I agree, my lower leaves are starting to fade. Seems way too early! I will still leave them in longer.
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ditto, I usually pull on July 4th like clockwork, this year Iāll start a week earlier.
I made this garlic scape pesto last night. It was good but very spicy ā and Iām a fan of spicy. Iād suggest adding another cup of basil. I grow German Red and Moroccan Creole.
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OK, well I tried to wait as long as possible. maybe a bit too long! The first sheathing is starting to come off. I pulled my softnecks, which are smaller bulbs, and they are even smaller this year, it was very dry! Tomorrow I pull the hardnecks.
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Drew, Iām no expert, but there seems to be a lot of green going on with that garlic still. I was taught to pull them when the stalks are 60% brown. What signs do you look for?
They look more green than you see. The front side is 50% brown except the top three leaves are still green. You can see some of the bottom leaves are completely brown. These are softnecks and they fell over too, three were upright. Plus the first sheath was disappearing (so they for sure are not going to grow more), they seem ready to me. I almost pulled them 2 weeks ago when some started falling over. Today all but three were fallen over. I would rather pick them early, I will not be using these till January or so, so storage is important with these. Iāll eat the hardnecks first.
I didnāt take a photo of the softnecks but here is my hardnecks (one of 2 beds) which look in better shape than the softnecks did,
See that one on the left? The inside of the leaf is brown, but the bottom of the other leaf is green, yet inside itās brown (in the other photo all you see is the bottom of the leaves, inside they are brown!). Here not even 3 leaves are green. I think it is time to pull them.
I always examine the first couple of plants to decide if ready. The fact the first sheath was breaking down tells me it was time. I donāt want the other layers to start going, which is what will happen.
Here is the top side of the softnecks I pulled, the leaves are starting to die.
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Iāve always left them in the ground until the tops start to die back, but now Iāve read that the best guideline is to lift them when the bottom three leaves have turned brown. I gather the longer you leave them in the ground without having the cloves separate the better.
So Iāve lifted my few random softneck and am getting ready to go after the stiffies. I have Music, and unnamed variety sold at the farmersā market by the local Hmong community, and I think Romanian, irrc.
Weāve had a lot of rain the last couple of weeks and I would like for them to have a chance to dry out a bit before I tackle them, but they have to come out soon in any event.
My stiffneck and softneck from last year have kept quite well, and are still fairly decent, but now they are history!
:-)M
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Thanks Mark for the feedback on your garlic.
Yes and mine are completely brown and wilted to nothing.
Right where Iām at too, and your a full zone colder, so Iām not early, if anything late!
Last year we just braided the softnecks, this year both! Iām growing a passed down Wisconsin heirloom, and Killarney Red hardnecks, and Idaho Silver soft. I like all of them a lot. Music is a very good one for sure too. Home grown garlic, the best! Whatever it is!
We just pulled our garlic last weekend. Music looked great as always. I tried three other types this year. The asiatic looked decent, rocambole and purple stripe were too small to use for anything but broth maybe. Hurray for Music.
My Music is mostly green but I lifted 6 or so bulbs this morningā¦2-2.5 inches, strong and hot!
Hurray for Music!
I only have grown garlic here for a few years, and taking good notes as to when it is ripe and such really helps. My hardnecks are ready, but leaving them in a few days till the wife has time to clean and braid them. Currently she has a heavy work schedule.
This is the picture of my garlic which was cured in the shed. I dug one portion two weeks ago and the rest in the last week.
This is an unknown softneck from the store. Actually for the two years I tried to grow softneck bought from the store and I got very small bulbs. Last year I planted this one in the spring and to my surprise the bulb were really big. I think the wet weather, fertilizing and the different variety helped. This summer I was not home for the three weeks in June and the weather was hot and dry at that time. The bulbs are still decent size, although not so big as last year.
This variety is different from the regular softneck, it is white outside, but the cloves have beautiful pink skins when the bulb is open. It stores well through the winter.
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Sounds like a winner Maria! I grow one soft too, and my bulbs are smaller too. The dry summer I agree, did it. Iām waiting to harvest the hards on Monday. I donāt have time till then!
I lifted my hard necks today. Iām a little disappointed with the size on some, especially Romanian, but the āHmongā variety, a red-skin, did size up fairly well. The Music are only fair to look at. Iām blaming partly the weather and also considering whether I fertilized well. Probably didnāt; I relied completely on compost and even good compost can be slow to deliver. But weāll have garlic for the year and plenty to plant for next year.
I didnāt have a good place to cure my garlic this year (I like to dry them a little slowly with the leaves of one bunch covering the bulbs of the next, like thatching on a roof) and they had just been watered, so I stuck the heads in heavy brown grocery bags and have been rotating the bags in the sun just for this afternoon- a couple of hours. In a few minutes Iāll hustle them off to bed!
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Thanks for letting me know. Mine are all turned yellow, it is about the time to dig them up
Planted out some garlic this weekend. Similar to @marknmtās comment above, my garlic also didnāt size up well this past season. I think it was partially because of lack of water. Trying a bunch of varieties this year to see if I can find one that works better for me: Red Chesnok, Deerfield Purple, Inchelium Red, German Red, Samarkand, Takayama, Chimyan Marbled, Music, and Aglio Rosso.
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Boy, that looks a lot like the way I do it! Your beds are tidier than mine but otherwise very similar.
One trick I like that you might also: after smoothing the soil for planting I take a suitably sized plastic pot and use it to impress circles in lines across the bed, and I stagger each line. Then I stick my clove in the center of each circle. Just like you I cover the works with about 2" of compost.
The rest is mostly waiting- one or two weedings seems to be the most work my garlic beds need. They did cure out nicely in loose grocery (paper) bags.
And while it wasnāt my best year it was still good enough- and next year will be better! Iām planting mine this week ā¦ and hope springs eternal.
:-)M
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Your bed looks awesome.
Mine go in mid October are up about 4" before Christmas. Iāve done Music for years and it does well. Does anyone prep their cloves for various āuntowardsā before planting? And what type mulch do you use? I do heavy pine straw.
Iāll be planting 2 soft neck and two hardneck varieties next week. I just push the cloves into the ground 2 or 3 inches. I mulch with an inch or two of pine needles. So far itās the most trouble free thing I grow. I also plant some of the bulbils for the scapes. Some of those I leave in the ground for two years. The ones I planted last fall started to grow again a few weeks ago. The should be a nice size be next August.
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Garlic is my favorite! In all my years (decades) of gardening it has never let me down. Some years theyāre larger, some smaller but always a crop. This year (unusually wet and warm) they were sort of medium. Many years ago I did as Steven has done ā planted a lot of different kinds and varieties. Over the years I just kept replanting what did the best and ended up with what grows best for me (and we like). Like many of you, I usually plant in October (just did today), or maybe Sept., depending on how the fall feels, 5 or 6" apart. Mine donāt grow before winter as much as Anneās though. But they sometimes show above the mulch before being covered with snow. I donāt do anything special with those Iām going to plant. When the crop is about half yellowed I harvest, then dry and cure under cover (usually in the woodshed then in the house), cutting the roots and stems off at some point. When I get around to it I sort and store, saving the best for planting. I mulch with old hay from the garden paths. Thatās pretty much it till the first scapes are ready next summer and harvest time rolls back around. Not only an easy crop I think the curling scapes of the hardnecks are one of the most beautiful.
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