Today's harvest

[pepperhead212]

My Numex peppers are getting fully grown now - the Giuzeppi is what I picked, about 7½", without the stems. The Big Chili Numex seems about the same - I didn't pick any, but a couple seemed to have stopped growing, so it won't be long. I also picked a bunch of gold cherry tomatoes, ripe, or just starting - only a few of the reds and blacks, so far. And my first two large tomatoes were ripening! The largest of the two June Pinks was 14.0 oz.
2 1/2 qts of ripening cherry tomatoes, plus 2 fully grown Giuzeppi Numex, 7-10 by pepperhead212, on Flickr
My first ripening large tomatoes - June Pink - 14.0 and 9.7 oz, on 7-10 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

 

[bethzaring]

I working on the garlic. These are the first two rows I pulled 2 weeks ago. I pulled another row today, another yesterday, and have 3 more rows to get out. My problem is not having enough space in the shade to cure 400 garlic bulbs. The bulbs shown in the photograph are in mesh bags now and dh will hang them in the rafters when he gets home from work.

 

[blissful]

Beth, I didn't know you could cure them after trimming them. We always hung them in bunches by the green stalks, from the overhang on the deck. Then we trimmed them in a month to 6 weeks, sorted by size for seed or to eat. One year we hung them in the garage rafters and later added fans as it stunk up the whole garage, lol. It's good to know we could trim them then bag and hang them as an option. Thanks! We only have around 200 this year. They are almost ready to harvest. I'm going to run short of garlic, so this fall we'll plant 300.

 

[larry_stewart]

Im a " Hang them in the Garage" kinda guy myself

When I visited the garlic farm a few years back, he hung them from the rafters in his barn. It just looked so cool to me. Dont have barn, and no rafters, so a few screws in the wall will have to do.

My second harvest is in a room off the garage basically sitting on top of a fan.

Quick question for all you garlic growers out there. How deep do you usually plant your garlic? Im thinking in addition to a soil drainage problem, ive been planting too deep too. Ive seen everything from 2 inches to 6 inches. And as stupid as this may sound, lets assume its 2 inches, does that mean the hole is 2 inches or does that mean that the garlic is covered by 2 inches of soil ( therefore the hole would be more like 3 inches). I never thought Id have to ask such a simple stupid question after growing garlic for 20 + years, but since ive been having issues the past few years, I need all the help I can get to prevent a third year off disappointment.

 

[blissful]

Hey Larry, I just make a small hole, then grab the garlic between my thumb and fingers, and jam the base of the clove in, so it's probably covered by 1 inch of dirt, at most. I did sprain my thumb (if that is a possible 'thing') doing it one year. It's especially hard to do in October if the ground is overly wet, and garlic cloves are slippery.

 

[larry_stewart]

Hey Larry, I just make a small hole, then grab the garlic between my thumb and fingers, and jam the base of the clove in, so it's probably covered by 1 inch of dirt, at most. I did sprain my thumb (if that is a possible 'thing') doing it one year. It's especially hard to do in October if the ground is overly wet, and garlic cloves are slippery.

Thanks, I think I was pushing close to 6 inches. It always worked so I never changed it. I was always afraid if I didnt plant it deep enough, the cold would get it .

 

[bethzaring]

Beth, I didn't know you could cure them after trimming them. We always hung them in bunches by the green stalks, from the overhang on the deck. Then we trimmed them in a month to 6 weeks, sorted by size for seed or to eat. One year we hung them in the garage rafters and later added fans as it stunk up the whole garage, lol. It's good to know we could trim them then bag and hang them as an option. Thanks! We only have around 200 this year. They are almost ready to harvest. I'm going to run short of garlic, so this fall we'll plant 300.

You can trim them one week after they have been removed from the soil. The garlic in my photo has cured two weeks. I store my garlic trimmed and in 25 lb mesh bags and hang them from the rafters on my back portal and move them to a heated storage room when winter strikes.

 

[blissful]

Thanks for describing what you do Beth, I appreciate it.


Larry, we're in wisconsin and we have very cold winters, and we usually mulch, putting 6-8 inches of straw or leaves over it. We haven't lost any due to cold though we only grow hard neck variety.

 

[bethzaring]

Im a " Hang them in the Garage" kinda guy myself

W
Quick question for all you garlic growers out there. How deep do you usually plant your garlic? Im thinking in addition to a soil drainage problem, ive been planting too deep too. Ive seen everything from 2 inches to 6 inches. And as stupid as this may sound, lets assume its 2 inches, does that mean the hole is 2 inches or does that mean that the garlic is covered by 2 inches of soil ( therefore the hole would be more like 3 inches). I never thought Id have to ask such a simple stupid question after growing garlic for 20 + years, but since ive been having issues the past few years, I need all the help I can get to prevent a third year off disappointment.

Plant garlic two inches deep. The butt of the garlic sits at 2 inches.

 

[pepperhead212]

I 'til my garden, to fluff it up, just before planting the garlic, and shove it about 3" into the ground, then just rake over the row, to fill in the holes. Then I mulch them with a thick layer of ground up leaves - no measuring, but at least 4-6", since it gets pressed down, eventually.

Late today, I harvested a bunch of cherry tomatoes, then I harvested some eggplants, and was going to get another bowl, for harvesting more tomatoes, but that's when I saw the first lighting, so I was done out there! Still, it took over a half an hour for it to start raining hard.
Here is what I harvested, before I had to come inside.
One Hari, two Ichiban, and five Neon eggplants, 7-12, and a batch of ripening cherry tomatoes. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

 

[larry_stewart]

Plant 2 inches, mulch, no problem with snow, Garlic have butts. Got it !!

I also only grow hard necks.

I still plan on amending the soil for better drainage, but I'm regaining my confidence. Thanks guys.

Tomatoes, string beans and garlic were always my most reliable crops. It was sad that garlic dropped in the ranks the past few years. hopefully next year ill be back on track.

That being said, I seem to be having an exceptionally good onion year. I almost was going to switch spots onions with the garlic, but with the onions doing so well, Ill just concentrate on making things right for the garlic.

 

[pepperhead212]

Larry, What varieties of garlic didn't grow well for you? Many years ago I learned not to grow Rocambole varieties, because it seemed that those needed a deep freeze, in order to grow well - some years my winters were so mild that the ground didn't even freeze! Spanish Roja didn't even grow, the year I planted it - the worst one. Last year was just like that hear, and it's happening more often than not now. Porcelain and purple stripes don't have any problems heading up.

 

[Bitser]

Wish I could get garlic to grow but I think it's too cold here. I've tried starting it in the greenhouse, but it doesn't get very big.

Just harvested radishes and some spinach that got partly shredded by a wild hailstorm.

The greenhouse tomatoes are another story:

Getting heaps of Sakura, a large cherry tomato, and Moskvich, a medium-large heirloom slicer.

 

[pepperhead212]

I don't think it gets too cold for some varieties of garlic! I remember a few years ago, when we had some record cold temps for quite a few dates, and it was below 0º a couple of times, a couple of my garlics were a little slow coming up in the spring, but the Estonian Reds came up like nothing happened! Eventually, everything was up, and only 1 or 2 in each row didn't come up.

 

[larry_stewart]

Over the years m, ive primarily grown German White, Montana and Music. All did equally well. I ve always got my garlic from the same vendors in general. And always planted them the same way. Thats why I was so surprised that all of a sudden, I had the water damage. Thought I fixed the problem, and had it again. Im still going to play around with the soil, but in addition, Ill plant not as deep. Hopefully between the two major changes, things will work out. Unfortunately Ill have to wait until next July to see

 

[pepperhead212]

Late yesterday I picked a few cukes, and early today, I picked some bitter melons and a couple more eggplants, plus some more cherry tomatoes (those are going nuts, now; the large ones, are starting to ripen some). It is so disgusting out there that I really don't spend much time out there at a time, but yesterday I 'tilled the garlic row, plus several other rows of weeds, which have been running rampant, with the rain and humidity. When we were in a drought, the weeds didn't like it!
One County Fair, and four Wisconsin 58 cukes, 7-13 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Bitter melons, 7-14 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

 

[bethzaring]

I am often envious of you all's harvests. My growing season is from around May 21st to September 29th. So I proudly post my potential cucumber and calabacitas squash.

 

[larry_stewart]

I am often envious of you all's harvests. My growing season is from around May 21st to September 29th. So I proudly post my potential cucumber and calabacitas squash.

They both look healthy, hopefully Mother Nature cooperates and rewards you with a bountiful harvest

 

[bethzaring]

They both look healthy, hopefully Mother Nature cooperates and rewards you with a bountiful harvest

Thank you Larry. No matter where I have lived, gardening has always been a challenge!

 

[larry_stewart]

String Beans , French cut them for dinner ( with some garlic , lemon ..)

Also harvested Onions today. Its been kinda wet here, at least half or more have bent at the neck. DIdnt want them to sit to long in wet soil, so got them out. Still supposed to be crappy the next few days, so have them in the garage with a fan blowing on them to help them dry out a bit. Hopefully get a few sunny days so I can let Mother Nature take over.