April 1, 2009

garlic shoots

Last fall I planted a mix of garlic cloves from my CSA and transplanted many 1 year old top sets. The shoots are now sticking out of the salt hay, nice and green. Lots of them. I’ve never been able to grow good sized garlic heads and hope these will do well in this new sunny spot this summer. garlic (Allium sativum)

February 19, 2009

winter garlic shoots

In my community garden plot, I was pleased to spot some garlic shoots today. These are in an area where I transplanted one year old top sets last fall. They’re still tiny, but are up and green. The area I planted with larger bulbs is still snow covered. That’s all the plant life I could see in the plot. garlic (Allium sativum)

October 7, 2008

planting and transplanting garlic

Last year I planted a handful of tiny garlic top sets of an heirloom variety called “Old Homestead” from Sand Hill Preservation Center. I planted them in November (photos here) and they sprouted like fine grass shoots. They disappeared later in the winter and spring, but by the end of summer, they were nice sprouts again. Today I transplanted the little sprouts to my community plot, as I’m hoping I’ll get bigger heads with full sun. I dug up and transplanted all the little Old Homestead shoots, spacing them out…

March 14, 2008

garlic topsets

I took my macro lens out to check on the garlic top sets I planted last fall. They are growing and there are lots of them, but they sure are tiny. Looks like they will take a couple years to make a bulb. garlic (Allium sativum)

November 10, 2007

when to plant garlic

I am in the middle of planting my garlic now. I planted two types last weekend. Today I planted some heirloom top sets (photo bottom left) of a variety called “Old Homestead”. Also several large heads of cloves that I saved from the Farmer’s Market. There seem to be different ideas on when to plant garlic. The photo above (left) is from my nearby community garden and the garlic is very well sprouted. They must have planted it mid-summer! I spoke with a farmer at the Farmer’s Market recently who…

August 1, 2007

fresh tomatoes and garlic

I picked two New Girl tomatoes today. I just made it under the wire as it was the last chance for me to pick a full-sized ripe tomato in the month of July. Its a very late year for tomatoes for me. My parents are having the same problem. The newspaper reports that the mean Boston temperature has been 2 degrees below normal for the month of July. Also we’ve had 5.3 inches of rain compared with a normal of 3.0 inches for July. Eighteen of 31 days have had…

July 4, 2007

garlic scapes!

I guess I was wrong about my garlic. A couple weeks ago I concluded they weren’t going to make scapes. But look! Scapes. Better late than never. (Boundary Garlic Farm has good garlic growing info.)

June 23, 2007

no scapes 🙁

I keep checking my garlic for scapes, since I read about them on many gardening blogs and I see them now at the Farmer’s Market. This is the first year I have grown garlic. Last fall I planted some of my commercial bulbs from the local supermarket. Sadly, no scapes. I quess I have “softneck garlic”. As Farmer MaryJane explains: Commercial garlic growers from warmer climates (for example, in Gilroy, California) use “softneck” garlic varieties that are readily machine harvested and do not produce scapes. Garlics that are well adapted…

May 26, 2007

garlic

I’ve been clipping off garlic leaves here and there and eating them, either fresh or briefly grilled. Yummy. Stronger than a garlic chive and greener tasting than garlic. Delicious!

April 14, 2007

scraggly garlic in the spring

My garlic’s looking pretty scraggly – but at least it made it through the winter. I imagine it will perk up soon. I’m looking for some salt marsh hay to mulch it with, but the hay is hard to find. Next year I’ll try to remember to mulch the garlic in the fall.

weeks and counting until my last spring frost

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