From: songbird@anthive.com   
      
   Drew Lawson wrote:   
   ...   
   > Sounds a lot like field onion, which has been a common weed most   
   > places that I've had a garden.  Time and frustration just brought   
   > me to accept that what I dug up was "most of it."  Also, unless the   
   > compost gets really hot, they'll survive that as well.   
      
     it is definitely not onion.  hardneck garlic.  very hot, very   
   good.   
      
     the patch out back i've been gradually removing my mistaken   
   scattering of bulbules eons ago is now being mowed this season   
   because i had no time to get back to it and Mom was sick of   
   looking at it.  i'm pretty sure the garlic under there will   
   come back next spring and for years after as bulbs can store   
   a lot of energy.  they will keep downsizing until given a   
   chance to recover.  the smaller bulbs will not survive - yet   
   in the end we shall see what happens.  i really want to plant   
   that area next season.   
      
      
   > I don't *seem* to have much onion right now.  Just the creeping   
   > thistle (which is mostly dying under the mulch this year -- a welcome   
   > surprise).   
      
     yeah, mulch will help make it easier to remove it as the   
   roots will grow in the mulch much easier than in poor subsoil,   
   but the thistle here which is a real PITA has no trouble   
   going down 2-3ft in the clay.  i keep digging it out when it   
   surfaces and then i track any bits of root back down as   
   far as i can.  eventually it gives up and runs out of energy   
   but that is a challenge.  cardboard layers work as mulch.   
   persistent weeding after elimination is required here to   
   keep it from coming back.   
      
      
   > On topic:  After last year's neglect, I believe I have reclaimed a   
   > space suitable for garlic.  Hopefully I will be planting it this   
   > fall.  No clue currently on varieties.  I suspect one softneck and   
   > one hardneck, since I don't know what I prefer.  The catalog   
   > descriptions are of limited value, since I don't know whether the   
   > grocery store garlic is "hot" or not (probably not).  And if I   
   > haven't had "hot," how do I know whether I like it?   
      
     if you like to eat raw garlic like a slice of an apple   
   then hot is good.  :)  if you like it for cooking and tend   
   to fry it in oil and then discard the garlic because that   
   is enough garlic flavor for you then hot is not what you   
   are after.  it depends upon what you like and what you   
   might use it for.   
      
      
     songbird   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)