Garlic

[Durgan]

Garlic 2015/2016

http://durgan.org/2016/April%202016/16%20April%202016%20Garlic/HTML/ 16 April 2016 Garlic
Garlic growth to date. The large plants are normal planted cloves. The one smaller plant row is first year rounds. The small grass looking row is garlic seeds,bulbils. All are growing very well.

http://durgan.org/2016/March%202016/12%20March%202016%20Garlic/HTML/ 12 March 2016 Garlic
Garlic is growing. There is still no sign of the row of bulbils, but the first year round are all up.

http://www.durgan.org/2015/October%202015/19%20October%202015%20Planting%20Garlic/HTML/ 19 October 2015 Planting Garlic
Garlic was planted to be harvested in July 2016. A row of bulbils was planted at about 2 inch spacing, a row of rounds planted at 4 inch spacing and five rows (80 cloves) was planted at 6 inch spacing.The garlic is from the 2015 harvest. The 8 foot square bed was prepared about a month ago and heavily mulched to retain moisture. Boards were placed to mark the rows. Garlic has no difficulty pushing through the mulch in the Spring.The bulbils will produce rounds in 2016 and the rounds now planted will produce about three normal sized cloves in 2016.Planting the bulbils and rounds will eventually become the cloves for normal planting. This allows more bulbs for use, since none will be used for seed.

 

[sillylucy]

That is really awesome! What do you do with all of that garlic. I love garlic, but don't use that much. I use a little of mine for pasta sauces and for some meats. Do you grind it up and make garlic powder? Freeze it?

 

[Durgan]

That is really awesome! What do you do with all of that garlic. I love garlic, but don't use that much. I use a little of mine for pasta sauces and for some meats. Do you grind it up and make garlic powder? Freeze it?

I attempt to use some garlic daily. I dry the bulbs and store in my root cellar. The bulbs keep about six months.

http://www.durgan.org/2016/January%202016/3%20January%202016%20Garlic%20Chopper/HTML/ 3 January 2016 Garlic Chopper
Garlic Chopper: To maximize health benefits, crush the garlic at room temperature and allow it to sit for at least 15 minutes or longer. The process triggers an enzyme reaction that boosts the healthy compounds in garlic. To make smaller pieces I was using a mortar and pestle, but found it too tedious and not an adequate result, so purchased an OXO Food Chopper. This is achieves the desired result with minimum effort.

My method is to separate the cloves from the bulb, cut the hard piece off the end of the clove if desired. Crush the clove with skin by pressing down on the tortilla press without using the handle. Remove the skin easily. Scrap into the container for the OXO Food Chopper. Complete for all cloves. Push the handle of the chopper a number of times to get the desired texture. Let stand for at least 15 minutes or longer before using. If cooking use low heat and fry for a few minutes to eliminate the hot stinging taste effect. It may be used raw in salads or other dishes. There are hand garlic presses similar to pliers, that do not function well and are awkward to clean. Take the OXO Food Chopper apart and clean under running water immediately after use. It may also be placed in a dishwasher if desired, but running water cleaning and air drying is adequate.

 

[Rosyrain]

That would be a lot of garlic for personal growth. I guess you could dry some and preserve some, but I would end up giving a lot of it away. You always post about different fruits and veggies you grow, you must have a farm?

 

[amelia88]

I would definitely be trying to preserve some if I had that much of it! We use a lot of minced garlic in recipes that we just buy jarred from the store - so it would be nice to be able to have it fresh! Thanks for sharing the garlic growing journey with us. It's something I'll have to look into growing here.

 

[Durgan]

I have a large city property. About 2000 square feet for fruit and vegetables. Under good conditions, meaning fruitful soil and accommodating weather a lot of food can be grown in a relatively small space. Preservation for off season use is the problem.

Garlic is probably amongst the easiest plants to grow, and it take little space, and little maintenance.

 

[Corzhens]

I have a large city property. About 2000 square feet for fruit and vegetables. Under good conditions, meaning fruitful soil and accommodating weather a lot of food can be grown in a relatively small space. Preservation for off season use is the problem.

Garlic is probably amongst the easiest plants to grow, and it take little space, and little maintenance.

Wow, what a lot of space you have to be in the city. We live in the suburbs and our house is in a 280 square meter lot. Fortunately the adjacent vacant lot of 250 square meters is our extended garden. I agree that a lof of food can be grown in that space but you have to be a good gardener otherwise your plants and trees may not give you a good harvest.

We had tested garlic before and it's not a bad harvest. However, garlic is pretty cheap here so we do not plant it anymore and instead we have my experimental cantaloupe patch and the heavy-fruiting red pepper.

 

[darkrebelchild]

I love garlic as well but never knew how to preserve them until now. I guess because I always get them for cheap and I do not use much. I never considered growing and preserving them.

 

[headfullofbees]

I love garlic and grow approx. 80 bulbs per year. That's a bit beyond our needs, but we have friends and family who love my pungent garlic.
Woodash helps build its flavour.

 

[IcyBC]

Wow..that is a fantastic lot of garlic! You will have plenty to use throughout the year once harvested!

 

[Durgan]

http://durgan.org/2016/May%202016/15%20May%202016%20Garlic/HTML/ 15 May 2016 Garlic
Garlic, cloves, rounds and bulbils are all thriving. I expect a good harvest.

 

[headfullofbees]

Looking good, no rust.
Think you're right about the crop.