2019-2020 Onion Chronicles.

[Worth1]

It was $1.58 a head for the elephant garlic.

[bower]

That's not bad for a big vegetable.

[Worth1]

Got the other two heads of elephant garlic planted.
That lovely soil wasn't there when I moved here, it was a barren waste land you couldn't drive a nail through.
I built it.
IMG_20191104_812.jpg

IMG_20191104_53769.jpg

[Worth1]

First of the elephant garlic peeking out of the soil.
IMG_20191105_58132.jpg

[CassInVic]

Thank you both, I have pulled anything with a hint of a seed stalk and they will soon become an onion and goats cheese tart

Our weather this spring has been unusual so that may be partly to blame.

I planted a ‘mixed variety’ packet this year but next season will start experimenting with different day length types and planting times to see what works best here.

[Worth1]

You are more than welcome.
The other day when I was planting the elepant garlic my meighbors 60 some odd year old son asked me.
What are you planting?
I said, 'I'm planting garlic onions and cabbage.
He looked at me like I was fishing in the middle of the highway or something.
He said isn't it a little to late to be planting a garden?
No, 'I exclaimed it is the time of year to plant this stuff the winter here not the summer.
I think he thinks I'm nuts.

More elephant garlic is coming up as well as regular garlic.
Some cabbage putting on first true leaves.

I love growing onions. The weeds love it when I grow onions, too. Do you mulch your onions to keep weeds out?

Elephant garlic is supposed to grow true seeds (like leeks do), I believe, unlike most regular garlic. However, I've never seen anyone selling the true seeds. Everyone who grows them here, do you see true seeds growing on them, or do they grow bulbils instead? It's illegal to ship out-of-state Allium bulbs into Idaho unless they're certified in some way I don't know about; so, I look for true seeds and local Alliums.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by shule1

I love growing onions. The weeds love it when I grow onions, too. Do you mulch your onions to keep weeds out?

Elephant garlic is supposed to grow true seeds (like leeks do), I believe, unlike most regular garlic. However, I've never seen anyone selling the true seeds. Everyone who grows them here, do you see true seeds growing on them, or do they grow bulbils instead? It's illegal to ship out-of-state Allium bulbs into Idaho unless they're certified in some way I don't know about; so, I look for true seeds and local Alliums.

The first time I tried to grow it I was an idiot.
Had no idea what I was doing or what I needed to do.
Planted it in the spring and it croaked in the summer heat.
Never seen a seed even sold for elephant garlic other than the bulbils or what ever the heck they are called.
So this fall is my 2nd attempt after many years.
The garlic I bought from the grocery store is from Gilroy California
Christopher Ranch is where it came from.

[Worth1]

The only garlic that hasn't came up yet is the garlic I planted last week.
The store bought green onions are growing like weeds.
Seems like a new leaf every day.
Cut off a leaf and it as very tasty and sweet, not hot.
Old onion seeds never made it and will be tossed today.
I honestly didn't pay that much attention to them.

[GrowingCoastal]

Originally Posted by shule1

I love growing onions. The weeds love it when I grow onions, too. Do you mulch your onions to keep weeds out?

Elephant garlic is supposed to grow true seeds (like leeks do), I believe, unlike most regular garlic. However, I've never seen anyone selling the true seeds. Everyone who grows them here, do you see true seeds growing on them, or do they grow bulbils instead? It's illegal to ship out-of-state Allium bulbs into Idaho unless they're certified in some way I don't know about; so, I look for true seeds and local Alliums.

I have had elephant garlic growing wildly in my garden for years. The flower heads do develop seeds and I am drying some heads to see if I can get more than a few out of them. When I just let them mature and stand in the garden the seeds sprout while still in the flower head and drop sprouted, I think in spring. Watching more closely this year to see exactly when that happens.

[Worth1]

Looks like the wee plants made it through the freeze.

[Worth1]

Got this little area in the corner of my driveway I have been working on every other day.
Hoed it up with my grape hoe and raked it.
Ever so often I come back and hoe it again and kill off all the little winter weed and grass sprouts coming up.
Those little grass sprouts look just like baby onions and I cant have that.
Just about got them beat.
Normally do this when I get home and before I go in the house.
I have a big supply of cold (not hot) composted leaves I am mixing in as I go.
The side elephant garlic I planted in the ground will be popping out soon.
The what I think is hard neck garlic is getting its share of the cold treatment with the abnormally cold weather.
It is really starting to take off too.

[bower]

Well Worth, it looks like you picked the right year to do it. At least you personally have a reason to be pleased about the cold.

[Worth1]

Transplants from the cabbage hatchery and Mexican red hard neck garlic.
Been working on this spot with a grape hoe for awhile now and considered it ready.
Plants placed garlic placed sprinkled 13-13-13 and watered in.
IMG_20191125_31590.jpg

[Worth1]

All of the elephant garlic I planted has sprouted.
I know the cabbage is a little close together but we shall see what becomes of it.
That area was as hard ans a rock when I first moved here.
Not even any weeds would grow.
Built the soil up naturally.