See those 2 bulbs sitting on that railing? The one on the left is what you don't want. Luckily I didn't wait for all the green leaves to turn brown before digging up my bulbs because I already had a couple of these split wrappers brewing underground.....which means they are overdue for digging. Intact wrappers like the one on the right are best for preserving the storage life of the garlic.
Bulbils coming up the stalk. These little jewels can be planted for an eventual garlic harvest. For more information on propagating bulbils read here. It is not immediate gratification, but the end result should be garlic adapted to growing in your soil which is always a good thing!
After collecting and all those dried garlic leaves, trimmed roots, and accompanying dirt for the compost pile, don't forget to set aside the best bulbs for Fall planting. It is the large clove size (vs. bulb size) that influences your future harvest- which is pretty inconvenient if you ask me, as the cloves are all hidden under those layers of paper. Hmph. Oh yeah, and if you plan on ordering any garlic seed be sure to do it in the next month or so before it is all stamped with that SOLD OUT FOR 2010 bit. Best planting time varies some depending on the source, but a month before your average first frost date is a good window to aim for.
8 comments:
They're beautiful!! Even the open wrapper one because it gives you a hint of what's to come. Just yummy!
The blog looks great Kelly! Love that header pic of the garlic.
At least the imperfect garlic bulbs can be used. Hopefully you didn't have many. So many are harvesting garlic that I was urged to dig one up yesterday to see what is going on. I think I will wait one more week.
I enjoyed this post. Both bulbs of garlic are pretty, even if the one can't be stored.
I tend to be inconsistent about getting the garlic harvested at the best time, then getting bulbs replanted in September. Fortunately, this garlic was planted by my in-laws, and was here for years, going to seed and I still have babies come up here and there, besides the established ones. Maybe when I've harvested, and they were too far along, I've left some bulbs behind.
I have done a better job the last few years thinning it and cutting the scapes off, so the bulbs can get bigger,. Whether I have planted in the fall or not, I seem to have a good crop.
Still looks yummy to me! Thanks for the reminder about the garlic - I need to get my garlic & shallots order in pronto, although I have enough shallots to replant, I think I may try a different variety too.
The garlic looks great. We haven't tried to grow garlic yet.
Thanks Ribbit & Dani!
GM- When to harvest seems kind of tricky, I am sure your instinct is correct.
CGS- Those scapes are too delicious to let go to waste aren't they? I love that garlic is 'native'. :)
Erin- My shallots never size up nicely like yours.
Meemsync- This was my first garlic harvest, I am not sure how many cloves to plant in the Fall for next year yet. Will you be planting any cloves this year?
I had those little bulbs form on my a couple of my softnecks too....wasn't quite sure what I were. Now I wish that I had saved them.
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