Garlic

[tjg911]

Originally Posted by Labradors2

I still have some cloves left over from last year. They have been stored in the basement which is cool and dry. Does anybody think this will work? They seem to be good (for cooking at least) and have not dried out.

Linda

to plant? i'm surprised they are not dried out. if they look ok i'd plant them. can't you find a garlic festival locally or a farmer to buy from? just about every catalog is sold out this late. are you close to saugerties NY? last weekend in september is their garlic festival, it is huge.

tom

[Durgan]

Originally Posted by Labradors2

I was late in harvesting my "Music" hard-necked garlic last month and a lot of the cloves had already split and rotted - sigh!

I still have some cloves left over from last year. They have been stored in the basement which is cool and dry. Does anybody think this will work? They seem to be good (for cooking at least) and have not dried out.

Linda

"I still have some cloves left over from last year."

There is something wrong here. Bulbs wont keep more than about eight months max. They turn soft and often start sprouting.

[Labradors2]

I just went downstairs to check and they look ok. Some are lightweight, so probably dried out, but others still look good. One individual clove is sprouting, so it's still alive!

Thanks for explaining that last year's cloves should not be viable. I was planning to use the ones I was able to salvage from this year's crop, and plant the best looking cloves from last year if I need them to complete a row. However, I have a friend who will give me some cloves if I need them, so I should probably take her up on her offer and not risk it.

Yes we do have farmer's markets here and I could probably find some garlic to plant if need be, but I really like "Music".

Linda

[salix]

Linda, I would go ahead and plant some of them. I have leftovers also that are probably OK, just won't depend on them for my main crop! They don't take a lot of time or space, so in the interest of experimentation it's worth the effort.

[Durgan]

Originally Posted by Labradors2

I just went downstairs to check and they look ok. Some are lightweight, so probably dried out, but others still look good. One individual clove is sprouting, so it's still alive!

Thanks for explaining that last year's cloves should not be viable. I was planning to use the ones I was able to salvage from this year's crop, and plant the best looking cloves from last year if I need them to complete a row. However, I have a friend who will give me some cloves if I need them, so I should probably take her up on her offer and not risk it.

Yes we do have farmer's markets here and I could probably find some garlic to plant if need be, but I really like "Music".

Linda

It is two months before garlic is planted. I usually plant about the 15 of October in Zone 5.

[Labradors2]

Originally Posted by Durgan

It is two months before garlic is planted. I usually plant about the 15 of October in Zone 5.

Me too! Just thought I would ask in advance.

Thanks,
Linda

[joseph]

My brother grows garlic perennially: By that I mean, it stays in the ground permanently, and if he wants garlic he digs some up. It grows fine that way. He is in zone 4, so things may be different in other zones, but it works for him. The plants start growing when they want to, and rest when they need to.

[tjg911]

Originally Posted by joseph

My brother grows garlic perennially: By that I mean, it stays in the ground permanently, and if he wants garlic he digs some up. It grows fine that way. He is in zone 4, so things may be different in other zones, but it works for him. The plants start growing when they want to, and rest when they need to.

i never heard of such a thing, i'd expect the bulbs to rot. they must have burst their wrappers as they'll grow to do that when you harvest them too late ie if you just left them in the ground vs digging them. i'm not saying you're wrong just this is another odd thing i've read in this thread!


linda,

i bought what looked and felt like good bulbs via mail in aug 2010 or 2011 from someone but by oct they were crappy dried out bulbs! i was pi$$ed to say the least! i planted the best of them but normally i wouldn't have planted them except i really wanted to try those varieties and it was not possible to get any garlic in october. the results were lousy. just about every bulb was very very small and not the best quality. taste may have been ok that i don't recall. so if you have access to new stock from this summer i'd use them and the heck with year old cloves.

if the wrapper on the cloves are loose they are drying out. if the bulb is drying out it'll be soft not firm to the squeeze. soft not cuz the cloves are soft but rather the paper wrapper on the bulb and cloves is loose as the cloves shrunk when they dry out.

if you like music (a porcelain type) i suggest trying rocambole types such as german red. rocamboles don't store as long as porcelains but have much better flavor. i get around the "not storing them as long" by freezing them when they start to go downhill usually about late december early january. they are fine when defrosted just a little soft but still good.

tom

[Medbury Gardens]

Originally Posted by tjg911

i never heard of such a thing, i'd expect the bulbs to rot. they must have burst their wrappers as they'll grow to do that when you harvest them too late ie if you just left them in the ground vs digging them. i'm not saying you're wrong just this is another odd thing i've read in this thread!

Tom ,I know if i were to do what Joseph's brother does and leave them in the ground, they wouldn't rot for me as i remember i missed harvesting a bulb a few years ago when i discovered in early winter 7-8 green shoots poking there leafs through.So yes i believe that would be possible if the soil is free draining enough the rot is not normally a problem.

[joseph]

Yup. The clove wrappers are the first thing to go. The lack of bulb wrappers is one of the nice things about my brother's garlic. Anytime that he digs them between August and March, they are a bulb in the ground without a dry skin around them. So they are super easy to prepare. We normally just rinse them, cut the root scar off, and fry them. We like our garlic.

[Labradors2]

Originally Posted by joseph

My brother grows garlic perennially: By that I mean, it stays in the ground permanently, and if he wants garlic he digs some up. It grows fine that way. He is in zone 4, so things may be different in other zones, but it works for him. The plants start growing when they want to, and rest when they need to.

Funny! I have some in my front garden that keeps coming up each year. I originally bought it at a plant sale as "snowdrops" {LOL}. I leave it there to deter mice from munching on my Asiatic lilies.

Linda

[Labradors2]

Originally Posted by tjg911

if the wrapper on the cloves are loose they are drying out. if the bulb is drying out it'll be soft not firm to the squeeze. soft not cuz the cloves are soft but rather the paper wrapper on the bulb and cloves is loose as the cloves shrunk when they dry out.

if you like music (a porcelain type) i suggest trying rocambole types such as german red. rocamboles don't store as long as porcelains but have much better flavor. i get around the "not storing them as long" by freezing them when they start to go downhill usually about late december early january. they are fine when defrosted just a little soft but still good.

tom

I think you are right and that my old cloves are probably a bit dehydrated! Still ok for eating though.

A friend had the bright idea to grind up some garlic and freeze it flat in a baggie, so that bits could be broken off for cooking. I took that idea and added garlic to the mix. It saves me time in the kitchen!

Thanks for the recommendations of rocamboles. I'll have to give them a try.

Linda

[tjg911]

Originally Posted by joseph

Yup. The clove wrappers are the first thing to go. The lack of bulb wrappers is one of the nice things about my brother's garlic. Anytime that he digs them between August and March, they are a bulb in the ground without a dry skin around them. So they are super easy to prepare. We normally just rinse them, cut the root scar off, and fry them. We like our garlic.

so joe does your ground freeze in winter? you mention aug-march, you couldn't dig anything here in winter. depending when the ground freezes it's solid from late nov or early dec to late feb or early march depending upon diffused sun thru tree branches.

if the ground goes thru a shallow freeze then thaw does that damage the bulbs? i'd expect that to cause them to rot being frozen then thawed then frozen.

the only vegetable i'm aware of being left in the ground all winter and dug in spring is parsnips. they are very dry inside, try that with carrots and they rot so i am told.

tom

[joseph]

We have variable weather... The ground freezes and thaws throughout the winter depending on temperature, and snow cover, and sunlight, and microclimate. Garlic seems perfectly adapted to our climate. The above ground leaves might freeze solid, but the bulbs remains intact... The patches of garlic that we dig mid-winter are next to the foundation of a heated basement on a south facing wall, so the ground doesn't freeze deep there or stay frozen for long.

Around here, elephant garlic is very prone to winter die-off. For us potatoes, turnips, and carrots are winter hardy about 1 year in 5. Heavy mulch in late fall may help. Sunroots and parsnips are reliably winter hardy for us. Onions may or may not be winter hardy depending on the cultivar.