Garlic

[Seaweed]

This current blast of icy weather has made me think I need to think about planting garlic soon. I've always been super traditional & planted it on the shortest day which is usually extremely near, if not on, dd3s birthday. What I have found gives me the best garlic is decent soil with enuf moisture. I have heard from many people that planting garlic on the shortest day is just a tradition thing & you can plant it anytime from April till about october. I acquired some purple garlic which is a northland garlic so I have no clues how it will go down here :alien: Hopefully it will grow. The takahue (sp?) grows fine. Garlic is also one of the crops we are self sufficient in. So how do you all grow garlic? When do you plant it ?

[Wonder-Full]

My gardening calendar which is based on our local climate says to plant from May. Last year I did some in May and some on the shortest day - both came out the same. i was going to shoot for mid-point and start at the beginning of June lol.

I didn't do nearly enough last year, so this year will put in HEAPS of cloves.

Do you buy special garlic cloves or just use the supermarket-organic variety (this is what I did and just sowed the largest cloves)?

[Seaweed]

I got some different varieties of a guy on TradeMe. I swopped them for some potatoes from memory. I got some of someone on our farmer's market who sells garlic & I planted some from the organic vege store.

[Sandra17]

I plant mine on the shortest day or a bit after. I don't know if that is perfect for our location (Greymouth) but I have continued with it because I am happy with the results I'm getting. I don't harvest until the end of January though - it tends to be cool and wet until at least Christmas here and I figure the garlic needs January to both grow and to dry out a bit to avoid rotting.

It grows best in raised beds or against a wall where there is some rain shelter here. I plant in a different place each year - I've been following guidance to keep potatoes and garlic on a four year rotation. So as I'm still developing this garden (we've lived here three years), I break new ground in with potatoes and then follow with garlic the following year. I've sourced mine from a variety of places - last year I used some of my own, some from a garlic grower in Karamea and some from Koanga. This year I'll do the same though not bother about Koanga as I also have some from a grower in Hokitika. The main additional food I give my garlic is the soaking water from my cloth menstrual pads each month.

[Momtezuma Tuatara]

What I do is leave some garlic bulbs in the ground, and when they start coming up byt themselves, it's time to plant garlic. I dig up the bulbs in huge clumps of earth, put it in a bucket of water, and gently separate the cloves and roots which just slide apart, and replant.

Every year, up here, the garlic is up by April. Right now, it's about 8 - 10 inches above the ground.

Why don't you try that Seaweed... then you'll know.

Yeah, raised beds are best, because otherwise the garden would be a bog :D

[Seaweed]

What I do is leave some garlic bulbs in the ground, and when they start coming up by themselves, it's time to plant garlic. You know this is a very good idea! Garlic scaups are so yummy too & would be awesome this time of year in soups. I do have some I left behind by accident which looks like it is sprouting already so once this nasty patch of horrid rainy southerly weather is over, I will be out planting.

Usually it does not rain so much here so I have no raised beds. I did have some old duffer with an alpha romeo say to me when I was at the gas station the other day how it was always like this for 2 months in the winter 20 years ago here. I managed not to yell something rude at him. :giggle: He was probably just trying to make conversation & exaggerating coz I have a BMW ;)

[Momtezuma Tuatara]

Well, there you are. Your own accidental experiment :D

[Seaweed]

I know. I noticed last spring my volunteer potatoes were up & growing before I officially planted any. As a result they grew alot quicker & I had early potatoes of varieties which aren't supposedly early. The frosts just knocked the tops back & they kept on growing.

[Momtezuma Tuatara]

Maybe you need to leave one of everything underground for just that situation. they can decide themselves, when to grow...