PH's 2017 Garlic Trials

[My Foot Smells]

paging Ph............. is he digging?

[PureHarvest]

I dug some on Saturday of the ones that had enough brown leaves/no more than 5 green leaves.
Most are still in ground and we had 90 and full sun for 4 days in a row. Yesterday was 82, today supposed to be about same. They have yellowed even more since my last photos. The few scapes I left are uncurled but not quite shooting straight up yet.
If I didn't have an off farm job, I'd be digging today, as there is a chance of rain/t-storms from Friday through next Wednesday. Never fails, lol.
I'm off Friday and hoping to get everything dug before any storms roll thru.

[Father'sDaughter]

I hope you get it all dug before the rain! And I just noticed on some of your earlier pictures that you removed the plastic. I guess you were able to pull it up and over the plants?

I just picked most of my scapes yesterday. They are thicker and larger than in recent years which is giving me a lot of hope for a better harvest this year.

Good luck with your harvest!

[PureHarvest]

Yes, the fabric pulled up in a cinch. I was even able to do it without help. I don't think even one leaf got broken. I figured it would, based on the way that the leaves are oriented.
I had all ~300 feet of it up and folded in about 20 minutes, including pulling the pins.
I will post harvest pics hopefully Friday night.
Stay tuned!

[ako1974]

I just dug up my Xian. Xian is an early garlic and a bunch were starting to fall over. I could have left them for another week or so (last year I didn't harvest until a week from now), but there is a lot of rain potentially coming. Not long after I got in, it began to pour. Looks like possible rain through Wednesday. I got a bunch of nice-sized bulbs, but Xian has never gotten as big as other varieties for me.

[PureHarvest]

Nice Ako!
I ended up digging everything last night after work. I didn't want to chance overnight or morning rain. I had everything out of the ground and onto racks in the barn in about 3.5 hrs.
I bunched, tied, and hung them today and that took about an hour and a half.
Pics and more info soon when I get a chance.
Overall everything is overwhelmingly good.
I think I found my new favorite crop.

[Father'sDaughter]

Originally Posted by PureHarvest

Nice Ako!
I ended up digging everything last night after work. I didn't want to chance overnight or morning rain. I had everything out of the ground and onto racks in the barn in about 3.5 hrs.
I bunched, tied, and hung them today and that took about an hour and a half.
Pics and more info soon when I get a chance.
Overall everything is overwhelmingly good.
I think I found my new favorite crop.

Can't wait for the pictures! I envy you having a barn to cure them in. I have to resort to the basement with fans. For about two weeks the house reeks!

And I know what you mean about a favorite crop. Garlic was my gateway crop...

[McGee'sX-Roads]

Thanks for the info PH...I'll follow along and see how it goes for you. I'm always interested in other things to grow to offer chefs and at markets other than what I already have. I don't see anyone around here growing garlic, of course I'm in NC, so probably not ideal conditions for garlic, I really know very little about it.

[bower]

Yay PH, great harvest timing! And short work for such a big crop. I'm like FD scrambling for space to cure them indoors, which makes that part of it more of a hassle. Of course I also like to fuss over stuff so with the curing in the house I can't stop myself poking and looking at them as well. Barn envy. But it's no surprise garlic is a favorite crop. Planting in fall and then just watching it come is pretty awesome, while we scramble to get other things done in the spring. With the right mulch the weeding is no big deal or zero in your case! And then the harvest is easy.. nice reward for the effort.

[greenthumbomaha]

I use one of those cheap green plastic "greenhouses" with the ventilated shelves for curing (uncovered of course) in a dark section of the house with an indirect fan blowing near them. Newspaper on the bottom to catch falling soil bits. Works great.

- Lisa

[PureHarvest]

Here are some quick shots.
2 points I want to make first as far as things that stood out:

One: in my 1st year experience, in my soil and climate, growing Music and Romanian Red, leaving scapes on ABSOLUTELY reduced bulb size. Not even a doubt. Luckily I only left a few for readiness indicators.

Two, the majority of my beds were covered with landscape fabric. A couple of the beds ran short by 5-10'. Those uncovered areas were miserable to dig. Had to jump on the fork with both feet. The areas that were previously covered was like a hot knife through butter. The fork pushed down easily with one foot as deep as it could go with minimal effort.
I think this was do to the amount of worm activity where there was cover (there were castings everywhere). I've always noticed they are attracted to covered surfaces. Looks like it works for synthetic covers, not just organic mater. Perhaps it is more a function of sunlight not hitting the surface.
Also, there were no weed roots to push through.

Anyway, here are some shots:

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[dmforcier]

And that's just one section, right? Two more to go?

[PureHarvest]

The panoramic shot doesn't reveal it, but it's three rows deep.
The shots of the plants on the sorting racks is only part of the harvest.
Anyway, everything's in the barn.
I'll be curious to weigh everything when it's cleaned up, trimmed and dry.
I'm guessing 5 times the starting seed clove weight. So I'm hoping for about 150 lbs of bulbs.
I'll be talking with two decent size buyers soon about next year now that I can take them a sample to show. If they are on board, I'm doing a 1/4 planting this fall...

[BigVanVader]

Crushing it! How much per lb is the going rate?

[PureHarvest]

Thanks Van.
I'm waiting back on some local intel, but the range wholesale range I've seen is from $8-$15 nationwide. Retail as high as $22.
I would love to hear from others here on what your wholesale price is.
I'm thinking $10 per pound for my stuff would be cool.
The challenge on research is that it is not as common as, say, cherry tomatoes.
Plus it's not sofneck white commodity garlic from Cali or China. Plus there is nobody in my area for a resonable drive that is growing gourmet hardneck garlic.