I couldn't resist pulling up one of the garlics. As you predicted Ken, it is just one clove and not a terribly huge one at that. Really not a lot bigger than when I planted them. I figure I should wait til around July when they will start turning brown.

What you can do in a month, Mary, is carefully dig around a bulb so that it is exposed. You can see what you have without actually digging it up. Just don't disturb the roots growing downward from the bulb.

For those of you who asked for garlic, I will begin invoicing you for the amount/type of garlic you asked for. If I have your email address, you'll get an email. If I don't, you'll get a T-Mail. Shipping will begin next week but most won't be shipping till the following week to allow that two-week "curing" process.

Great. Looking forward to receiving them. And thanks for the tip on my garlic babies.

Oh, boy!

Got it. Sent it. Yay garlic.

I dug up the last two varieties on Saturday, and oddly enough, they were both new hardneck varieties. Generally my hardneck are the first to be harvested, not the last. Regardless, these bulbs are all nice and uniform in size and have intact cases. They will have to cure for two weeks and thus, these particular varieties won't be ready to ship for two weeks. They are the Russian Red and Russian Giant.

I cut the tops and roots from six varieties yesterday and they are all separately bagged and labeled. Some of the orders will begin to ship later in the week and a lot more will be shipped/picked up the following week.

Thanks to all of you who placed orders and have now paid.

(Moved to new thread)

I pulled one of my garlic planted last fall. The clove that was planted was mushy so I peeled it off. What was left looked like a Jurrasaic onion. But I couldn't smell anything. Had Damien sniff it when he got home and he said it didn't smell much at all. I think I watered them too much. Sort of disappointing. Wanted to plant some of my shipment from Ken this fall but I don't want to waste them. Guess I could plant them and mulch heavily and then put up a little tiny fence across the bed to remind me not to overwater them next spring.

Was the top of the plant you pulled dying back, Mary? I'm still about a month (or a little more) away from digging mine...

Tell me again, Mary, what variety you planted last fall. I think my garlic do much better when the soil can dry out some. Even with all our rain down here, my soil never stays soggy. I have well-draining soil with lots of organic matter incorporated plus the fact that I am growing in a fairly deep raised garden and large, tall pot. I a perfect environment, I would like my garlic to NOT get any water whatsoever in the last 4 weeks before I dig it. Of course, one can't control Mother Nature. When I get copious amounts of rain during the last 4 weeks, my garlic is undersized.

You can't use this tip with hardneck garlic, but when it comes to softneck and Creole, when you see those stalks begin to fall over, regardless of whether the lower 30-50% of the leaves appear to have browned, it is time to dig up that garlic - immediately.

Okay, so I've been becoming increasingly concerned over the fact that the leaves on my "Music" garlic, in particular, are showing a lot of yellowing...



I don't normally harvest my garlic until at least the end of July, but truthfully it is quite conceivable that they do this every year and I've just never really noticed it

So I dug up a couple of the plants today to see if there was something going on below ground -- maggots, rot, or whatever -- but as far as I can see, the (immature) bulbs look just fine



Maybe too much rain ? (It's been fairly rainy lately, but not extraordinarily so, I wouldn't say; and the garden has very good drainage, never any standing water or the like.) Or maybe it's basically nothing ? I guess time will tell, at least I'm happy that nothing really seems to be attacking the bulbs.

I grew a softneck variety called "early california white" this year. My stalks all fell over last week, so now it's all hanging in the garage! Most of my bulbs are small but it's delicious all the same.

Wayne, I imagine in your zone it would be ready to harvest now... did you plant last fall, or earlier in the spring?

Sandy. That is what my garlic looks like. Just a huge onion. So it will mature into cloves? No, mine are not yellow much less falling over. And perhaps I water too much. I will back off on the water and let them go until the turn yellow and/or fall over. It still bothers me that they have no fragrance.

Ken, I bought the garlic from Hood River Garlic. But don't remember what kind. Red something I think

Lots of "reds", Mary.

Though heirloom garlic is fairly easy to grow, at least for me, it has been a learning curve to grow it and I am still learning. Knowing when there is 1/3-1/2 lower leave yellowing is a guess. Some of those leaves may have dropped, so how do you know? Seeing the softneck and Creole stems collapse/bend is another way to tell that it is time. You have to watch for this. Hardnecks won't "collapse" though, the stems are too tough.

Mary, and others, I have never seen a pest attack any of my garlic in the last four years that I have seriously grown it. Zero. Deer and rabbits won't touch it.

Mary, you and so many others in the North will have to tell me what your experiences are. I truthfully don't know how to tell you to grow it. Your feedback will not only help me to tell others what to do and what not to do, but others on OTP.

It you don't plant your garlic in the late-summer/fall (depending on your location), you are in for a disappointment.

Oberon46 said:Sandy. That is what my garlic looks like. Just a huge onion. So it will mature into cloves? No, mine are not yellow much less falling over. And perhaps I water too much. I will back off on the water and let them go until the turn yellow and/or fall over. It still bothers me that they have no fragrance.

Ken, I bought the garlic from Hood River Garlic. But don't remember what kind. Red something I think

Mary, I've never dug my plants up at this stage, but yes, the fall-planted garlic has always matured into nice bulbs with separate cloves. Not sure about the effect of the watering; we've had plenty of rain here, but I haven't watered otherwise, and just (like 5 minutes ago) saw on the news that we've actually had 3/4" less rain this month than we have on average, so... I really am tending to think mine always look like this and I just haven't paid that much attention to them. My advice is to wait until most of the leaves are brown, with maybe 3-4 green leaves left on the stalk, then dig, and spread out to dry (preferably on some kind of big screens or something, where the air can circulate well). I've harvested anywhere from the end of July to the 2nd week of August, depending on the year. Don't wait TOO long, or you will be digging up a bunch of loose cloves, instead of bulbs... been there, done that!

We definitely are (once again) not having the greatest gardening year... nighttime temps are still going down into the 40s, and barely getting into the 70s during the day I think next year I might put some stakes around my garlic beds so I can wrap plastic around them to hold some heat in, like I do my tomatoes; that way I could also throw some plastic over the top if we're getting too much rain...

It does seem odd that yours don't have a garlicky odor, though... maybe you just have a very mild variety ? (Mine was definitely quite fragrant!)

Weedwhacker said:Wayne, I imagine in your zone it would be ready to harvest now... did you plant last fall, or earlier in the spring?

Actually I lost a week somehow...my garlic has been curing for two weeks and will be coming out of the garage tomorrow (yikes!)

I planted my garlic the first week of October. This year I plan on improving the drainage of the bed much more than I did last year...hopefully that will improve my yield a little :)

Here's part of my little harvest from this year:

Looks good, Wayne.