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market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] Garlic questions

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  • From: Todd Lister <toddlister1 AT gmail.com>
  • To: bobbett AT windstream.net, Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Garlic questions
  • Date: Sun, 8 Nov 2009 20:17:33 -0500

Bobbett, I sell garlic and deal with the small ones in pursuit of green garlic but I really like everything you posted and am definitely going to do the hedge.
Todd
Veribest farm 
On Sun, Nov 8, 2009 at 11:49 AM, <bobbett AT windstream.net> wrote:

---- "cjmaness AT juno.com" <cjmaness AT juno.com> wrote:
> I read somewhere that the best garlic for my area would come from a local grower. So, I bought 20 pounds from a fellow grower at our market. The problem is all of the bulbs are very small, about the size of a nickel. The large ones were on top, hiding all the small ones underneath.  My question is: are these small bulbs too small to plant? Can they be planted whole?, Or do I throw them away, and never buy anything from this particular vendor again?

Just glad it wasn't me! ;-p  I always tell people the size bulbs I'm selling them and would gladly replace any bad ones if the freebies I enclose don't cover it.

That being said, when I'm down to smaller bulbs I separate them into cloves.  With Cherokee garlic I find that there's always 1-2 big ones in every bulb, even if the bulb is on the smaller side.  I plant ONLY the biggest cloves since I'm trying to get more large (over 2" across) garlic bulbs for my harvest next year.

Smaller cloves we peal, dry, and grind into powder.  It's delicious!  (store in frig to keep it from caking)

As for the smallest bulbs (under 1/2" across) I call those " minis"  and use them to create borders around areas I don't want critters to get into.  I plant them whole and don't harvest them even the following year.  They quickly compact in that area and form a dense wall (like a hedge) of garlic greens.

I think there are many things that garlic wards against, so you might want to plant a few of the smaller ones around your fruit trees and rose bushes and any other plant that could benefit.  You can also plant them with the intention of getting bulbils (if they're hard necks) so you can even further propagate your inventory.

Hope these suggestions help,
Bobbett
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