Market Farming

[Jim Woodyard <mwjw AT swbell.net>]

Since we are on the subject of garlic, when should it be harvested for
the bulbs?  Someone told me that it should be pulled when the bloom pod
pops open.  I have always waited till fall when the stalk has dried
down.  That was mainly just because it got put off for a more convenient
time to harvest.
Jim Woodyard
Nocona, TX

pam AT twinoaks.org wrote:

> Linda Kerr asked:
> "can anyone who has grown garlic scallions tell me the distance
> between the plants & rows? And when to harvest?"
>
> David Stern in upstate New York recommends planting
> small whole garlic bulbs 6" apart in February, for Garlic
> Greens, and cutting them when they get to 10" tall
> (May?). They will regrow and can be cut 3 times. For
> Garlic Scallions, he suggests sprinkling small cloves in
> a continuous line in a furrow, again in February. Pull
> whole plants when they reach 8" in height (April here in
> Virginia, I found.) It's also possible to replant small
> cloves immediately after harvesting the main garlic
> crop, and grow garlic scallions that way. He suggests
> sorting the main crop in the field, and only taking the
> good big bulbs to cure, and 'throwing the small ones
> back in" (like fishing?).
>         What I did myself was to plant the small cloves in
> the fall immediately after planting the main garlic crop,
> using the cloves deemed too small to make "real
> garlic". I planted them about 4" apart, pulled every other
> one as scallions in April and cut the rest as garlic
> greens in May. Easy!! Row spacing? About 9", because
> that fits with our beds.
> Pam Dawling, Twin Oaks Community, Virginia, zone 6b
>
> _______________________________________________
> Market-farming mailing list
> Market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/market-farming
>
> Get the list FAQ at: http://www.marketfarming.net/mflistfaq.htm