Our Very First Small Crop.....Drum Roll....... GARLIC!
And so it was decided we would raise some garlic and see if it does well for us. We talked to several friends and two area Homesteaders and they all recommended Garlic for this area, and a hard neck variety. One of those Farms had harvested and were actually drying their garlic so they offered me a tour. We met sometime during the first of October, I checked it all out, was excited about the process, decided I can do this and the Deed was Done. 8 pounds of garlic later and I am on my way home stocked, armed with instructions and ready.
First week of November came and we worked up two nice rows on the end of where our garden will be next year.
I separated all the cloves and ended up with right at 300. The Farm I visited told me they had tested out taking all the skins off verses leaving them on when planting and they could not tell any difference in the size of the garlic when they harvested. I decided to leave that outer skin on too, then.
We planted 3 inches deep and 5 inches apart. Once they were all in the ground, we covered back with dirt and layered a nice thick blanket of straw to help keep the moisture in this winter. Those big sticks are my attempt at keeping that straw where it should be. The wind gets a little wild up here on top of the hill.
I would say it was end of December before I saw any green popping up, and it grew just a few inches and pretty much stayed like that all winter. Just recently, the garlic has grown a bit more. This picture was taken on February 20, 2018.
We are expecting to be cutting scapes sometime in April. Scapes are the curled, unopened flowers of the Garlic. Once the scape grows up and curls like a Pigs Tail you trim that off about 2 inches up. These are completely edible and I hear they taste delicious. Cutting the Scape off forces the energy back to the bulb so it will be larger. The expected maturity date is usually the first of July in our area (Zone 6A). Looking forward to reporting a success and more info on our harvesting and drying experience. Wish us Luck!
Oh my land, my eyes are getting bad. I looked at your first picture for like five minutes before my eyes focused enough for me to realize there was a puppy in front of the rototiller or whatever the machine is, LOL. :D
It looks like you're going to have a lovely crop of fresh garlic to enjoy this spring/summer. :D
God bless you and your family. :D Have an awesome day! :D
Yes, that is my favorite Girl Onyx. She don't miss a thing here on the farm. Of course she is obviously not a working dog :) I sure hope the garlic does well. That will sure be a big dose of motivation. I hope you have a Blessed Day as well!
Of course it is, if she's anything like our dogs, wherever you go she's right there. :D I'm sure your garlic will do quite well, especially with all the extra care you took to cover them to keep in the moisture. :D I can't wait to see the pictures once you harvest some. :D
God bless you all. :D Have an awesome day my friend! :D
Thank you for the resteem!
You're welcome! :D
You did better than me, I didn't see the dog until I read your comment, lol. She is a beautiful baby!
Oh good, I'm so glad its not just me. :D LOL. :D Yes she is. :D
God bless you. :D Have an awesome day! :D
Thank you! She is such a good girl and so well behaved. She is perfect!
That is a lot of garlic. We like our garlic. It is nice that the deer do not like it.
We have two friends that would like to buy from us, should it do well. One has a spot at our County Farmers Market selling organic fruits and veggies and the other ferments and cans tons of stuff she sells.
Holler Out Tuesday Post
CONGRATULATIONS! You were mentioned as one of the homesteaders in this curation post!
This is so awesome! Thank ya, Thank ya, Thank ya!
That's one we haven't tried yet! I love garlic, so maybe we'll have to set aside some space and give it a go for next year. I have not tried the scapes yet, either, so I will be curious to see what you think!
I didn't know about the scapes either. Last year a lot of people were talking about how good their scapes were and had no idea. Most saute with some other veggies. Supposedly a little milder taste than the garlic cloves. I say we will smoke some on the smoker too. We love smoked garlic. I will definitely keep you posted.
thanks, this inspires me to plant some garlic, hopefully. If you can plant garlic, maybe you can try planting ginger and turmeric too. Wishing you to get a great harvest
YES! We were gifted some stratified ginseng seed and have put those out. I just read a blog on ginger this morning and flagged so I can get some started. My husband already mentioned wanting some ginger and turmeric sounds good too. I have been reading more and more articles on the health benefits of Tumeric. Thank you!!!
I'm looking forward to seeing how your ginseng does. I thought about planting some as well.
We put some out next to a spring where May Apples Grow and I put some in a shady flower bed where some of my woods poppies did really good last year. I just hope I don't think its a weed and yank it up by the roots :) I have a few left I am going to put in a flower pot in the green house maybe next week. I will post if it comes up and does anything worth talking about.
This is inspiring! I've always wanted to grow garlic over winter...maybe next fall is my time! So happy for you guys!
Thank you! I think you should give it a try. I am told by many the planting time is key and that is around first of November here.
AWESOME! I am sure y'all are excited about the harvest later in the year!
Yes, we are so excited. Seeing growth is so motivating!
I love garlic! You are very lucky to have those beautiful rows. Be well.
We love garlic too! We are very thankful they sprouted :)
Very nice, garlic is a great easy crop to grow remember to keep your larger bulbs for seeds for next year they will grow even better next time around.
Thank you for the reminder. The folks I bought from told me to do the same. I am glad they did and also you because I would have picked those to put on the smoker. I am so hoping they do well. We have plenty of space more next year.
Wow you really planted a lot of garlic! What are you going to do with it?
We have two different families that have booths at the market. One sells veggies and the other sells canned goods. Either of them will take it to sell or barter with us. I will be saving quite a bit to plant next year if it does well. I hope to plant more next year.