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Garden Gate:  garlic suggestions  |
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CountryChick
True Blue Farmgirl
56 Posts
MICHIGAN
56 Posts |
 Posted - Jul 18 2007 : 09:01:42 AM
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I would like to start growing some garlic this fall and would like some suggestions.
I live in northern michigan and I read that hardneck varieties are better for northern climates. Can anyone suggest a hardneck garlic type and does any softneck fair well in the Northern climates? |
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AliShuShu
True Blue Farmgirl
150 Posts
Alison
Charlotte
NC
USA
150 Posts |
Posted - Jul 18 2007 : 09:10:46 AM
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i'm interested in the process of growing garlic as well. but i'm in quite a different climate than northern michigan. any information that anyone could provide would be much appreciated!
thanks!
Alison
I think that if ever a mortal heard the voice of God it would be in a garden at the cool of the day. ~F. Frankfort Moore, A Garden of Peace
Namaste'
www.shumusings.com |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
Posted - Jul 18 2007 : 10:24:47 AM
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MaryJane sells her garlic and it is amazing! I would certainly encourage anyone who wants to grow garlic to give her's a shot.
Alee
The amazing one handed typist! One hand for typing, one hand to hold Nora! |
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CountryChick
True Blue Farmgirl
56 Posts
MICHIGAN
56 Posts |
Posted - Jul 18 2007 : 6:49:27 PM
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Great idea! Alee
I found the information I was looking for in the shoulder to the wheel magazine. There only a couple questions left. How many heads in a 1/2 lb for $18 and Can they be grown in a Northern Climate?
Thank You!
Nikki |
Edited by - CountryChick on Jul 18 2007 8:53:03 PM |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
Posted - Jul 19 2007 : 08:28:03 AM
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Nikki-
I am not sure how many head there would be, I am sure quite a few. I can ask for you! And garlic grows great in a northern climate! In my hometown there is a lady that grows MaryJane's garlic. That is in Wyoming at about 6,000ft elevation. We get below 0 weather in winter and above 100 degree weather in summer. Last year she had so much garlic, she was giving it way. My mom said she had cart loads full of it! :)
Alee
The amazing one handed typist! One hand for typing, one hand to hold Nora! |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
Posted - Jul 19 2007 : 12:09:15 PM
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Nikki-
It will depend on bulb size, but 2-3 bulbs go into the half pound sack.
Good garlic should feel heavy for it's size (something I learned from food network! LOL)
Alee
The amazing one handed typist! One hand for typing, one hand to hold Nora! |
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garliclady
True Blue Farmgirl
274 Posts
Reidsville
NC
274 Posts |
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CountryChick
True Blue Farmgirl
56 Posts
MICHIGAN
56 Posts |
Posted - Jul 20 2007 : 08:07:45 AM
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| Well I would love to purchase Maryjanes but they are way more expensive than seeds of change or any of the other organic growers. Maybe I will save up and purchase next year. |
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KYgurlsrbest
True Blue Farmgirl
4853 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4853 Posts |
Posted - Jul 20 2007 : 09:13:43 AM
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Ok, so I went to the Seeds of Change site because they have Music Garlic, which is my fave, but I'm a little confused--I'm not a mathmetician, and I completely admit to being ignorant about 1/2 lb purchases of garlic, etc...
1. When I plant my garlic, I'm going to separate the cloves, and plant them point up, correct?
2. I use garlic everynight--some I roast, but often just for basic cooking. The Music would be to roast, so I want quite a bit. This is how they describe the amount: "Pale pink-skinned bulbs keep 5-8 months. Averages 3-4 bulbs per 1/2 lb. with 5-7 cloves per bulb." 1/2 lb should do it, right? A 1/2 lb. is $12.00.
Thanks for your guidance 
"She was built like a watch, a study in balance ... with a neck and head so refined, like a drawing by DaVinci"...
NY Newsday sportswriter Bill Nack describing filly, Ruffian. |
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CountryChick
True Blue Farmgirl
56 Posts
MICHIGAN
56 Posts |
Posted - Jul 20 2007 : 09:25:08 AM
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Tell me Jonni.... Is the pink music garlic good for roasting and cooking. Is it sharp or mild?
Also Jonni... if you are frugal like me....
I just checked another organic grower seedsavers.org and you can get 5 heads of pink music garlic for $11.50.
Nikki
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Edited by - CountryChick on Jul 20 2007 09:45:25 AM |
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KYgurlsrbest
True Blue Farmgirl
4853 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4853 Posts |
Posted - Jul 20 2007 : 09:50:28 AM
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Heya Nikki!
Music garlic is WONDERFUL for roasting, and it's a large garlic bulb. At our favorite restaurant, in Louisville, Kentucky (Lilly's), they roast a head of Music Garlic and serve it with a little pitcher of olive oil, smoked sea salt flakes and baguette and it's HEAVEN. I can't say enough about it! It's like "buttah", only better
I'll check out seed savors, too.
I need a roasting garlic and a cooking garlic. I think I'll try the transylvania, if I can get it. I could actually go hog wild with garlic, seriously. I see my whole garden bed becoming a plot of garlic!
"She was built like a watch, a study in balance ... with a neck and head so refined, like a drawing by DaVinci"...
NY Newsday sportswriter Bill Nack describing filly, Ruffian. |
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CountryChick
True Blue Farmgirl
56 Posts
MICHIGAN
56 Posts |
Posted - Jul 20 2007 : 10:05:57 AM
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| You are making me hungry! LOL!! |
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AliShuShu
True Blue Farmgirl
150 Posts
Alison
Charlotte
NC
USA
150 Posts |
Posted - Jul 20 2007 : 4:34:51 PM
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tell me if there is a way to freeze garlic so that when you've kept your harvest for about 6 months or so and its about ready to go bad or dry up... there is a way to not lose your hard work... i wouldn't think that raw garlic would freeze well, but what about roasting it and squeezing it out into a container or bag... anyone know about that?
and how/when do you harvest garlic... heck, when should you plant it? i know NOTHING about it, but would absolutely LOVE to grow our own garlic... can you use it straight out of the ground, or should it "cure"... i'm completely ignorant on this subject.
also.. i've heard a lot about garlic scapes... can you harvest those without harvesting the garlic itself?
thanks for any and all info you're willing to share!
Alison
I think that if ever a mortal heard the voice of God it would be in a garden at the cool of the day. ~F. Frankfort Moore, A Garden of Peace
Namaste'
www.shumusings.com |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
Posted - Jul 20 2007 : 8:52:59 PM
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Here is some information I found about garlic. I just copied and pasted from the link below:
http://growingtaste.com/vegetables/garlic.shtml
Lots of great info for us budding garlic growers.
Cultivars
There is a charming poster that shows a full-color closeup of a few cloves of garlic; it is labelled "Italian caviar," and that sums up garlic excellently. Garlic qualifies as a great vegetable because not only is it an indispensible cookery ingredient, it can well and delightfully be eaten as and for itself (squeeze the paste from roasted garlic out on some lightly toasted French/Italian bread, pop a young, slightly acidic red wine, and preview Paradise).
Aficionados of garlic cultivars are perhaps not as vociferous as chileheads or tomato fanciers, but we daresay they rank ahead of even corn advocates. Making particular choices from the wealth of available possibilities is difficult. We are fortunate in that there is a garlic specialist--Filaree Farm--in our, as they put it, "eco-region"; we thus have, at the least, a good basis for believing that the types we select will at least grow well here. (In much of the information on this page, we are closely following Filaree's helpful combination catalogue/guide.)
There are a myriad types of garlic. They can be classed in hierarchies, the top levels of which have some botanical significance and the lower levels of which are more expert experience than botany (at least so far--the field is still advancing). The critical factors in selecting even classes of interest are two: taste, and storage ability (for there is no point in growing a year's supply of a kind that only keeps for a few months). Suitability for growing is third by so much that it scarcely figures in out here; to the minimal extent that it does, it would be to eliminate that class called "Creole" garlics, which "perform best in mild-winter and southern climates". Here, then, are the key data.
Classes and Flavor
The highest-level division is into "hardneck" and "softneck" types (see the discussion down the page under "Biology"). Very broadly speaking, hardnecks have more intense flavors--they are more closely related to their wild ancestor--but lesser storage capabilities, while conversely softnecks are excellent "keepers" but often milder. (That is a broad-brush simplification with numerous exceptions and half-exceptions.)
There are three main subdivisions of hardnecks ("rocambole", "porcelain", and purple stripe") and two of softnecks ("artichoke" and "silverskin"); some have further subdivisions. Here are those divisions, and some taste notes (not from us).
Artichoke - "milder" flavors:
Artichoke per se
Asiatic
Turban
Rocambole - rich, full-bodied flavor
Purple Stripe - these often win "baked-garlic" taste tests:
Purple Stripe per se
Glazed Purple Stripe
Marbled Purple Stripe
Porcelain - much like rocambole
Silverskin:
Silverskin - your familiar supermarket garlic
Creole (probably not suited for growing here)
Storage Ability
Under good storage conditions, which are not hard to achieve (room temperature and medium to low humidity), one can hope for these results:
Asiatic and Turban types: a few months
Rocambole and Purple Stripe types: 6 months
Porcelain and Artichoke types: 8 to 10 months
Silverskin (including Creole) types: up to a full year
Rocamboles, however, have a tendency to dehydrate in storage under dry conditions (less than about 50% humidity), which we tend to have out here.
Some Conclusions
Sheer logic allows us to extract some fairly simple conclusions from the data given above. Of the kinds that can potentially store a full year, the Creoles seem poor choices in our region, which leaves the silverskins; but the silverskins are undistinguished in a culinary sense, so we want only as many as necessary--say ¼ of our crop, to get us from 10 months to 12 months post-harvest. in the range of 7 to 9 months post-harvest, we have the porcelains and the "artichoke: types: but--to us, anyway--"mild-tasting garlic" sounds to us like an oxymoron, so we can discard the "artichoke" types and say that another ¼ of our crop will be porcelain types. And, because we have already eliminated the "artichoke" types as wimpy, the other ½ of our crop will be either rocambole or purple-stripe types--say ¼ rocambole and ¼ purple stripe, or posibly--because they store a little better and may be a little better culinarily--a full ½ purple stripe (somehow, those just sound better than the rocambole types).
There: wasn't that easy?
Our Choices
Now we need to choose within the types specified above. At this level, one has to go by either extensive personal experience (which we lack), or the catalogue descriptions in the seedsmen's catalogues. And, at the outset, one has to be prepared to experiment for a few seasons.
We're hoping for six dozen garlic plants--that equates (under ideal conditions: full growth and no storage losses) to using about a bulb of garlic every five days through the year, so even for garlic lovers like us there's a margin for error--and so can trial several types, subject to order minima. (Filaree has a ¼-pound minimum order per type; though this varies with type, and even date, that is very, very roughly 16 cloves minimum--so we can probably order no less than one-quarter of our crop as any one type.)
Here, then, is what we have chosen:
Purple-Stripe: Chesnok Red ("top cooking garlic")
Purple-Stripe: Brown Rose ("long storing"--presumably in a relative sense--also early)
Porcelain: Romanian Red ("very good storage")
Silverskin: Idaho Silver ("well adapted to northern interior climates")
Planting
Timing
Out here, we plant garlic in the fall--typically around October 1st (which is about, one hopes, 6 weeks before the first hard frost)--to overwinter, then grow through the following summer. One always plants garlic where it is to grow.
The Bed
Garlic wants a sunny spot. The soil should be rich (but not too rich, or the tops will overdevelop). Garlic does not do well in really sandy or really clay-ey soils, or soils lacking in organic matter; the soil should be loamy, and well-drained.
While one can add soil amendments, there's usually little one can do about excesses already present. Still, research has shown that high phosphorous levels can decrease plant height, average bulb weight, and usable yield, so keep that in mind.
Planting Out
Plant individual cloves with the root end down--be sure you don't set them upside-down! Set them an inch or two deep. Mulch them as soon as they are planted, using some loose stuff that the emerging stalks can easily penetrate (straw is excellent). Some sources say to set them 6 inches apart; others--deep-bed sources--suggest that 4 inches will suffice. Obvious, but probably worth saying anyway: large cloves will produce large bulbs, and small, small; save the smallest cloves from your seed bulbs (usually the interior ones) for kitchen use and plant only the larger ones.
Growing
In the spring, the garlics will send up greens through the mulch. When those emerge, begin watering them, more or less like any garden green. If you can apply some extra nitrogen at this time, so much the better.
Somewhere around mid-May, the garlics will finish their green-growth stage and start bulbing up. Around that time you can slightly cut back their watering.
Vital note! Hardneck types will, somewhere around early June, send up a flower stalk: keep a close eye on it. About a week after those stalks begin to uncoil, turn woody, and stand upright, cut the stalks off about ½ inch above the top plant leaf. Fail in that, and you'll get little if any bulb.
As your anticipated harvest time approaches, keep watering minimal: the topsoil should not be really wet, or the bulbs may mold, or at least stain.
As harvest really draws nigh, the leaves will start turning from green to brown. Opinions vary about exactly when to strike, but expert consensus sems to be soon after half or so of the leaves have gone brown. Do not wait for most or all of the leaves to go brown.
Harvest by simply taking the bulbs out of the ground. Do not leave freshly dug bulbs in direct sunlight for more than a very few minutes--they will more or less cook. Hang dug bulbs somewhere indoors and let them cure--two or three weeks is probably what that will take in our climate. When curing is satisfactorily complete, the neck of the plant can be cut about ½ inch above the bulb without any moisture showing (if you try it and detect moisture, curing is not complete). Cured garlics can be neck- and root-trimmed and stored in hanging net bags (like onions).
More
Relevant Links
Besides any links presented above on this page, the following ought to be especially helpful:
Plants For a Future Database: Garlic - tons of data on the vegetable, and links to lots more
Ethnobotanical Leaflets - Garlic - a combination of scientific and historical information on garlic
Filaree Farm - a regional organic garlic grower: good information on garlic types, plus further garlic- and organics-related links (a commercial site)
Overview of the 5 Varieties and 17 Sub-Varieties - a seller who specializes in garlic: very informative and apparently unbiased (a commercial site)
How To Grow Garlic: from "Irish Eyes with a Hint of Garlic", another regional garlic supplier (a commercial site), plus
Garlic Types - from the same site
"The origins and distribution of garlic: How many garlics are there?" - extensive info from the USDA
Odds and Ends
Biology
Modern garlics are of only two species: Allium ophioscorodon, the "hardnecks", which produce a flower stalk as did their wild ancestor; and A. sativum, the softnecks, which usually do not produce a flower stalk.
Hardnecks, left to their own devices, will produce small bulbils at the ends of their stalks (reminiscent of Egyptian onions) and little bulb below ground; they must have the the flower stalk removed to bulb up properly. Softnecks are non-bolting garlics that freely produce underground bulbs instead of flowers. (This simplified view has complicating exceptions.)
The Allium genus is part of the Liliaceae, the lily family--which includes onions, leeks, and asparagus among its more useful edible members.
Alee
The amazing one handed typist! One hand for typing, one hand to hold Nora! |
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garliclady
True Blue Farmgirl
274 Posts
Reidsville
NC
274 Posts |
Posted - Jul 23 2007 : 09:27:50 AM
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To alison in NC most of your questions will be answered on my website . Growing garlic here is different than the westcoast ofr up north.
HERE the types that do best are turbans(which here can store up to 10 mos) artichoke softneck (which store 10-12 months)and elephant which can store well until next harvest. As for hardnecks stay away from rocanboles and any hard neck that says that is one that is "Late Harvest". Music (a porcelain ) and some glazed or marbled purple stripes are good choices. Scapes in NC need to be harvested in May to help the heads get bigger. check my website for more planting details
My Farm http://home.bellsouth.net/p/s/community.dll?ep=16&ext=1&groupid=140532&ck=
My Recipes http://recipecircus.com/recipes/garliclady/]
My blog http://www.epicourier.com/Garliclady/ |
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KYgurlsrbest
True Blue Farmgirl
4853 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4853 Posts |
Posted - Aug 06 2007 : 11:22:03 AM
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I ordered my garlic from Seed Savers! The shipping and cost seemed most appropriate--a local farm, near Richmond, Kentucky, wanted to charge me $8.00 per lb. to ship it an hour north! That's too much, and the garlic wasn't very reasonable, either! I like what Seed Savers does, so it was a no brainer.
If it were only next year so I could have eat my garlic already!!!!
"She was built like a watch, a study in balance ... with a neck and head so refined, like a drawing by DaVinci"...
NY Newsday sportswriter Bill Nack describing filly, Ruffian. |
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Love-in-a-Mist
True Blue Farmgirl
367 Posts
Shannon
Independence
Oregon
USA
367 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2007 : 08:53:14 AM
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I just wanted to confess, that we wanted to plant garlic and didn't know anything about it. We planted some from the grocery store this spring and it all came up and we got a harvest! You are not supposed to do any of that, but it still worked.
http://diaryofafarmerswife.blogspot.com/ |
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Huckelberrywine
True Blue Farmgirl
1607 Posts
Michelle
Rosalia
1607 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2007 : 11:25:53 AM
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Shannon, why aren't we supposed to plant the ones from the store? Is it just home use vs. commercial crop? I just raise mine for our own use, and the ones we bought from the store have done well enough with no down side I can see.
We make a difference. |
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CountryChick
True Blue Farmgirl
56 Posts
MICHIGAN
56 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2007 : 1:42:15 PM
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Jonni
What did you decide to order? Pink Music?
Nikki |
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KYgurlsrbest
True Blue Farmgirl
4853 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4853 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2007 : 1:51:17 PM
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I ordered Music and Tochliavri Garlic (Red Toch for short) for cooking with. I CAN NOT wait. Additionally, they don't charge your card until the ship date, which I chose mid October, because it's still very workable her, and I'm planting in a raised bed, so the soil will be warm anyhow.
J
"She was built like a watch, a study in balance ... with a neck and head so refined, like a drawing by DaVinci"...
NY Newsday sportswriter Bill Nack describing filly, Ruffian. |
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Love-in-a-Mist
True Blue Farmgirl
367 Posts
Shannon
Independence
Oregon
USA
367 Posts |
Posted - Aug 08 2007 : 08:50:53 AM
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Everything I read after that said the store garlic will not come up or be a really bad crop. We were wondering if they sprayed it with something to try and keep it from sprouting?
http://diaryofafarmerswife.blogspot.com/ |
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KYgurlsrbest
True Blue Farmgirl
4853 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4853 Posts |
Posted - Aug 08 2007 : 08:55:06 AM
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I've just read (about store bought garlic and veges in general) not to replicate them, because of the genetic lines. Usually, they are sprayed and manipulated so frequently, that you're not getting a pure variety. That's enough to creep me out, and, additionally, I really like a great deal of different garlics. (I'm a bit of a foodie).
j
"She was built like a watch, a study in balance ... with a neck and head so refined, like a drawing by DaVinci"...
NY Newsday sportswriter Bill Nack describing filly, Ruffian. |
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Huckelberrywine
True Blue Farmgirl
1607 Posts
Michelle
Rosalia
1607 Posts |
Posted - Aug 08 2007 : 09:32:34 AM
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Oh, well, that makes sense. Ick. They have come up, but they aren't as plump as a head from the market. I thought it was just because I wasn't fertilizing the bejeebers out of them. I've been pretty much just tossing little leftover cloves in the garden when the season's right, and look on the results as a bonus. Maybe it's time to get the real thing and make a go of a year's supply.
We make a difference. |
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garliclady
True Blue Farmgirl
274 Posts
Reidsville
NC
274 Posts |
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Garden Gate: garlic suggestions |
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garlic suggestions
