PH's 2017 Garlic Trials

[BigVanVader]

I was wondering how your pollination is with screens on the HT?

[PureHarvest]

Van u probably meant this in the container forum, but pollination is not a problem.
Wind and handling the plants seems to work just fine. I am loaded with fruits of all ages.
Curtis mentions this too in one of his vids where his tunnels are completely closed by plastic, thus not letting pollinators in either.

[oakley]

Originally Posted by NewWestGardener

You may already know about this guy, the fruit tree expert. I bought his books and follow his blog which is informative and readable. See if you are interested in this:

http://www.leereich.com/

I lost track of where this was and could not thank you back then. So, Thanks!

He also was filmed by 'Growing a Greener World', the PBS show that filmed
Craig Leholier. (ncTomatoman).

http://www.growingagreenerworld.com/weedless-gardening/

'Weedless Gardening'....

...I also had a great garlic season,

[oakley]

Like I said above I somehow lost track of this post.

I've been researching, crash course, in all things garlic the past few weeks on and off.

As you found out, the row cover lifted off easily...
I mistakenly left three layer of chicken wire frames over my garlic bed, in a early Winter
clean-up frenzy. The garlic grew through it with a struggle, oops. But the frames lifted
off easily-ish. No harm done.

Exciting harvest your is, and mine.
I managed a good harvest of tender scapes that I processed and cooked many ways.

I mulched with straw so no weeds to deal with, just a few easy out ones. Then I left the
country the entire month of July...perfect timing to return to a good harvest. Pulled
the first third last weekend, second third yesterday. Leaving some after reading this...
http://garlicseed.blogspot.ca/p/grow...true-seed.html

[oakley]

Definitely a difference, as you mentioned, in bulb size in same variety if the scape is
removed. I had some late scapes come up while out of town. Smaller by a third.

I had no trouble pulling by hand after first using a spade. (depends on the soil).
...and no weed roots to deal with/compete.

You are dealing with a much higher volume, but taking your lead, I'm shopping for
a tarp to up the amount next year, since all went so well.

I left mine drying on the stone wall a day, then into the barn on a table overhanging.
This past weekend that first pull had cleaned themselves without any washing.

I though I messed up by cutting off a third of the top stalk, but reassured reading that
is ok if humid or damp. Next batch drying on a table in the barn I'll leave them on.
(not curing in the doorway, just dark inside for a pic)

[pmcgrady]

I got a call from a friend who helps in the garden yesterday and said to go to the local watering hole. An older guy brought in 4 bags of seed garlic and wants $15 each. I thought if it's 1-2 pounds it wouldn't be a bad deal. I got there and there was one bag left. I bought it, took it home and it weighs 7 pounds 6 oz ! It's some good looking garlic. Sorting the bigger cloves for planting and the smaller ones for garlic jelly and pickled garlic today.







Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[PureHarvest]

Nice job Oakley.
Wow PC, That does look nice. Great fortune!

I ended getting 5 times my planting weight in harvest for my stuff. Keeping 50 lbs of Music for replanting this fall. Purchased 50 lbs more from a supplier and bought 100 lbs of German extra hardy. So planting 200 lbs this fall.

The big lesson I learned in the after-harvest aspect was that I need to cut the bulbs off the stems after they have hung for a couple weeks, and then onto wire drying racks with fans on both ends. The jumbo bulbs that were left hanging for 4 weeks or more got moldy around/inside the necks. Seems like the moisture couldn't escape the bulb after the neck and leaves turned brown. I feel like if i had cut them off earlier and put them on wire racks, there would have been an opening to let the moisture out of. Also had some get the black mold on the outside wrappers on this group too. Thinking that as I cut them down earlier next time, rubbing the dirt off when I put them on the rack will help too. need more fans too. Things got really rainy/humid about 3-4 weeks into the drying process, and probably aided these issues. has been one of the rainiest seasons I can recall in a long time. Some July's we can get 0 rain. We got over 10" this July with 3 to start August so far.

I sold everything that I needed to this year. I ended up getting my stuff in at 4 different produce stands. Only one took a bulk bag of 20lbs (at $10 per pound)
The rest i made up into 1/2 lb. mesh bags with a nice plastic card attached at the top. Sold at $5 each.

I'm finding that $10 a pound is just too high of a wholesale price to leave the retailers with any room to move product fast enough for me to be able to move more product with them next year.
I only went with this price based on what I see online and with what the one garlic farm in the region had been getting. From what I learned, a lot of them resent his price, but did not want to be without garlic. I finally saw some of his product first hand, and i am stunned at how poor the quality is for them paying him $10/lb. He cuts the plants with a tractor mounted bush hog before digging. This leaves a 3"+ stem that he does not do a second trimming to. Then it is obvious he washes the bulbs after digging, because all the wrapper are stained and wrinkly as a prune. Many expose cloves and nothing is graded or sized.
As I look at all the auction prices up in the Lancaster PA area, the going wholesale price I see at over 8 or so markets is around 3-5 bucks per pound since the harvest has come in.
I'm thinking about bringing my bulk price down next year so the retailers can move some product. While $10 is nice, I think it seriously limits product turn over. I'd rather sell 100 lbs at $7 than 20 lbs at $10.
The other key, I think, is selling by an 'each' price. The price per pound is a psychological brain struggle for everyone. If the retailer puts $12.99 or $14.99 per pound on a sign, people cringe. But in reality, they aren't typically buying a pound, so they aren't paying that. A bulb or two would probably run them $3-5 bucks. But their mind anchors them into thinking they are about to lay 12-15 dollars on some garlic.
So, I am gonna figure out how many bulbs of each of my sizes it takes to make a pound. Then I will know how many bulbs are in, say, a 20 lb bag. Then sell them by the each so the retailer can then do the same.
For example, 7 bulbs in a pound. At $6 per pound, that is 85 cents per bulb. The retailer can then sell at a reasonable $1.25 each and make about a 50% gross margin. Versus 7 bulbs at $10 per pound, which is 1.42 each. They would have to sell at a little over $2 each to hit that 50% GM.
I don't know where the happy medium between $6 and $10 is.
I do know $10 seems unsustainable. I also know my budget and production costs show that I still make a really nice profit at anything above $5.

[velikipop]

Your price is reasonable compared to what we pay for it here. Some sellers are asking and getting anywhere from $12.00 to $18.00 a pound for garlic. Even more expensive are the sellers of seed bulbs, which are nothing but regular bulbs. They are charging up to and above $20.00 per pound and sell out within a week!!

[PureHarvest]

I wonder what their volume is though. I could sell out in a week if I only had 50lbs to sell.
I want to be able to move 2,000 lbs per season in the next couple years.
The farm I bought from last year told me the online price is so high because they are sizing, grading, maintaining a website, selling in small lots, doing many invoices, packaging, and shipping every week.
To me, that sounds like any business, but that is what she said. Locally, she said prices run 8-15 bucks per pound for bulk wholesale garlic.

[bower]

Tx for info about the cure issues, PH. I always followed that 3 step process here, which is not such a big deal for a home garden. But growing more garlic this year, and thinking about the labor involved, whether I should just hang them for 3 weeks as other people do. I thought maybe it's unnecessary but I guess there's a reason for this one.

We pulled the porcelain at the farm on Saturday before a heavy rain. Really huge, beautiful bulbs this year. We spread them on screens with a fan blowing for the first step. She is planning to trim to 8 inches a week from now, clean them up, and sell them as is partially cured, at the farmer's market. The farm buildings are not heated and except for the packing area not insulated, so there's a tendency to get very humid if the weather turns wet, which is in the forecast. So I guess the quick sale is one way to forestall the risk of curing issues. She will probably have no problem selling them at $3 each - even partly cured - because they are colossal!! (also certified organic). Selling by the each makes a lot of sense, I think you're right that you can do better that way.

The wireworm issues convinced me to trim and clean my own porcelains as usual after the first week - also I have close to 100 head of Spanish Roja to bring in yet so I needed the space. I pulled most of them this morning and put them in a breezy shady spot outdoors in hopes to dry enough to brush most of the dirt off before I bring them in to hang in my porch. The ground is still really damp after two sunny days, and a lot more rain in the forecast this week. There were a few wireworms right there in the roots . But you really can't see the damage until they're cleaned up... Pest damage is bound to be the start of mold and rot, so better to get it out in the open as soon as possible.

[Salaam]

Hello all,

Just wanted to contribute some data from my year of garlic - planted early November and harvested first week of August. 105 cloves on an approximate 25 x 3.5 foot bed of good soil. Thank God we continue to have good luck with garlic.

We had enough to have had to weed a few times. It wasn't too much work but next season we plan to use the landscape cover PH is using on the four beds that we rotate among various vegetables. I hope to make four covers with holes patterned for various vegetables. I hope to increase productivity first, and reduce weed pressure second.

[Salaam]

By the way, what torch did you use and is there any harm (to the soil) in burning the holes while the cover is on the garden bed?

[velikipop]

An alternative to a cover for weeds is to put down an inch or two of straw. It will keep the weeds down and offer a little protection from extreme conditions. But looking at your pictures you might not want to use straw for reasons of appearance. Instead of burning holes in the fabric, you might try cutting a long strip in the fabric and then plant in the open area.

Alex

[Salaam]

Thanks, yes, I suppose a long strip is an option.

I don't use straw because I haven't readily found it around here. I've used pine mulch only so far for my vegetable beds, but I'm going to the fabric because I don't want to go and buy a yard of pine mulch and spread it out every year, and I worry about what putting down pine mulch (or straw) every year might do to the soil balance.

I hope to be able to put in my compost and manure and lay down the fabric in fall, so that in the spring I just need to plant.

[velikipop]

I don't know about pine mulch, but straw will not hurt your soil, it will help improve its structure. I think you should be able to find straw in the Ottawa valley. Check the farmer's supply store or the ones that carry horse supplies.

Alex