Garlic coming in strong (Photos)
 

I have now harvested 70% of my garlic, the remaining being Music with a few more days to go. These are about two weeks earlier than normal, probably due to our unusually warm winter and spring. I have them curing on my covered porch, with tables arranged to block wind blown rain, and a fan on a timer to help air circulation (although being on a ridge at 2,600 ft. elevation we are breezy enough).

The crop is larger than normal, with most bulbs 2.5 inches plus and some over 3 inches. The first garlic photo below is Russian Red (marked "R"), the second is Estonian Red (marked "EST"), and the third is Music (marked "M"). Once cured I will brush them clean, trim them, and store in my cellar.

I reserve the largest 100 bulbs for seed, another 100 bulbs for a friend, 50-100 for use in canning, and the remaining 200 for table stock throughout the year. I am still eating the last dozen bulbs from last year's smaller crop.



TomNJ/VA

Well done!

Wow, well done. Those are just beautiful!

Which varieties store the best?

Great looking garlic! I will be joining you soon with a harvest, looking like it will be a good garlic year in WI as well.

A very beautiful sight - I am so jealous (lost entire crop this year due to bad winter conditions, as did many others). Well done.

They do look awesome! :D

Music and Argentina (porcelains) are my earliest garlic here... Nice to hear that Russian Red and Estonian Red are even earlier.

Nice bounty. What do you think resulted in the larger than normal size?
I don't mean to thread hike, but I am listening to the forecast and getting concerned about my raised bed garlic. The tops dried down but I was unable to harvest. Now there is a dry heatwave forecast for the next 10 days.Does anyone know what will be the result of keeping garlic in the ground during very hot weather?

- Lisa

If you let the plants dry completely the cloves will start to separate in the heads and they will not store as long.

Wow beautiful.
One head a day, sounds about right. Had 50 heads last year and didn't make it 2 months.

Beautiful harvest!

I only grow Estonian Red and this year added Elephant garlic for the daughter.

This year's harvest was 2 weeks early and smaller than last year.

[QUOTE=greenthumbomaha;652809]Nice bounty. What do you think resulted in the larger than normal size?
I don't mean to thread hike, but I am listening to the forecast and getting concerned about my raised bed garlic. The tops dried down but I was unable to harvest. Now there is a dry heatwave forecast for the next 10 days.Does anyone know what will be the result of keeping garlic in the ground during very hot weather?

- Lisa[/QUOTE]

The better crop was likely due to better soil in this year's bed. I moved the garlic to last year's tomato bed because a walnut tree was too close to this area and was killing some tomato plants last year. I had the soil tested and the pH was 6.6 and all nutrients were very high, with 8.4% organics. This was my new wife's late husband's garden and he amended the soil every year. Previous garlic beds were not as rich.

If your tops are dried down you need to pull them or you'll have no wrappers. I harvest when there re four mostly green leaves left as each leaf extends under ground and is also a wrapper layer. As a leaf browns its wrapper is lost. Hot and dry weather is ideal for harvesting garlic so long as you still have some green leaves.

TomNJ/VA

Those look great! My harvest was two weeks earlier than usual this year, but I probably could have left them one more week. They were predicting rain for the next three days I would have been free to harvest, so I decided to just pull them all while I had time and conditions were right. They are still larger and healthier than what I've been getting the last couple of years, so all in all a very successful year for garlic for me as well.

Let's hope the successful garlic harvests set the tone for the rest of the season!

that should keep the bugs off the deck for awhile. great job and looks beautifismo. love the organization with oscillating fan. splendid.

Great looking crop Tom !

Beautiful. I am hopeful to have about the same, fingers crossed. If so, it will be my
best year. A couple more weeks...

I was panicked late last Fall as I had not prepped the bed so I put it in the bean/pea
bed. A last minute rotation crop decision. Worked out well.