A sad farewell to my garlic crop, which did not do well this year. Adieu, my friends. (And a thank you to all the frogs that spontaneously joined me in my farewell tribute.)
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St. James Infirmary (Ode-to-Garlic) Blues4 comments to St. James Infirmary (Ode-to-Garlic) BluesLeave a Reply |
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Thank you for visiting Barbolian Fields! We are dedicated toward more self-sufficient living and, of course, growing great garlic! We try to incorporate ideas of permaculture, food forestry, agro-ecology, creativity, and a certain measure of sanity into our garden sanctuary. If you are in the neighborhood, come visit! We live just outside Sequim, Washington, on Woodcock Road. Or mail us at P.O. Box 542, Carlsborg, WA 98324.
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Ahh what happened Blythe? We just harvested our garlic and you know, we actually didn’t do to bad this time. Some strains were small in bulb size, others, monsters (Music). We have a good 400 hanging in the garage right now.
I’m not sure up in Sequim, but down here south of Olympia, the weather has just been plain old lame! 70 degrees or so, not much sun, and boy do our strawberries show it..(lack of the juicy red).
Our Romanian Red was terrible this year. We planted 30 cloves, got 8 that actually came up and produced decent sized bulbs. Not sure how this happens, but the best of them all for us, was Music, Velek, Carpathian and Purple Glazier.
A good chunk of our Music strain is 3″ diameter in size. All we used this year to feed them was worm tea and GoProOrgranics fish emulsion.
Can you give us some feedback Blythe, on what exactly happened to your crops?
Thanks and great video! LOL
Hi Greg! Getting 3″ out of the Music is simply outstanding! Mine used to average closer to around 2″. I really love the Vekak – such a beautiful bulb! – but I reduced the number I planted this last year because the performance was just too much up and down over the years. When you cut back, you have to make difficult decisions. My Carpathians also averaged around 2″ in 2009, but what they lacked in size, they made up for in longevity. They definitely lasted longer than most of the other Rocamboles. My Romanians did better last year than in other years, but still, only 68% of them were what I call marketable-size (1.75″ and above). (I do statistics on my harvests – ahm! something left over from my previous life.) I haven’t tried the Purple Glazer yet. According to Hood River Garlic, they need really cold winters, so it’s good to hear they did so well for you.
As for me, I am still tallying things up – but the good news is, not All is lost! (insert happy dance here)
And although I am still figuring things out, my gut feeling is that it was a combination of things: a lot of rain & wind & cold temperatures all through the winter & long into spring — and this is key — too much mulch. I don’t think I pulled it back soon enough or far enough – and the soil just stayed cool & damp.
The theme of my next year’s crop will be all about breathing!
(Thanks for checking in! Appreciate your sympathy and support!)
that was beautiful
Hey, thanks. When all else fails, I play in my garden. It’s like coming out of the closet & into the open air.