Red Russian Garlic

Last fall for the first time I planted Red Russian Garlic. It is coming up now and I understand I am to harvest it in the fall. Can anyone give me some suggestions about how I do this?

Please see attached photo.

Thanks

 

I dig up my garlic when about half of the leaves have died off. I tie it in bunches and hang in a shady, airy, dry place for about three weeks to cure. After that I clean it up and put the heads in the unheated room for use in the fall and winter.

 

Thanks. Would you use some of the heads to replant and if so would you plant them in the same spot or another area?
Does one clove that I planted turn into a head with many cloves?
This is the first time growing garlic so it is all new to me.

 

I practice crop rotation, so I never plant the same crops in the same spots year after year. I always use my own garlic for the new planting (I want to keep the varieties I like). And yes, one clove turns into a head with many cloves.

 

The most important condition for long term storage of onions and garlic is timely collection of the harvest.

 

How do I know when to harvest this garlic? What is your suggestion as to storing the garlic? I was told to hang the garlic upside down to let it dry out.

 

As Sundrop says above. Dig them up when the tops are about 1/2 dried out (I wait a bit longer personally) in mid/late summer. Just shake and gently brush off the loose dirt but don't trim them at this time. Tie bunches of whole plants together and hang up in a cool dry place for a few weeks until the outsides are completely dried out. Either leave them like this until you use them. Or trim them back & store on a shelf or in a paper bag, in the cool dry and (preferably) dark. Don't put them in the fridge & don't seal them up in a container or plastic bag.

 

Thanks for all your input. I am looking to my first crop of garlic.
I eat raw garlic every day.

 

My garlic is starting to get scapes. Is this the time I pull them out and hang the garlic to dry?

 

No, you just cut off the scapes for your garlic scape pesto.

 

ok, do you have a recipe for the pesto?

How long before I harvest the garlic after I cut off the scapes?

After I dig the garlic up, I was told to hang them upside down in a cool dark place not in the sun?

Thanks Marie

 

Just search the Net for garlic scape pesto, you will find a lot of recipes.

Your Garlic will be ready to dig up probably in about month and a half. Wait for at least half of the leaves to dry out before you dig. Hang dug out garlic to cure in a dry, shady, well aerated area for a couple of weeks.

 

If you can't be bothered making pesto (like lazy me) just take the tender parts chop into 1 inch lengths and fry them up with a bit of olive oil and salt to add to an omelet. Or, just put them in a stir fry.

 

Miry, I just dug-up my garlic July 18th - a bit earlier than usual, but it's going to rain, I think. and they are quite dry right now which is good. The picture shows the bulbs I will be keeping to break-up and plant for next year's crop. Each of these weighs about 100+ grammes (1/4lb). The bundles will hang under a covered patio for a couple of weeks then I will trim-off the stems and roots and put them in a cool corner in my basement.

Maybe we can start a new trend? Selfies of garlic :)

 

I love it! Great idea of creating our own selfie. Mine to come later.
Sorry to say I haven't dug up my garlic yet. I see that they look dried out but it is a case of do I or don't I..............duh.

I hope and pray it does rain tomorrow because in Gibsons we have a water restriction. You can only hand water by pail. I have some new gardens whereby I have to get myself organize to keep them well watered so I don't lose them.

I just had my laurel hedge trimmed and I'm not sure if it is done properly. Would you be able to advise if I included a picture?

I went on our garden tour on Bowen Island and I was so impressed with their gardens. I decide to create a slide for the first time as I took a lot of pictures. I love taking pictures but it is a learning curve for me. I did try to upload this file but it won't let me do it.

Marie

 

Laurel hedge? Don't ask my advice. There are a few plants I really don't like and "Laurel", by which I assume you mean Prunus laurocerasus, is one of them. It is also invasive in SW BC. We had one once in a property we owned...briefly.

 

What kind of Garlic do you grow? My German Porcelain is also big, I have never weighted the bulbs however.

 

The variety in the picture is Musica. I also grow Red Russian, which gets to be a similar size. They seem to thrive in my sandy soil with lots of compost and a good top-dressing of somewhat aged chicken manure immediately after planting. They can feed heavily if you let them, in my experience. I haven't come across German Porcelain around here. I believe Musica is referred to as a porcelain garlic though.

 

My Porcelain garlic, 130 g. and only four cloves! I dug it up a week or so ago. Have you dug up yours already Miry?

 

Lovely stuff! Those are bigger fatter cloves than I get, but fewer of them, I think. You must have fed your garlics well this year. I cleaned mine off and put them in a corner of the basement today.

 

WOW!!! I'm impressed.

Yes I dug my garlic up and a suggestion from our Garden Club is to use clothespin and hang them on hangers. This is what I have done and they are hanging in the garage.

Needless to say mine aren't half as big as yours. I did get lots but they are not huge.

You sure have a green thumb. What is your secret.

 

Miry, it looks like your garlic is exposed to the sun. You should never cure garlic in the sun, it should be kept in a dry, airy, but shady place.

 

Yes I did while I was trying to hang them up but since then they have been in the garage. I did try one and it was juicy and good. I love to eat them raw with melted brie cheese.

Any suggestions about what I should add to a new bed to make my garlic larger and when should I plant a new bed for next year?

I did buy a garlic braid from a farmer in Sechelt and was told they would last for a year. Is this true?

What type of garlic was your gigantic one?

Thanks

 

Sorry for not answering your questions sooner, but I am sooo busy in my yarden (yard and garden).
Lysichiton: "You must have fed your garlics well this year".
Miry: "You sure have a green thumb. What is your secret."

Being a natural (following Nature's ways) gardener I don't feed my plants, I feed my soil organisms with organic mulches (like grass and clover clippings, straw, wood chips) and compost. My soil organisms produce food for my plants. I don't use synthetic fertilizers. I don't use manure. In general, the only organic fertilizer I use is Alfalfa meal. Bulbs are one exception, I mix a little bone meal with the soil at the planting time. I also follow Nature in garden design by growing my fruit trees, fruit bushes, flowers and vegetables all together in my edible garden. I sow cover crops whenever I can and practice inter-cropping and crop rotation. I try to keep my beds even with the paths level so the soil stays relatively cool and I don't have to water often, even in this terribly hot and dry weather that we have here. It looks like plants like it this way.

Miry, you are doing well, it is only your first year. I am sure you will be doing even better next year.
My garlic is Porcelain variety , they are bigger than most of the other varieties. They are doing well in my garden, that's true, but their size is rather normal for the variety I think. I like their big cloves, but I also grow other garlic varieties with smaller cloves.

The garlic you've bought is of softneck type. Softnecks store well, so it is possible it can last for a year. Even well cured hardnecks can last that long.

Garlic for next year you should plant as you did last year, in the fall. Don't plant it in the same bed year after year.

 

Thanks for all your input. It is a great help!!!

Here is a current view of my front garden. It is absolutely stunning. I will show you before and after.