I've had maters that looked terrible but the fruits were great.
I'm sure they'll be fine.
Harvested my garlic today, it's the first year I've grown it.
Planted 1 pound last November harvested 30 bulbs today.

That garlic looks good, Paul.

Good looking garlic! What kind is it?

i always wanted to grow garlic but never got the chance. can you growm them in containers and what size do you think i would need. i have 10 gallon now.

I haven't done it but I know a gal that is doing it. Here is a link that might help.

http://gardenofeaden.blogspot....

thanks for that site. it was perfect for me.

The best thing about growing garlic is that you only have to buy it once! Just set aside the biggest heads to plant next year.

Very nice harvest, Paul -- you're nearly a month ahead of me, mine is usually ready around the middle of August.

Short course on garlic for those who are asking: There are 2 types, soft neck and hard neck; soft neck has more "cloves" to a head, in varying sizes, hard neck has a very stiff stem in the middle and 6 or so cloves arranged around it, all of pretty equal size. i can grow both types here in the north, but the hard neck is hardier. Plant the individual cloves in the fall, when you would plant daffodils and tulips. Harvest when there are still 2 or 3 green leaves on the plants, otherwise the bulbs will fall apart into the individual cloves (still usable but not as nice). The first year that I grew it, I let all the tops die back the way I do my onions -- big mistake. Spread out on a screen in the shade to cure for a while after harvesting. If you want to make garlic braids you need the soft neck type. You can slice up the cloves and dry in a dehydrator to make some truly killer garlic granules/powder -- I grind mine in a little electric coffee grinder. Just don't try to store it in zip-lock bags (the way I did), they don't contain the substantial odor! If you like garlic at all, give it a try, I am continuously amazed at how easy it is to grow.

Great information Weedwhacker! Thank you!

I'm trying to get some winter chat going about cooking.
come on over and pitch in:
http://cubits.org/worldcuisine...

Thank you Patti for the link: http://gardenofeaden.blogspot.... There's some helpful info there. :thumbsup:
Some great info from you as well Sandi Thank you also

I noticed that you plant garlic in the fall for harvest in the winter in the UP in Michigan. The weather has to be as cold there as here though perhaps the duration isn't as long. Do you supposed that would work here. I have planted the little cloves and they just rot in the summer. Same with green onions. What do you supposed I am doing wrong. Do they need comparatively dry soil? And how do you preserve them? Sometimes I get the most yukky garlic from the store which I assume is getting old. I have heard of just putting them in olive oil all in one piece (entire garlic 'bunch). Not to anxious to do that

I think preserving them in oil, whole cloves, peeled, and kept in the refrigerator is an ok way to go. What I do with my store bought (but from a specialty produce store) garlic is chop it up in the Cuisinart, put it into a ziplock bag, flatten that out, freeze it, and then I can break off a corner as large or small as I need for my cooking.

I know the Italians like to braid the greens together and dry it, but I never trust my climate to dry it without it molding (or sprouting). I MAY try this with some of my first homegrown as I do have a gas stove old enough to have a pilot light.

But I've been using that frozen method for decades and it works well for me.

That's a great idea. I use a lot of chopped fresh garlic in my cooking. So freezing doesn't reduce the flavor? I get so aggravated when I peel a close from the store and find it is dried out and brown.

The garlic flavor seems to hold for at least 6 months. I put it in the zip bag and mash it out to a rectangle at least 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick - any thicker and it's hard to break by hand. I have never, not once, had a problem.

I do this with my fresh (hot) peppers in the summer, too. Those, I sautee in olive oil until almost soft and put them into a bag and flatten. They last, too.

Parsley and cilantro, I just chop fine and freeze. I use that up more quickly.

I think the quantity of pre peeled garlic cloves I pick up at the produce market now is about 1/2 the size of a cherry tomato basket. When I used to do this from whole bulbs, I'd break up and peel 3-4 bulbs and do the same thing.

In ALL these instances, I am saving a lot from the season's harvest, and it lasts me into the off season, but I usually end up using some store bought before the next crop is in.

I am in NE Mississippi, so my growing would probably be completely different than you in the north or FAR north (Anchorage). Therefore I will let those who grow them successfully in the northern half of the country comment on their growing techniques.

I grow only gourmet type garlic and if you have only had garlic from a typical grocery store, you have literally never tasted true garlic. Not only are commercially grown garlic typically all the same varieties (Early CA and Late CA), generally coming out of areas around Gilroy, CA, they will have been in transit and storage for who knows how long. The only reason this particular variety is grown commercially is because it is small and uniform so that it can be harvested/handled by machines and packages and ships well. At least that's my understanding of the business. Please correct me if I am wrong.

If you use "Elephant" garlic, that is not even a garlic. It is of the onion family and the leek genus. Some people like it because of its mild taste, so I guess "real" garlic is not for everyone.

I plant my varieties of garlic in October or early November and will harvest it in the spring. Some can be harvested in early May (hardneck varieties) but most of what I grow will be harvested in late May/early June. That is the softneck varieties.

I will cure my garlic in the shaded greenhouse for 2-3 weeks. Then I will either ship it out or use it for my own use. That which I keep for myself will be stored in my pantry. Each variety will be put into a pint-size brown paper sack (sandwich size) and then I put all the small bags into one large paper sack, the size used in grocery stores. Each variety will vary in the ability to keep its taste and pungency, but all of mine will taste great for at least four months. The average garlic that I grow will stay fresh for 6-8 months and I have eaten garlic after its been in storage for a year, with little change in taste or pungency. Typically, the softnecks will keep longer than the hardnecks.

It is not unusual for many of my varieties to produce 1/4 lb. bulbs. They are about the size of the so-called Elephant garlic. Last year my production was less because the size of the bulbs were smaller due to a prolonged cold, wet winter. Garlic does best if the ground will be on the dry side the last 4-6 weeks before harvesting. Time will tell what my garlic will do this year. We have had brutally cold weather with lows in the 20's or less for 30 days already. We generally average this cold of weather for 15 days all fall/winter long!

[quote="drdawg"] If you use "Elephant" garlic, that is not even a garlic. It is of the onion family and the leek genus. Some people like it because of its mild taste, so I guess "real" garlic is not for everyone.[quote="drdawg"]

Thank you for clearing up that mystery! I remember better garlic from my younger days... then for awhile, all I could find in the supermarket was this tasteless "elephant" stuff. I've moved since then and I shop in a serious produce neighborhood now, where garlic is garlic again. I haven't really grown my own garlic yet - less urgent now with the better produce markets.

Now can anybody tell me why the brie of today tastes more like any old bland white cheese instead of like the sharp, aged brie of the 80s?

Progress?

I guess, but vegetables are about like everything else now. I have a hand-me-down, upright freezer that was my mother's. It is at least 30 years old and may be closer to 40. I have repainted it several times over the two decades I have had it. I know it is very inefficient and since it is not frost-free, I have to unload it every year and hose out the interior because of ice accumulation. It has never had a service call in all these years. It is a Kenmore and would have been bought at a Sear's store.

I had my AC guy over last spring to check out my AC units, and told him I was thinking of getting a new upright freezer to replace this dinosaur. He said "Don't do it". According to him, one would be lucky to have a freezer, particularly an upright, go more than a couple of years without service and would be extremely lucky if the unit was still running after ten years. He said the copper coils are all made in, you guessed it, China. He said in his industry, the AC coils are also all made in China and that of ten that he gets in, six are returned as defective. Yes, that's the world we live in but its hardly progress.