From: nowhere@nearyou.com   
      
   On 11/5/2021 6:55 PM, T wrote:   
   > On 11/3/21 09:25, Wilson wrote:   
   >> On 10/16/2021 3:37 AM, T wrote:   
   >>> On 9/30/21 17:51, T wrote:   
   >>>> When do I fertilize?   
   >>>   
   >>> Burpee's customer service said just as sprouts   
   >>> start to come up in the spring   
   >>>   
   >>> And to cut off the scapes the moment they occure   
   >> Okay. We plant rocambole or Stiff Neck garlic which will produce scapes.   
   >> The varieties are German Red and Russian Red.   
   >>   
   >> I'm in Maine and I've planted as late as the end of November and had to   
   >> dig down through 3" of frost in the ground, so essentially planted in   
   >> frozen mud. The garlic came up fine.   
   >>   
   >> We try to plant by the 3rd week of November, but before snow. And then we   
   >> cover it with about 6" of straw which stays until the greens begin   
   >> emerging through the straw and remove about 4" or so, the rest will mulch   
   >> the garlic. The straw isn't to keep the garlic from freezing, but to   
   >> prevent them from un-thawing and freezing again in the springtime.   
   >>   
   >> As for scapes, if removed you get better size bulbs, but you can leave   
   >> them on and get smaller bulbs and what they call bulbils which can be   
   >> planted, but they say that can take 3 or 4 years to produce bulbs of any   
   >> size.   
   >>   
   >> We remove our scapes when they have circled around about 270° or 3/4 of a   
   >> turn. I cut the scape stalk at the point just above the leaves below them.   
   >> The flower tip seems too tough for eating, but can flavor something if you   
   >> choose. The scapes, run through a food processor with additions of olive   
   >> oil, Parmesan cheese, salt & a touch of lemon juice to keep its color.   
   >> Then freeze the pesto in 1/2 cup jars until you want some of the best   
   >> pesto you are ever going to eat, be it with pasta and such or just on   
   >> crackers. Usually no nuts, but we like some pecans if we add any.   
   >>   
   >> We're setting 11/11 as garlic planting day on a 6" grid. Harvest around   
   >> the end of July or when the first 3 bottom leaves brown and die. Good luck!   
   >   
   > Hi Wilson,   
   >   
   > Thank you!   
   >   
   > I put mine in the ground after the first freeze   
   > in October and toothpicked it to keep the   
   > neighborhood cats from crapping in the bed.   
   >   
   > Maybe I will actually get some garlic this year.   
   >   
   > Who'd you buy your German Red and Russian Red from?   
   >   
   > In the spring, we have wild temperature swings.   
   > Most varieties of garlic I have tried bolt on   
   > me in May because of it.   
   >   
   > Is your soil acidic or acid?   
   >   
   > -T   
   >   
   My garlic patch tested 7.1 pH back in 10/2015. The test said I was at or   
   above optimum and recommended I do nothing to adjust it. 'Toothpicking?'   
   Never heard of that, but have few cats in the hood. But now the wife says   
   she's heard of folks using plastic forks. That sounds like a tedious operation.   
      
   We bought the garlic at a local garlic festival in 2014 in Southwest Harbor,   
   Maine - Pirates Cove Campground. Nothing was certified, but they are both   
   definitely hard-necks and had reddish striping on the bulbs. That first fall   
   was maybe our best year.   
      
   The straw mulch is to keep the garlic from starting too early. It keeps the   
   beds frozen until the last frost has gone by. I have a small wooden fence   
   about 16" high that goes around our 3' x 10' with a 2" x 8" frame sitting on   
   gravel. Soil is clay-ish, so holds moisture pretty well.   
      
   Actually, plan to plant tomorrow as it was 28.4°F this morning and the   
   ground will be frozen soon. Good luck!   
      
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