Stiff Neck Snake Garlic 31 March 2007: http://www.durgan.org/Blog/Durgan.html 31 March 2007. The fifty cloves were planted about 10 cm (4 inches) below the ground on 15 October 2006. No shoots came up until about 25 March 2007. All fifty cloves sprouted and appear quite healthy. The scapes ( seed stem) will be harvested just prior to the flower opening, and the bulbs will be pulled about the 5 July 2007. Growth pictures will be presented throughout the season.
I also grow garlic but try to keep to the varieties that don't produce scapes. Do you use the cloves fairly quickly or preserve them somehow? I have found that the varieties that don't produce scapes keep much better in storage with out withering up and dying. Anne
This is the 2006 effort. I have kept garlic in perfect condition for over a year. I suspect the curing process is the main issue regarding longevity in storage, and has little to do with the type of garlic. http://xrl.us/oef2 http://xrl.us/o32d http://Garlic2006.notlong.com Thread to the discussion. Durgan http://www.durgan.org/Blog/Durgan.html
Hi Durgan, I had a look at your garlic pictures and you are definately growing a different variety from the one I have grown that produce scapes. I somehow have managed to get 3 varieties: - one type does not produce flower heads and the bulbs are full enclosed in a papery layer - one type does produce flower heads and all the cloves are exposed, not enclosed in the few layers of papery skin that is common but all the cloves are attached to the same root base. - the last type is elephant garlic which produces very large cloves and small 'daughter' cloves in a hard shell like covering. I've read somewhere that these are more closely related to leeks than garlic.
Only the one type shown has been grown in my garden. The elephant type is easy to handle when cooking due to its size, but as you have mentioned it is not too garlicly. I suspect many people are leaving the garlic too long in the ground, and this affects the covering on the bulbs (it gets thinner and exposed the cloves) or so I understand and may have some effect on decreasing storage time (?). It does seem odd to pull when the plants are in full vigor, but I got my information from a commercial grower, and his garlic was truly marvellous-meaning about as big as hard neck garlic ever gets. Most of the garlic in our supermarkets appears to be hard neck snake garlic. The two types of which I am familar is hard neck snake garlic and the elephant type. Durgan.
Hi Durgan, After reading your post I did some extensive checking on the internet and found this write up on the 2 main types of garlic (elephant garlic was listed as an aside) Notice the part I coloured red. . . . . [snip from http://www.naturalhub.com/grow_vegetable_type_garlic.htm] Maybe you have some type of hybrid of the 2 if you get scapes on your plants. Looks like I need to cultivate more of the first type!! Anne
The cloves on my garlic are large and all the same size with the cloves well covered with skin, and are for all intents an purposes almost perfect. The larger cloves are saved for seed, which is hard to do, since they are so yummy in appearance. I am really looking forward to the 2007 crop. Drugan.
I know the feeling! It's tough to fuss with the little cloves when you have the nice big juicy ones :o)
Most garlics, wheather they are soft or hard neck will start to dry up by January or February. The heads and cloves might look great but once the cloves are peeled you will notice that there is some shrinkage, and the clove will be dry when cut into. I find the hard neck cloves are very easy to peel. They will usually have a single thick peel, where as the soft neck cloves will have thin multi skins. The hard necks will usually have fairly consistant sized cloves with in each head, any where from three to seven cloves per head. The soft neck will have numerous cloves, from little slivers to very nice useable cloves. The taste of both types are similar, GREAT. Different varieties of garlic will have different tastes. I have grown a hard neck from Thailand, it had a dark burgandy skin, it was small in size but boy did it have a kick. Anne, if you haven't already, go over to Saltspring Island for their garlic fest. I think it is in August. Lots of different varieties in both types, they have taste tests and Garlic Icecream to try. Good luck to both of you on your 2007 crop. I planted my garlic Oct 1, 06 and it finally came up around the beginning of Feb. It is now about eight inches high and with the warm weather it should really take off. Bince
Bince, I didn't know that there was a festival up here! I'm sure my husband would love to try out the garlic ice cream, he is quite the garlic fanatic. I've told him about Gilroy, the US garlic capitol but we've never had a chance to go by there to look the place over. Salt Spring is just a ferry ride away and in August, chances are the weather would be great! Anne PS Thanks also for the additional info on the stiff neck and hard neck garlic. I'm currently using up by collection of cloves from the stiff neck plants from last year and it sure is a pleasure to have to peel off only 1 layer of a somewhat shell-like skin. :o)