1000 cloves of garlic 2019

[pmcgrady]

I'm wanting to plant 1000 cloves again this year, I have 800 in so far and if it quits raining and doesn't get too cold, 200 more shouldn't be a problem.



A couple things I learned last year:
1) I had the Dewitt Sunbelt blow off the beds in strong winds last year. This year I'm using sod staples, cover all edges with dirt and all beds covered with 4" of straw mulch then thoroughly soaked with water ( otherwise the straw blows all over)



2) I pulled most of straw back into the walking paths to expose the blanket to warm the beds in early spring, this year I'm leaving it on beds, and am laying recycled cardboard in the walking paths.



3) I need to keep up with weeding early... and really watch for them in the holes that the garlic is growing in. I lost quite a few bulbs do to weed competition last year. I've seen where some people wait for garlic to sprout in spring and wrap small squares of wet newspaper around the garlic and tuck under sunbelt... sounds time consuming but better than pulling weeds.



4) need to water more, I'm going to run a soaker hose down each ofthe 5 beds to save time.
5) curing... I let the garlic hang too long in an outdoor shed. This year I'm going to let them hang 2-3 weeks, then cut off tops and roots and bring indoors.


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[agee12]

How much growing space do you have?

[pmcgrady]

Originally Posted by agee12

How much growing space do you have?

Pretty much... Unlimited!.
Don't own the property, but if I wanted to grow 5 acres of garlic, the owners would let me... But it's hard enough getting a thousand cloves in by myself.

[greenthumbomaha]

I think we have similar climates, so I buy my seed garlic from WI. That's a really nice set up. Nice and flat too, so no worries about wet spots. Lucky!!!


I know what you mean by doing all that yourself. but I hope you had some machines helping in the bed prep? Did you or a machine throw all that dirt up?



I use the Dewitt Pro5 in the 6 foot length for the reason that you mentioned, it is very windy here and fabric can easily take off. This product is more expensive and a bear to cut holes in because of a felt backing, but better than it sailing away. Doesn't last as long either (about 3 years before weeds start poking through.)


How do you plan to keep the cardboard in place for your walking paths? I laid sheets of cardboard from big boxes like appliance boxes and held them down over with long 2 X 4 but they still managed to blow away and make a mess, but that was over the winter and the purpose was to kill grass. I cut strips of the Pro5 for the paths but would like to know how you plan to keep the cardboard down for future projects.



- Lisa


Forgot to add that last year I placed folded tomato cages over the straw to keep it in place. Some chicken wire may be a good substitute for the cages. It did a fantastic job of holding the straw in, even in a winter that didn't have much precipitation.


I might go naked with no straw mulch or use up my last bits of shredded leaves with the cages to hold it down.

[pmcgrady]

I've got at least a dozen types of garlic growing and they are mixed up in the last bed.
Persian Star, Bogatyr,Red Chesnok,Music,Benld, wish I would have kept better track of varieties... I can tell the different hardnecks, but softnecks are tough. My seed has come from everywhere.

Had a long winded answer to your questions, but it disappeared when I tried to post it.

Originally Posted by greenthumbomaha

I think we have similar climates, so I buy my seed garlic from WI. That's a really nice set up. Nice and flat too, so no worries about wet spots. Lucky!!!


I know what you mean by doing all that yourself. but I hope you had some machines helping in the bed prep? Did you or a machine throw all that dirt up?

I pull the Dewitt up every year at harvest. Holes are burned with a red hot tomato paste can.

I plan on laying old 2x4's down the center of each path to hold down the cardboard until it gets wet and soaked in.

I use the Dewitt Pro5 in the 6 foot length for the reason that you mentioned, it is very windy here and fabric can easily take off. This product is more expensive and a bear to cut holes in because of a felt backing, but better than it sailing away. Doesn't last as long either (about 3 years before weeds start poking through.)


How do you plan to keep the cardboard in place for your walking paths? I laid sheets of cardboard from big boxes like appliance boxes and held them down over with long 2 X 4 but they still managed to blow away and make a mess, but that was over the winter and the purpose was to kill grass. I cut strips of the Pro5 for the paths but would like to know how you plan to keep the cardboard down for future projects.



- Lisa


Forgot to add that last year I placed folded tomato cages over the straw to keep it in place. Some chicken wire may be a good substitute for the cages. It did a fantastic job of holding the straw in, even in a winter that didn't have much precipitation.


I might go naked with no straw mulch or use up my last bits of shredded leaves with the cages to hold it down.

[pmcgrady]

I used a 40 year old Kubota tractor to till the beds, everything else was done by hand with rakes/ hoes.
I also plan on using sod staples to help hold the cardboard down.

[greenthumbomaha]

No worries. That happens to me all the time. After crafting a well thought out reply its gone in a second. I'll make sure to watch this thread and my questions will likely be answered over time.


The pro sod staples are a must, especially in tilled ground, for anything. My former growing partner used a plastic stake designed for use with the sunbelt fabric (it looked like an elongated ring pop!), and they were easily pulled up by the wind. I'm curious to see if the cardboard stays put with the staples. Maybe my pieces were too big. The wind came under them and took the cardboard off and whipped it all over the place, even with lots of landscape timber holding it down. That would be cool if it works. Weeds are a huge problem for me too and cardboard would be more likely to keep them from breaking through. Now for some rain and a long wait for spring sprouting.



- Lisa

[pmcgrady]

Someone needs to start making bamboo sod/landscape staples, they would probably last 2-3 years.
The rustler my metal sod staples are , the better they hold... Going on my third year with them.

Originally Posted by greenthumbomaha

No worries. That happens to me all the time. After crafting a well thought out reply its gone in a second. I'll make sure to watch this thread and my questions will likely be answered over time.


The pro sod staples are a must, especially in tilled ground, for anything. My former growing partner used a plastic stake designed for use with the sunbelt fabric (it looked like an elongated ring pop!), and they were easily pulled up by the wind. I'm curious to see if the cardboard stays put with the staples. Maybe my pieces were too big. The wind came under them and took the cardboard off and whipped it all over the place, even with lots of landscape timber holding it down. That would be cool if it works. Weeds are a huge problem for me too and cardboard would be more likely to keep them from breaking through. Now for some rain and a long wait for spring sprouting.



- Lisa

[Zeedman]

Very nice looking garlic beds. I've never used any kind of cover other than hay, but I'm sure it cuts down on the weeding. I could have used that in 2017, when mosquitoes were so bad in my garlic patch that I surrendered the garlic to the weeds.


Just finished putting in my garlic & a couple perennial onions. I've done 900+ cloves in the past, but DW & I are not getting younger, so probably will never plant that much again. We planted just under 400 cloves today:


35 Bogatyr (MPS)
40 Carpati (artichoke)
30 Choparsky (MPS)
13 Dubna Standard (MPS)
13 Estonian Red (MPS)
40 Georgian Fire (porcelain)
10 German Extra Hardy (porcelain)
11 German White (porcelain)
30 Mchadidzhvari (artichoke)
10 Music (porcelain)
15 Old Homestead (rocambole)
14 Purple Cauldron (artichoke)
16 P-VT (artichoke)
19 Ron's Single Center (artichoke)
40 Sicilian Gold (artichoke)
17 Special Idaho (rocambole)
13 Vic's (rocambole)
22 White Seedless (artichoke)


And about 75 heirloom nesting onions (two varieties) which I am testing to see if they are worth growing for bulbs.


I threw the PVC frames for my pepper cages over the row, to discourage the deer from stomping on the garlic... they like to walk in freshly-tilled soil. Nothing else on the row yet, I'll throw a layer of hay over it when the ground is dry enough (or frozen enough).


BTW, I've had a couple long posts get deleted in the process of posting - frustrating. So I always copy now before submitting the post.


Weird... this time double-spacing appeared between some of the lines; edited to correct.

[pmcgrady]

Nice selection of garlic!
It's rained a lot here, I'm at 800 cloves, supposed to rain tomorrow and get cold...

[Nan_PA_6b]

What do y'all do with all that garlic?

[Zeedman]

Originally Posted by Nan_PA_6b

What do y'all do with all that garlic?

The main reason that I grow so many varieties is to preserve them, and share stock with others. It is also interesting to compare the flavors of different varieties... I hope to eventually grow enough of each to allow a local chef to evaluate them.


Whatever remains after setting aside stock for planting supplies us, my adult children & their families, and a few close friends with enough dehydrated garlic "chips" to last the year. Fresh-ground garlic powder on demand.

[pmcgrady]

Originally Posted by Nan_PA_6b

What do y'all do with all that garlic?

A lot is saved to replant, then garlic jelly, garlic salt, pickled garlic, garlic powder, bagna cauda...
I just received Dracula pepper seeds from a friend in Romania, I'm going to pickle some with garlic and see what happens this season.

[Gin3ll]

Originally Posted by pmcgrady

A lot is saved to replant, then garlic jelly, garlic salt, pickled garlic, garlic powder, bagna cauda...
I just received Dracula pepper seeds from a friend in Romania, I'm going to pickle some with garlic and see what happens this season.

hahaha, only good things, you will have a powerful vampire hunting kit

[Nan_PA_6b]

Originally Posted by Gin3ll

hahaha, only good things, you will have a powerful vampire hunting kit

I thought the same thing!