Garlic
>> Saturday, June 29, 2013 –
edibles
Apparently, it's time to harvest the garlic. I know this because my neighbor was recently digging his up.
I'm not as on top of harvest dates as I should be. Good to have reminders nearby!
If you remember, I planted several different varieties last fall in two places in my yard. First, the raised veggie beds:
I've been eagerly waiting for these to come out, since it means I get a lot of planting space back in these beds!
Some of the heads were a very nice size:
Others were disappointingly small:
I suspect that sunlight was the main issue here -- these beds get partially shaded by trees, and some of these plants just didn't get enough sunlight.
The second area that was planted (because I had so many extra cloves) was around one of my newly-planted bamboos:
I seem to have misplaced the map that shows which varieties I planted where, as I know there were at least 3 different ones here -- maybe more:
So I just guessed on some of these, and labeled them with numbers. Sure hope I find that map!
I should mention that the winds were whipping up and some really dark clouds had moved after I was halfway through this task, so I was hurrying. I probably could have knocked more of the soil off of some of these.
They're all hanging in my garage with a fan blowing on them for air circulation, and will be here for two weeks. Then it's garlic-eating time!
For now though I get to plant more veggies! I'll start with beans, cucumbers, and kale. Maybe a few more tomatoes. Exciting!
Note: I'll post an update on which varieties did best for me once they're done curing and I clean them. I should also mention that I did leave some of the smaller plants in the ground to see if I could get them to size up a bit more -- I'll harvest them soon.
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They should be able to still ripen out quite a bit based on how they look. Those only look around 90% grown because when they are fully ripe, each clove will really pop out like a beafsteak tomato. I usually wait until they are mostly yellow before lifting mine, and they will last through the whole winter.
That still looks like a decent harvest. I've knocked the scapes off 80% of the garlic which makes bulbs have an extra edge in size.
I grew some garlic from bulbils I found growing along the street. I wonder how long those will take to size up. That is a nice amount of garlic. I have been meaning to grow more garlic but keep forgetting. maybe later!