OwnGrown

Started lifting the earlier maturing garlic. Ideally these should be left to dry outside but it is too damp at the moment and almost no sun so they will be hung up indoors. These early maturing ones will not last in store as long as later ones but should be fine hanging up for a few months. The largest ones will be kept for planting in October - see earlier entries.

These garlic in the left foreground are two or three weeks away from being pulled up and used / left to dry for later use. Although still a little small, we have started to use them. Chives in flower are in the background - there are also chives elsewhere that have not been allowed to develop flowers but these look attractive and the bees certainly like them.

The start of another crop. After last year’s partial failure, only the early maturing garlic cloves from last year (these were successful) and different garlic of an unknown type were planted to see what happens with these. Plenty of compost and wood ash were dug into the soil a couple of weeks beforehand. Planting details are the same as last year so click on “Garlic” on the right to see all the posts for garlic over the past year.

Lifted a few later garlic early July - small bulbs so left the remaining ones for 2 weeks when they were also dug up. Results were even worse - I have no idea why. These were planted with the earlier garlic in the same bed and treated exactly the same. This year one is a success and the other, although usable, is fairly pathetic.

Lifted first garlic early June when the stems were partly yellow and starting to fall over. Total of 20 bulbs which are now hung in bunches to dry before storing in a cool dry place. The four largest bulbs will be kept separately and used for the next planting in October. This variety will store for four to five months and the later maturing ones still growing will last longer

Spread bonfire ash around garlic and lightly forked in to topsoil

Planted cloves late October in soil which will not be waterlogged in the winter, using the largest cloves spaced 6″ apart in rows 12 - 18″ wide. Clove placed in a small hole with the root downwards and the top 1″ below the surface. There are various types of garlic maturing at different times with some keeping longer than others. Two types planted here - one maturing in early June which keeps for about four months  and another in early July which keeps well until late the following spring / early summer. A smallish area will supply your needs for most, if not the whole year - work out what you need assuming seven bulbs per 1.2m (4′) row and allow a few extra for replanting the next October