And today was a purple day through the viewfinder.
Read once that the colour purple has a richness to it that demands respect.
Couldn't agree more!
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Today was garlic bulbil planting day ... probably a little late for this year but this is our first year planting our bulbils ... we didn't do our homework last year! Boundary Garlic recommends fall planting and mulching them for over-wintering. We'll definitely do that this year with the bulbils we collect. We typically leave 3 or 4 scapes to mature on each variety.
Last year we stored them in little cotton sacks and hung them in the garage over the winter. This year we'll harvest bulbils and hang them to dry over the fall months, and then plant them in late October before the ground freezes.
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Today was a pink day in the garden ... everything photographed is pink. And, the day after saying we have no peonies in our garden our wonderful neighbours plant peonies in their garden! Our gardens merge together at the front of the properties ... so, now we too have peonies to enjoy : )
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Another rainy day so a quick trip to the local garden centre for some peat pots for our garlic bulbils was good for the spirits. Nice to wander around and see the plants that don't live in our garden (by choice). The bottom right photo of the peonies is an example. They are lovely but so short lived that we don't grow them. The other three photos are from our garden this afternoon.
Those hardy little geranium have been blooming for weeks now at the front of the house, and the alyssum which self seeds year after year is already very fragrant. And then there are the japanese maples ... splendid in rain or shine.
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We've been growing garlic for some time now, but only in the last few years have we started to grow specific types for their taste. We've been lucky in that we've had no problems with diseases or pests, but we are careful to rotate the beds. We knew of the perils of replanting in the same beds before we saw first hand yesterday at the Garlic Growers Field Day the fate that awaits us if we don't manage the soil well : (
These are the varieties we planted in November 2012 that we will harvest sometime in July 2013. We use about 4" of leaf mulch and cover that with landscape cloth for protection from the cold and the squirrels. We take the cloth, and much of the mulch off, as soon as the snow clears. By that time the garlic is already up through the ground and raring to grow.
The Porcelains
* Music was the tallest of all and was first to develop scapes (as of June 9th)
* all our Porcelains have scapes as of this afternoon; the Music scapes were large enough to harvest
* this type of garlic has a strong but very pleasant flavour
Music
average height 42” on June 9th
new in our garden this year ... it appears to be the most popular hardneck variety commercially grown in this area
Dan’s Russian
average height 38” on June 9th
very good flavour raw or cooked
Leningrad
average height 38” on June 9th
very good flavour raw or cooked
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The Rocamboles
“For many people the name ‘Rocambole’ is synonymous with hardneck garlic and culinary supremacy”
Ted Jordan Meredith, The Complete Book of Garlic
* none have scapes yet (June 9th)
* supposed to be best for flavour along with the Purple Stripes
* first year in our garden
* said to have the most photogenic scapes with double loops
* shorter shelf life (5 - 6 months) than the Porcelains and Purple Stripes
Killarney Red
average height 32” on June 9th
strong but very pleasant
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The Purple Stripes
* supposed to have the best flavour along with the Rocamboles
Persian Star (also known as Samarkand, Duganskij)
smallest at 29” on June 9th
most delicate looking of all the plants
excellent raw in salads or roasted
Chesnok Red (also known as Shvelisi)
average height 36” on June 9
similar to Persian Star
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Photos are identified but are in no particular order:
Boundary Garlic is where we bought our original garlic cloves from ... great website, lots of helpful hints (recipes, drying garlic, etc.) and there’s an overview of the classification and history of garlic in North America by Bob Anderson of Gourmet Garlic Gardens.
Today was the Ontario Garlic Growers Annual Field Day near Brantford, in Ontario. We drove the quiet country roads under overcast skies and the little villages looked like stage props in the early morning light. There were a few showers during the morning, but it didn't dampen anyone's spirits.
We first toured the Brant County Garlic Company fields and then the University of Guelph's test fields where we heard presentations by a Plant Pathologist and a Vegetable Crop/Leek Moth Specialist. From there we hopped back into our buses and were given a peek into the Boot Farm garlic scallion cleaning process where the garlic was being prepared for the local markets. And then we went on to a small Mennonite farm also growing Music garlic.
During these excellent presentations, we learned that one of the serious garlic pests are bulb and stem nematodes. Once established they can kill the whole crop and infect the soil for a long time. We were shown samples of diseased plants, and reminded about the importance of disease-free seed, and the importance of crop rotation (ideally 4-5 year rotation for garlic!).
We also found out that the other crops grown in non-garlic years can also be hosts for the same nematodes, so it's important to carefully choose! A very interesting finding is that if you grow mustard as a cover crop (certain varieties are recommended), you can "fumigate" your soil naturally by chopping up the mustard cover crop into small shreds, and IMMEDIATELY burying it in the soil and tamping it down. The chopped mustard plant releases gasses that kill nematodes within 24 hours. Then the soil is ready for any kind of planting two weeks later... Here's a really good website with lots of info: www.sare.org/Learning-Cente
We will certainly be very cautious about garlic diseases, as they can be disastrous. Chives, leeks, and onions, etc. can be disease/pest carriers as well. We were warned against composting any garlic or onion waste, as it could infect your soil.
The garlic scallions at Boot Farm looked delicious!
The event was attended by about 50 people, and it was a most inspiring day. Free to attend, we just needed to register and it included and a nice hot lunch (donation). We learned a lot and plan to attend it again next year.
No, we're not planning on going commercial and buying a larger property to enable us to grow more garlic. But we will be planting more next year because it doesn't seem to matter how much you grow it never seems to be enough : )
