Northern Hemisphere Garlic Ranchers/2023 Crop

[Cornelius_Gotchberg]

​Planted >360 cloves this afternoon in weather (76°F/24.4°C-n-dry) that takes this here Garlic Rancher's breath away.

Glass half empty?

Despite near perfect conditions, The Gotch was p!$$!n'-n-moanin' the whole time: Punchin' them there holes in, fillin' 'em, and coverin' 'em up.

While (mercifully!) in the Rear View, he needs to remember (short-term-inconvenience-long-term improvement) that nothing worthwhile results without effort.

The Gotch

[GoDawgs]

Well, congrat-yuuuuu-lations, Mr. Gotch! I 'spect we'll be hearin' that p!$$!n'-n-moanin' again come time to pull those babies.

[greenthumbomaha]

Well now you have me thinking, Mr. Gotsch. Should I also plant in the comfort of the warm weather we are experiencing this weekend ? However, on Sunday, we will have record breaking 87 degree temperatures with a severe storm expected in during the evening. Thereafter once the front passes, temps will return to normal 50 degree daytime temps with lows in the upper 30's. My comfort or the garlic, hard to choose.

- Lisa

[Cornelius_Gotchberg]

"I 'spect we'll be hearin' that p!$$!n'-n-moanin' again come time to pull those babies."

Um...nope.

Anywho, that there p!$$!n'-n-moanin is in that there Rear View; capisce?

No better exercise in deferred gratification than Garlic...just glad to have our crop planted!

The Gotch

[Cornelius_Gotchberg]

@greenthumbomaha; "Well now you have me thinking, Mr. Gotsch."

Please, when I read Mr. Gotch, I look around for my Dear late Father.

Anywho, get it in; the worst that could happen is it'll sprout early (replanted a seven [7] clove volunteer!)...but that's why you's mulch it with hay.**

**The Gotch...um...plied a neighbor who had a coupla extra bales of hay with some...er...extra Tomatoes-n-Sweet Peppers.

They never stood chance...

The Gotch

[greenthumbomaha]

I am so sorry, I just came back to correct the spelling of your name after reading another post. Training the fingers ... Gotch gotch gotch.

Hay was actually in short supply this year. A result of the drought I was told. I've been scouting the neighborhood for potential straw bales when they are no longer needed for fall displays. Not a one to be found on my regular neighborhood routes or the grocery , Lowes, etc.

- Lisa

[rxkeith]

hey gotch,

ever try digging a trench instead of individual holes?

i make trenches with a triangular hoe, about 3 or 4 inches deep, put the garlic in about 6 inches apart,
then add some pelletized chicken manure before covering. USUALLY, that works out pretty good. garlic
this year didn't like their spot, so did not get as big as normal.
i do the trench method with potatoes too. takes some work to get the trench deep enough, but beats digging
individual holes or using a bulb planter.
i will be getting the garlic in this weekend. after a couple weeks of rain, and snow earlier in the week, we have
a few days of sunny weather. might be the last good weekend before the snow flies, so have to git er done.


keith

[Cornelius_Gotchberg]

@rxkeith; tried the trench thing once and wasn't pleased with the results. I've found the best way is to punch holes with the handle-end of a three-pronged, short cultivator.

It's been real dry these past three (3) weeks, and the garlic bed soil was a tad...um...unyielding, to which the big blister on my right palm will quickly attest.

The p!$$!n'-n-moanin' yesterday was nothing more than wanting it to be done so's I could focus on...er...higher pursuits, like heading over to Woodman's in order to lay in the necessary supply of liquid refreshments for Homecoming Weekend (Class of '79/GO BADGERS!)

And that there p!$$!n'-n-moanin' was NOTHING compared to the year I waited a little too long, the ground froze, and a brisk, damp, cold wind pummeled my cursing countenance while I punched in >360 holes with a 1 1/4"/3.18cm pipe and a small post maul.

The Gotch

[bower]

Well you got me going. Although it is still too warm, atrociously warm, the morning hours were cool enough to get the front beds planted which I already prepped and punched the holes a few days ago - they were still good even after some rain. So the first hundred are in, generously prepped and spaced hoping to get bigger bulbs. Had that done by noon, and just as I was finishing I spotted the first deer fly of the day my cue to dodge back inside before the inevitable biting and stinging begins.
Still a trio of beds to finish prep and plant at the back, before I go looking for still more extra space.
Doing it gradually on cool morning hours seems to be the only way to avoid more stings.
It has been the stingingest year ever for moi.

I just hope the warm weather is no disadvantage to my dear cloves.
Did cover the beds loosely with chicken wire as a deterrent for Mr. Squirrel and Mrs. Cat, but will install the mulch later and wire it down for the winter.

[Cornelius_Gotchberg]

@Bower Deer Flies still, oy! Those gosh darn things start biting before they even land!

Haven't you's had yer 1st freeze yet? They're really not a problem down this way, but up in Iron County...in June? Fuggedabboudit!

Seems Garlic has ~ the same gestation period as do humans, doesn't it?

The Gotch

[bower]

We had a couple cold nights and one genuine frost with white hoar on everything, back the first week of October. It killed the buckwheat tops and all the top leaves on the kousa but since then it's been so warm the peeled back plants have pumped out a few more squash. Seems the ground was not frozen, for sure it is warmer than normal after the crazy hot summer and mild fall, so roots weren't killed, and since then.. very warm indeed.

[Cornelius_Gotchberg]

@Bower Kale-n-Parsley is rallying BIG TIME!

The Gotch

[rxkeith]

my garlic is now in too.
about 270 cloves, a bit less than last year. i will probably poke some rounds
in a couple corners of the garden to size up some. trenching in garlic is not so easy either.
i was moaning, and groaning before everything was done. jacket had to come off due to working
up a sweat. better than having to plant during a snowstorm with the wind blowing, and low 30s near dark.
also planted was stewarts, and iowa heirloom bulbils from sandhill along with some large bulbils of my own garlic.

gotch your hands have to be taking a beating. do ya have a friend who can make you a tool so you can make more
than one hole at a time, or are you handy like that. another thing that might make it easier is one of those ice chipping
bars made out of iron. if the soil is harder that would work well. lifting that sucker 360 times might make your arms feel like
they are going to fall off, maybe.
only six clove of the garlic you brought made it into the garden. i had told my wife to save them after trying a couple cloves.
i must not have told my son. anyway, should have six bulbs next year.


keith

[Cornelius_Gotchberg]

@rxkeith "my garlic is now in too."

GREAT FEELING, am I right?

"i was moaning, and groaning before everything was done. jacket had to come off due to working up a sweat."

Seems that's going around...however...it being IN is a GREAT FEELING, am I right, 2.0?

"better than having to plant during a snowstorm with the wind blowing."

Oy! While those conditions are fast approaching, this weather (76°F/24.4°C-n-dry) just takes my gosh darn breath away!

The Gotch

[eyolf]

Got mine in a couple of days ago.
I don't need as much...only planted about 200 cloves.

Two years ago a half dozen potato onions bolted: knowing this wasn't an every year thing, and knowing I had some red and white onion sets planted nearby...which might bolt, too

I allowed two red and two whites to bloom, and saved the seeds from the potato onions, knowing.onions cross readily.

I grew some medium sized whites, a few of which displayed the multiple centers of a potato onion. I got some medium and some fairly large reds in both a deep maroon-red and a pinkish-copper red. And a small number of brownish-bronze multi-centered onions. I was over the moon.

I have about 90 potato onions in these colors (the honey-colored ones I have grown for a long time, as well as the others)

I also experimented with planting strategies, fertilization and spacings. I won't list them but might remember to come back next year to report.

[greenthumbomaha]

In process!!

I decided to do the kelp soak and something urgent (lost car key) came up in the afternoon when I was half way through planting. DId not get back the next day, and yesterday the cloves had the dreaded root growth from the soak. I went ahead and planted anyway, but I didn't lug the hose to water. These are in very dry raised beds. Headed back there shortly to plant in another raised bed and water big time. Hopefully the roots didn't dry up due to my laziness and lack of common sense yesterday.

- Lisa

[GoDawgs]

The garlic has been popping up this week, including the 20 or so bulbils. The bulbils are in their second planting. Last year they were about 3/8" diameter at planting and ended up 3/4" so that's what was planted again this fall.

Lorz Italian, 18'
Russian Inferno, 9'
Siberian, 9'
20 bulbils (Siberian, I think)

I also found some 'Nero' shallot sets at the local feed & weed even though they're not supposed to grow here. $8-something a lb. I splurged on two sets, a whopping 56 cents, just to see if they grow. They got planted a couple days ago. We'll see.

[Cornelius_Gotchberg]

@GoDawgs "The garlic has been popping up this week"

Had to look twice to make sure this wasn't posted from Down Under by the talented @Whwoz

When did you's plant it?

The Gotch

[Cornelius_Gotchberg]

In addition to the replanted seven (7) clove volunteer:

thumbnail_IMG_1735.jpg

A (possible) premature 2023 shoot pokes its li'l head up two (2) weeks after planting and marvelously sunny mid 70sF/low 20sC weather.

thumbnail_IMG_1736.jpg

The Gotch

[eyolf]

itwgarding garlic (etc) shoots:

I find anything that sees sunlight and freeze/thaw on the spring will die. Market gardeners here often hold off planting until about now, watching the weather report. Frost wont hurt much, but if the soil begins to freeze they're in trouble.

As a home gardener, I plant when it's convenient for me, and heavily mulch with straw. Sometimes shoots break the straw, and those that do are damaged, but only about 2% fail to survive.

One of my varieties is a plain grocery-store softneck which is supposed to be a poor choice here in the north. The first couple of years it WAS dissapointing, but by learning how to plant and save the best cloves it's an OK performer.

To tell the truth, however, I really only grow it to braid and hang as a kitchen decoration. The bulbs for cooking are stored in the cold room on the basement.