Gardening

[Birdbuff]

Best time to plant Garlic is actually between Sept - Nov

Yes but it’s dependent on weather. You want the bulb to set roots but not necessarily to break through. Timing is everything. They may not over winter well if planted to early and begin to set leaves, while they may not set roots to last the winter if they are planted to late.
Some people mulch over them to add some insulation for the cold winters.

[Bo D]

I had good success with the planting I did at the end of October. I planted the cloves about 3" down and covered the bed with about 4-6" of straw. Every clove I planted broke through the straw about mid April. I left the straw on until mid May and couldn't believe the amount of moisture the straw held including the earth under the straw. Right now the plants have to be close to 3' high with each of them having what looks like a clove with about 6-8"of growth above the bulb that's curled over.

[Birdbuff]

I picked some garlic today. Here’s what mine looked like.

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[TroutSlayer]

Nice looking harvest!

[greatwhite]

How long can you store them

[Bo D]

That's pretty cool the way you braided them together. Where do you hang them. I don't have cold cellar.

[Birdbuff]

We store them in a cool closet in the basement. For now they are hung outside on the porch. They will cure for a week or two in a shady ventilated area. They should last a few months like this. We also preserve garlic in oil for long term use.

[greatwhite]

I have never been good at storing vegetables to last through out the winter. Generally I blanch and freeze vegetables. I know you can store fruits and vegetables but everything I have tried always goes bad. Carrots, Onions, Potatoes and apples.

When I was a kid we just kept the apples in unheated attached garage and the apples kept we ran out in Feb. Here in my garage kept at 5 C they spoil before Dec. Root crops same thing. I'm not sure what I am doing wrong.

How do store your root crops and what do you store?

[Bushmoose]

Hey Birdbuff, those look great! I planted garlic for the first time ever last fall and they are coming up nicely. Looking forward to harvest when the time is right.

[Birdbuff]

I have never been good at storing vegetables to last through out the winter. Generally I blanch and freeze vegetables. I know you can store fruits and vegetables but everything I have tried always goes bad. Carrots, Onions, Potatoes and apples.

When I was a kid we just kept the apples in unheated attached garage and the apples kept we ran out in Feb. Here in my garage kept at 5 C they spoil before Dec. Root crops same thing. I'm not sure what I am doing wrong.

How do store your root crops and what do you store?

Almost everything gets preserved at my place. Jams, pickling, blanched and frozen, dried or turned into sauce and canned. For us it’s easier this way.

Way back when my dad was a kid he told us of how they kept carrots in the cellar. They would bury them in a bucket of sand and pull them out as needed.

I’ve kept bushels of apples (golden delicious and honey crisp) in the bushels in our cold room. They kept well from October to February. Pears held up well too (Anjou).

Potato’s and onions I don’t grow enough to store. We buy those as needed.