility. I'm hoping for some help from my chicken-raising neighbors.
Not directly; I've occasionally given away bulbils to folks who want a cheap start. It's also a good choice if you're worried about soil-borne disease.
The sky is getting brighter overhead, so it looks like the rain has blown through. 0.6" in the rain gauge when I looked earlier, after a couple of weeks of nothing, so shouldn't be too muddy. My soil is mostly clay, interspersed with shale and the occasional traveling boulder, thanks to the late glacier.
Hope this helps,
Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G
I've read that garlic head need to be cold-soaked before planting to make them grow cloves instead of one big onion-like bulb. Most of my garlic (not chilled) did not produce multiple cloves but these big masses. Can anybody confirm/deny the need to refrigerate the garlic?
I bung a clove of standard garlic in the ground and it produces true to its parent. Some elephant garlic cloves produced another clove but I understand if I plant it the following autumn it will produce a mass of cloves.
Depends on the variety; some garlics need a winter dormancy/chill to grow properly, the softneck varieties grown in California do not. Filaree Farm has some they call "Cajun" that need little or no winter chill. At any rate, the garlic should get this chilling in the ground, since it puts down roots after planting and before the ground freezes. (If it does where you are). Sufficient winter chill is NOT a problem for me in upstate New York!
Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G
I just planted mine on sunday: georgian crystal, northern white, german white, persian star, brown tempest, pskem, red rezan, purple glazer, temptress, german red, italian red, russian red, korean red, riesig
northern white from Ireland Farm and german white from Mele Farm are both impressive for size. I have also done very well with brown tempest.
riesig is one that I know nothing about. Any info would be appreciated.
That works fine, but you have to hope it is a type suited to your local conditions. At least, use your own best bulbs for planting stock in the future, since garlic adapts.
Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G
The Costco stuff is more than likely from China, which grows a lot of really cheap garlic. Personally, I wouldn't touch it with a 3.05 meter pole, because of the possibility of soil-borne nasties. But, it's probably better than planting nothing. Half the fun of this is networking with other like-minded loonies; preferably fairly local (though the Net has greatly expanded "local").
Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G
I didn't get many planted last year and I used them all up. I just used some from Costco. I figure that it is a good as mail order and I doubt that what the nurseries around here have is actually "local" garlic.
The garlic from Costco is Gilroy. It specifically states on the bag that it is "California Grown." Costco says that they verify the sources of the foods at least annually.
Also, if it came from a store it's almost assuredly a softneck, right?
Not boring but, IMO A clove of store bought softneck compared to a locally adapted hardneck is kind of the same difference between a hot house tomato versus an heirloom from your garden.
They may belong to the same family, but one is grown for convenience of the grower and the practicality of bringing to market, while the other is grown purely for taste.
A mate of mine has grown garlic for years and, as he termed it, slowly developed garlic suited to his micro climate. I am in my third crop of garlic and hoping over the years the crop will get better and better as I harvest and replant the very best stock.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.