The time had come. The garlic stalks had started yellowing right on time. Watering had been restricted for over a week. I started hand pulling like usual. That had always worked before but they were stuck fast. Had I planted them too deep? With a shovel I loosened each row well away from the bulbs. They lifted out easier then.
The 16 cloves of Red Russian Garlic had been planted last year on November 1st in three rows across the bed. The 6 cloves in each row were spaced 8 inches apart and each row was one foot apart. One half cup each of bone meal and soya meal were stirred directly into the bottom of each row’s trench. I might have put them 3 inches deep.
They were later top dressed with some alfalfa meal that was gently scratched in near March 15th – I didn’t record the amount. Well composted chicken manure would have worked well too. I’ve even used fresh, raw chicken manure but it must be added by mid-March for health / pathogen safety for root crops. Fresh manures must be used no closer than 120 days before harvest of root crops.
The lifted bulbs will now sit under the deck in the shade for several weeks for the greens to completely dry and the bulbs to cure. Then they’ll go into the frost free garage either on a tray or in an onion sack hanging up on a hook. They’ll be retrieved as needed. The average weight of each bulb is a quarter pound so that gives me about 4 lbs. consisting of about 96 cloves.
From that supply another 3 bulbs of 6 cloves each will be planted in late October. In our climate, we (TOG and I) have found that September plantings might be too early --- they put on too much growth before winter that may be vulnerable to thaws between heavy frosts.
In my rotation plan, the garlic follows the greenhouse, so it can't be planted until the tomato crop is completely finished and the greenhouse is rolled to its next location. That's the end of October.
Happy Gardening.
No comments:
Post a Comment