On 2022-09-27, songbird  wrote:   
      
   >   i better put it on my list of things to get done the   
   > next few weeks as after that i'm likely to be too busy   
   > with other things.   
      
   thanks for the advice everyone.   
      
   some things i'm changing;   
      
   we planted way too deep last fall. i don't remember what compelled us to   
   do it, but we planted six inches deep. d'oh! this year will be between   
   two to three inches depending on size of cloves.   
      
   the prior two years we purchased seed garlic from Burpee. Romanian Red,   
   hardneck, and their advice was to plant soon as the garlic, which was   
   ordered late summer, arrived. that was early to mid october. by mid   
   october the bed will prepared, but the garlic isn't going to be planted   
   until we get a good hard frost and the soil is a bit crusty. we had   
   growth make it to the surface in the fall the last two years. i've read   
   it can act like a straw to suck moisture out of the cloves causing rot   
   once killed by the cold.   
      
   we do need to mulch i think. our winters now consist of quite a few   
   freezing and thawing cycles anymore. we need to mulch to help prevent   
   heaving. we'll put it down several inches thick once the ground is   
   nearly frozen and pull it off in the spring as it thaws leaving only   
   enough to keep weeds down. will look for and push back down any cloves   
   found on the surface.   
      
   with good soil amendments, plenty of organic material and proper   
   nutrients, and maintaining moist soil throughout winter which got   
   ignored the first two years, i'm expecting much better results next   
   year.   
      
   i'm with others here, we remove the scapes and make garlic scape &   
   basil pesto with most of it. the rest i use in salads. we cut them off   
   after they make one loop and point at the sky again. any longer than   
   that they can become too "woody", so i have read.   
      
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