Friday, May 20, 2011

Harvesting Garlic!

Happy Friday fellow garden lovers! ♥

I have really been missing blogging about gardening lately!

This month, I officially started my health coaching practice! It has been the subject of all of my time, energy, & attention. 

Anyways... I was able to take a break today, so I spent some time in the backyard. ♥ 

I had plenty of seedlings needing to be upgraded to bigger pots, and all of my plants just needing attention in general...

But, there is one plant in particular that received the most attention!

Garlic!


Rumor has it, once you've have fresh, homegrown garlic... you never want to go back to the store variety!

You might recall... last October, I planted a bag of garlic gloves! (At the time, I could not even picture what garlic would look like growing!)

But it's pretty simple... just stems (about 2 1/2 ' tall) growing out of the bulb! :)



















Apparently, the ideal time to harvest garlic is mid-summer. According to About.com, the stems growing out of the bulb should be turning brown.

However, I was impatient (I wanted the gigantic pot they were growing in for the 'Big Max' pumpkin!)

So out they came! This fall, I will make sure I plant the cloves (saved from 1 or 2 of the bulbs from this year) in a pot I will not be needing for another plant until July! :)

Have you ever planted garlic? Or enjoyed a friend's home-grown garlic?

5 comments:

  1. i planted garlic for the first time this year and am growing impatient too. i dig around the root to see how big they are but can't tell yet. being a garlic lover, i can't wait to try it!=)

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  2. I haven't planted garlic but I think I will plant some..yours is the 2nd blog I've read about the difference in home grown garlic. (Best of luck to you in your health coaching endeavor!)

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  3. I'm a garlic lover, and the store bought garlic doesn't smell, but Ashley's fresh picked garlic sure does! Yummy!!! Can't wait to try it.

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  4. I have grown garlic several times and loved it. We usually harvest about mid to late June here, then I would let it air dry a few days, then braid it up. I learned to leave the braids in the garage a few days so the aroma dissipated. ;) Then I would hang them in the kitchen. Somehow I got off of growing it but have vowed to grow it again this year. that means planting in October here (near San Francisco).

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  5. I LOVE garlic. I throw a little in almost everything I cook, just for good measure. I definitely plan on planting some this fall.

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