Garlic Planting. 10.19.14

Garlic Planting.  10.19.14

Today I planted garlic.  I used last year's garlic bed, which is not the best garden practice but it's what I have.

I added an inch of well aged home-made compost and raked it in.  This compost was in a plastic garbage can for a few years.  So it's really well aged.

4 rows are the biggest cloves from last year's Inchelium Red.  Huge cloves.  Well adapted to local conditions - I've been growing this one for about 14 years.

3 rows are either Inchelium Red or German Porcelain.  I had a mix up.

2 rows are some new German Red that I bought locally.  To try something different.  Smaller cloves but my grow bigger in my bed, or not.

These are 8 cloves per 4 feet, and there are 9 rows per 8 feet.  I use bamboo sticks between the rows to mark the space.

Onions, garlic, shallots.

Green onions from Egyptian Walking Onions

 Nice to have some scallions from the garden this time of year.  These were Egyptian Walking onions, that I did not pull out.  They resprouted and are beginning to be big enough to eat.

The onion bed is starting to grow.  Planted roughly 5 weeks ago.  At the end is a row of cilantro, about an inch tall, planted the same time.  The Egyptian Walking onions are all up.

Onion bed at one month

 The Yellow Potato onions are starting to grow.  Most are still not showing above ground.

The garlic, planted about 4 weeks ago, is several inches tall.  Right on schedule.

Yesterday I cleared out a 3-foot by 4 foot section of the tomato bed.  I added 1/2 bag of chicken compost, and planted shallots.  The shallot starts were saved from this summer.  I planted 4 rows.  That is from the original 2 rows.  About the same amount is available for eating.  Starting them later this year.   These shallots might have been larger, if I didn't let them go to seed.  The honeybees loved the flowers, so I didn't want to remove the flower heads.

Garlic bed at one month

Holland White Shallots

Multiplier Onions and Heritage Garlic Harvest.

German Porcelain Garlic

Inchelium Red Garlic

 Two weeks ago I dug up the German Porcelain garlic.  Nice bulbs, not as big as last year.  It's hot outside.  They are laid out on cardboard boxes in the garage, to dry.

Last weekend I dug up the Inchelium Red garlic.  They are also spread out on cardboard to dry.

Two weeks ago I dug up the Yellow Potato Multiplier Onions.  Biggest I've grown.  They are being treated in the same way.  No pic of that one yet.

They all look pretty good.  The earlier and later planted multiplier onions finished at the same time and are the same size.

There is some remaining garlic to harvest.

Meanwhile, where the garlic grew, I've planted cantaloupe, watermelon, and pole beans.    Quick rotation.