We last
planted garlic seed just a little under nine months ago. We planted both seed we had saved from the previous season's harvest and some seed we had purchased from
The Organic Garlic Seed Farm. In total, we put seven different varieties in the ground: "Chesnok Red," "Elephant," "Music," "Mother of Pearl," "Purple Glazier," "Persian Star," and "Georgian Fire." The "Georgian Fire" and "Elephant" garlic were the varieties planted from seed we had saved.
All fared well, except for the "Music." I think they succumbed to the resident ground hog's abundant holes. I shed no tears. I learned a long time ago that it's always a good idea to plant some to share with Mother Nature.
Garlic is such a joy to grow. Sure, it's a heavy feeder and takes the length of an normal human pregnancy to reach maturity, but the investment of nourishment and time are well worth it. The manure and mulch do most of the work, and the seed becomes stronger as it acclimatizes to it's new home in your garden.
Garlic is so much fun to harvest. Quite a departure from the monotony of the everyday asparagus harvest or the tedium of picking any sort of berry.
We decided to hang the garlic under the car port to dry this year. The Elephant garlic will hang for a month, and the rest for two weeks. We'll be saving almost all of it for seed. In addition to the seven varieties mentioned above, we'll also sow several pounds of "Kettle River Giant" this fall.
We should be safe from all those pale-faced, suspiciously attractive, well-dressed creatures of the night for the next month at least.
