Garlic!

On April 1st 2021 I planted some garlic. Glen Large, Italian Pink and Elephant Garlic to be exact. It was my first time growing it so I wasn’t sure how it would go. I knew that it’s a heavy feeding crop so I figured the bed where our compost bins are would be a good spot! Next year I think I will plant them along the back of the bed though, rather than the corner because they do take up the space for several months.

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The above photos were taken in July and I was thinking wow there’s so much greenery! But it was grass 😂. Next time I’ll keep on top of the weeding a bit more!

I noticed in August that the tops were really starting to die off and I started thinking it might be time to harvest soon. I’d read that it takes garlic 6 months which meant that technically it shouldn’t be ready until the 1st October, but then I found something that said the best thing to do if you aren’t sure is to move some of the soil from around a bulb without disturbing the roots and see how it is going. You can always move the soil back if it’s not ready.

So this morning (September 4th) I decided to do that. I was a bit worried that I’d leave them too long and they would rot with the rain we’ve been having, or that they would split. I really didn’t want my first experiment to fail! The bulb I checked looked pretty good so I decided to harvest them all! Unfortunately this impulsivity meant I also harvested the elephant garlic – apparently that can take up to 2 years before it’s ready to harvest 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ Whoops! Live and learn I guess!

Now I just need to read up on how to store it 😁😁

Things to do next time – plant along the back of the bed, be a bit more regular with the feeding and weeding, leave smaller bulbs in for longer if they don’t look ready. And don’t harvest the elephant garlic at the same time!