Sounds like a comparable consumption, garlic wise. Do I leave the little papery covering on the clove when I plant it, or do I remove it?
. If you are as far south as I am you will get more garlic if you raise artichokes and silverskins. I can raise hardnecks but I don't get as much garlic.
We are still eating last year's garlic....Siberian and Romanian Red. We love both of them. Long keepers and big bulbs. I don't have room to grow seed stock so I buy seed from a place in Oregon every year.
Unfortunately I was unable to plant last fall so we have no fresh from our garden to store this winter. The locals grow it so I will just buy up a bunch of it and store that. I think it's mostly Russian Red from the looks of it.
I also plant in raised beds. I bought a huge yard of composted manure this year and piled it into my beds. The garlic bed that rested last year has wax beans in it right now which is ok cause they will set nitrogen into the soil for me but be done in time to plant the garlic. The best garlic I have grown was the year after I switched the bed from beans to garlic. I think with all that good compost still in there they will do well again. I probably will add some good organic fertilizer that I still have left also. I want HUGE bulbs next year.
We eat garlic nearly every day so I plant a lot of it. I never even think about garlic breath anymore cause I am usually only around dh after dinner and he has it too!
Packy
I always leave it on
I soak my garlic cloves in a soda/water solution and gently peel and then soak in rubbing alcohol for no more than 20 minutes. This is to cut down on disease.
Artichokes, silverskins and hardnecks are different classes of garlic. Suggest reading on the Gourmet Garlic Garden website.
Posting on kindle. Ugh!
Baking soda. Table spoon or so to quart of warmish water. Don't want to hurt the garlic.
Packy
I always leave it on
Yes, you need to leave the paper on otherwise the bulb will likely rot. The paper protects it.
Oh no, you're fine. You can (though not recommended) chop through the frozen layer to plant it--it's not very picky.
Raggedy, I have been led to believe that you CAN plant the tiny bulblets of garlic that form at the top, BUT it will take several years to get anything big enough to use. I personally would only do it as a last resort or for fun.
Good to know this. How deep should I plant the stuff? The bulbs/cloves are huge!
What variety did you get?
I usually plant about 2 inches deep.
We're planting today as soon as it is finished with the alcohol bath. I try to get them covered by about a half inch and then mulch with loose straw.
One year I broke frozen crust to plant. It really is tough.
If not picked soon enough the scapes will get tough. Just pop some of them off and then get creative in the kitchen. Dig when about 1/2 the leaves have dried. Don't miss those right at the bottom.
packy
we saute them with a sweet onion, bell pepper and a small zucchini sliced thin; sprinkle some adobo and granulated garlic on that - then scramble some eggs and fry that up all together . . . salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste - I believe you'll like it!