Northern Hemisphere Garlic Ranchers/2024 Crop

[WoodSprite]

Nice harvest, @Cornelius_Gotchberg. Maybe you said and I missed it. What variety or varieties do you grow?

[Cornelius_Gotchberg]

Nice harvest, @Cornelius_Gotchberg.

Yer too knid.

Maybe you said and I missed it. What variety or varieties do you grow?

Never said, so you missed nothing; both hard-n-soft neck, nothing exotic, really.

I'm a piker when it comes to Garlic varieties and just do what I do best with the basics: Plant/Tend/Nurture/Harvest/Repeat.

The Gotch

[JRinPA]

LAST WEEK NEVER GOT POSTED
This was Saturday Jun 29th, it blackened up to the west and north, fast moving clouds, but still blue skies to the south. It took forever to decide it would hit us. So I got out a little over a dozen before that. Then we got a nice bit of rain Sat and Sun.

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[JRinPA]

And then on the morning of the 4th I got about 30% of the long row out. Didn't bother going through with any of that testing/measuring/comparing of the lots I planted back in December. Not worth the effort with this ALM damage. It always seems like a good idea in the nice cool planting weather, and an insane idea when it is hot picking weather.

got about 1/4 of the garlic pulled on the morning of the 4th. No rain in the forecast until the afternoon of the 5th, and I was worn out. So I stopped there and went home. Well, it poured good and hard and long for fireworks time that night. I guess I could have gotten it out but at least I picked everything with the scapes broken off.

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There is again no rain in the forecast until Wednesday, hot hot hot with no break, but I just don't trust them. I should probably go pull it all right now, but it rained 1.25" on the night of the 4th. They are not nearly as dry as they were two days back. Still had a lot of green leaves on them.

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[Cornelius_Gotchberg]

@JRinPA two (2) questions:

1- Seems you's don't remove yer Garlic's scapes; ¿por qué?

2- Do you's spray yer bulbs off?

The Gotch

[CrazyAboutOrchids]

I grow Music and Rosewood (came from Mad River Garlic originally - awesome source!!!). Just pulled my first and am pleased. Most have 2 dead leaves on the bottom. Think I will give it a week and see if I get 2 more dead leaves prior to pulling.


I plant 100 cloves and have enough most years to self supply my future crop as well as keep us in garlic till the new heads are ready. This year was our first to keep hung in our basement, all prior years were out in the garage; basement has been so much more successful and will be their home from now on.

[bower]

@JRinPA those bulbs sized up really nicely... I'm curious to hear if the leaf miner has done damage, because from a distance here, they're looking great!

[JRinPA]

There is definitely some damage. I will need to sort the bulbs. But these were mostly broken scapes.

The ones I broke off the scapes, should be used first. They don't seem to store as long. The leaves definitely brown sooner if I break off the scape. It seems like it accelerates the growth cycle...bulb gets bigger and the leaves die back sooner. The question is, can you leave them in longer, without breaking scapes, get as big a bulb and the edit:(longer) duration of storage life, by allowing them 2 more weeks in the ground? That was what I was looking to test, but with this bug it blows all that pondering away.

Last year I did a good job of keeping the very best separate, so I still have a continuous supply. The biggest bulbs don't store as long.

I don't get them wet, wash them, or anything. Each one of those just got the dead leaves stripped off, hence the white instead of purple wrapper.

Here are the first 4 picked the other day, before taking off the dirty wrapper.

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These two had obvious damage and need to be used first.

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[WoodSprite]

Looking good JRinPA & CrazyAboutOrchids. I don't think the ALM will impact your experiment, JR. I'd love to hear the results. When you use the garlic you may find a few pin holes in the cloves or even find a pupa (dark brown oval) that you should remove and smash. But otherwise the garlic is edible. At least for my ALM-infested garlic it is. It's just gross when I find a pupa.

Normally to cure my garlic, I lay it on large bread trays (like bread delivery trucks use) (because I lifting my arms above my head to hang them is very hard on me) and leave them on my shaded porch where they take up a lot of room. Last year I used the trays but put them in my basement that has a dehumidifier running. They seemed to dry too much there so I was looking for a new way to cure them this year. Then I saw a stack of tall laundry hampers that I had by my door because I was planning to give them away. Bingo! Instant garlic curers with built-in ventilation, easy to separate by variety, easy to move. They take up a lot less space than my trays. I just oriented them so the cross breeze goes through the side openings.
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[JRinPA]

I think the 125tree washbaskets are probably too short...

[JayneR13]

That's brilliant actually! I love repurposing things in creative ways. I also have no good place to hang mine, so normally I leave them out of my deck in as much shade as possible. With all of the rain we've been having, I had to bring them in. I have the leftover shelving from my Martha tent that's quite useful for drying things, but yes, I can smell it! It's a small price to pay for good garlic through the winter though. Dehydrating onions is MUCH more-pungent! But whatever it takes to fill my winter pantry!

[JRinPA]

I don't have any of those hampers laying around or I'd try that. I can think of two in basement that are both filled with stuff. $125 tree washbaskets might work I guess, I should probably get a bunch for utility projects. Just cannot leave them outside. Tried them for potatoes and good for 1 season and then pieces by the end of the second year.

I saw one design (allium drying rack) built onto a garden cart, that was last year. Weld or bolt stake pockets on the side and you can do a lot of things with a flatbed garden cart.

Looks like rain for sure on Wednesday/Thurs/Fri. I'll probably pull them today...so hot though.

I have ton of drying to start this week and still haven't got a great idea on how I'll do it. It just about has to be on the carport for the initial drying. I'm thinking to just take some 2x4 fence wire, roll it into a cylinder and zip tie it, stand it on end like and slip them in. I can't decide yet if the garlic and onions should go inside the cylinder or outside.

[CrazyAboutOrchids]

I always used my garage for the garlic but it never lasts through to the next season. Once heat starts up, the garlic would start sprouting. Last year, we relocated them to our walkout basement. It's cool, no real temperature fluctuations, dry (our heat pump hot water heater heats with the moisture from the air) and it's been a real success! No more garage for me. Downside is the mess of dried garlic leaves when I pull off a bulb.

I collect in bunches of 5 - 6 bulbs, fold the leaves over a wire hubby ran along the floor joists, and tie them on with string. It's fairly quick and easy.

[steve ok]

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27 Music
22 Georgian Crystal
18 Red Russian
16 Porcelain German
10 Siberian
9 Metechi
8 Svea
8 Martin's Heirloom
46 Assorted Unknown Softneck

[JRinPA]

LOL at first I thought it was 3 trashcans filled to the top...

[JRinPA]

Next time the planting plan needs to be in Roman numerals... An extra X would only be 10 too many. I think I added an extra zero somehow.

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big bulbils...

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Heavy sled, but I got it in there. Tomorrow, drying rack. I tried the vertical fence cylinder and I think that will work for garlic pretty well. I was tempted to use the comm garden perimeter fence (it is 5 ft high 2x4 grid) and just throw a tarp over it when it rains. A vertical fence won't work for onions though, onions I will need something flat.

[JRinPA]

2x4 fence wire, ought to work.

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These are the "rejects" that wouldn't hold in the 2" wide grids. Pretty small percentage of the total, and a lot were from the "grown from rounds" or small cloves.

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[svalli]

That is very clever drying rack @JRinPA !

@steve ok You have great looking harvest and nice clear view of Mt Rainier on the background.

I love looking at all of the harvest pictures, but for some reason I do not feel so enthusiastic for my own harvest. I have determined that I grow too many because we have again quite many dried up bulbs from last year. The ones with biggest cloves should have been eaten first. Purple Stripe garlic seems to store best. This week I found some small Persian Star heads which were still good to be pressed on a pizza.

[bower]

Yeah @JRinPA that drying arrangement is brilliant!!
Last year I gave my son and DIL half of the garlic crop, with the other half for me, Mom, and a few small gifts. For the first time I don't have any small or dried up bulbs left as harvest time approaches. I have just a few small porcelain bulbs left which I've been using up, and about what I needed although scapes mostly came off yesterday so I don't really need any more cloves. But they won't be wasted, and it does feel good to completely use the crop.

[JayneR13]

Garden and learn, @svalli! I know the feeling of having to throw away unused stuff though. But no worries, as we adapt and adjust.

@steve ok Lovely view of Mt Rainier indeed! I lived in Seattle for 8 years and remember her well. Back in the 90s, a view from one's apartment was guaranteed to raise the rent by at least $25. I'm sure it's much more these days.