Any garlic growers here?

[denasfarm]

This is my second try at Garlic, Last years was a flop. This year I put it in the bathtub and it looks nice so far.


On the left I have 5 elephant Garlic plants and on the right some I planted from the store...White kind where you get two in the pack.
The ones on the far right that look the best had a board covering them.


Nice ones on right above and Elephant from left side below.

 

[Carols Clucks]

Love the bathtub idea!

I will try and take a few pictures of our onion and garlic patch later this week, replacing the fencing so it looks pretty rough for now.

 

[NanaKat]

I would love to hear some tips or opinions from those of you who know how to grow garlic.
I bought a home on 6 acres last May.....moved into it in August. When I was first looking at the property the elderly seller pointed out that there was garlic growing at the base of several fruit trees. She said it just keeps growing and coming back every year. I did not ask about how long it had been there....but she did say that they planted the fruit trees about 25 years ago... I guess the garlic could be that old too...
Right now...the garlic tops are almost a foot tall....green and healthy looking..... I am in north Texas just south of Ft Worth and we have had a very mild winter so far......they have been green all winter.....and all last summer for that matter.....
I see in other posts where you all dig them up and then save some to replant the next year... I was wondering if any of you have any that just keeps coming back on it's own year after year?
I doubt that anything has been done with the garlic in several years. The seller told me that her husband was the "Gardner".....but he has passed away almost ten years ago.... She did not like gardening.....I have been cleaning out the overgrown flowerbeds for months! There are also thousands of Iris on the property!
Sorry this ended up so long..... Any thoughts or opinions on the garlic is appreciated!
Micki

You may have what was referred to a "Community" garlic. It could grow for years.
You can dig some up and transplant to a row and see how it does in your garden. Should give you a smallish bulb with 4 - 7 cloves. Crowded as they are now, the cloves will be really small but you can cut the tops and use in recipes.

 

[cravenchx]

We grow elephant garlic. We keep it growing all year long.
Dig it in the spring and replant and again in the fall.
Just roasted about 10 bulbs last night, then froze in ice trays.
UMMM!

 

[HenThymes]

We grow elephant garlic. We keep it growing all year long.
Dig it in the spring and replant and again in the fall.
Just roasted about 10 bulbs last night, then froze in ice trays.
UMMM!

Where did you find your elephant garlic? I would love to grow some but haven't seen any in this neck of the woods.

 

[cravenchx]

Where did you find your elephant garlic? I would love to grow some but haven't seen any in this neck of the woods.

My uncle gave it to us, gosh, 15? years ago. We've just kept it going.

 

[HenThymes]

How awesome is that, basically heirloom garlic!

 

[Dchicken207]

I would love to hear some tips or opinions from those of you who know how to grow garlic.
I bought a home on 6 acres last May.....moved into it in August. When I was first looking at the property the elderly seller pointed out that there was garlic growing at the base of several fruit trees. She said it just keeps growing and coming back every year. I did not ask about how long it had been there....but she did say that they planted the fruit trees about 25 years ago... I guess the garlic could be that old too...
Right now...the garlic tops are almost a foot tall....green and healthy looking..... I am in north Texas just south of Ft Worth and we have had a very mild winter so far......they have been green all winter.....and all last summer for that matter.....
I see in other posts where you all dig them up and then save some to replant the next year... I was wondering if any of you have any that just keeps coming back on it's own year after year?
I doubt that anything has been done with the garlic in several years. The seller told me that her husband was the "Gardner".....but he has passed away almost ten years ago.... She did not like gardening.....I have been cleaning out the overgrown flowerbeds for months! There are also thousands of Iris on the property!
Sorry this ended up so long..... Any thoughts or opinions on the garlic is appreciated!
Micki

Micki- If garlic is left in the ground it will come up every year but the heads will be very small. But that doesn't mean that its not good garlic.I would try some first to see if you like it. There are different varieties of garlic that are suited to different climates. Way up here in Maine we plant garlic in the fall to overwinter and grow the following year. The variety of garlic I grow actually does better if it gets to overwinter. If you want to grow some of this garlic to it's full potential it is fairly easy. First off each clove of garlic in the garlic head will produce its own bulb. When planting garlic you break up the heads into individual cloves and plant the singular cloves to produce a single head. If garlic is not split up and aloud to grow together you will have a bunch of small heads all grown together. Dig up some of the heads and break them into cloves and plant them. It will take a couple years but the heads will eventually get to full size given the conditions are ideal.

 

[Dchicken207]

One more thhing to all you folks growing Elephant garlic, did you know it's not actually garlic?

 

[NanaKat]

One more thhing to all you folks growing Elephant garlic, did you know it's not actually garlic?

I'll bite.

Leeks are not onions either....they are actually Garleek. You can allow a leek plant to go dormant and use the bulb like garlic. The off shoots of bulblets are what grow the next year's crop.