Growing Garlic and Asparagus

[bacpacker]

As the title states, who is growing their own garlic and/or asparagus? What types do you grow? How much do you have planted? What other perrineals do you grow that produce well for not a huge amount of time/work involved.

I've had some Mary Washington Asparagus growing for 20 years here and in the past two it has slowed down to almost no harvest. We plan on replanting this soon, but I haven't decided on what variety yet. I also think instead of growing one 50' row for us to eat on, I may plant 3-4 rows and try my hand at selling it during the season once the new crop is established. It is a high dollar crop so the return should be decent and with a relitivly short growing season here (6-10 weeks) we could make back a few bucks and not get tied down on it for the whole season.

I had some garlic growing for 2-3 years and it had been doing really well, all we wanted to eat and plenty to plant back each fall. Then the hail storm from 2 years ago basically killed it off. I haven't replanted yet, but with as much garlic as we use I really need to. I grew a hardneck type, but don't recall the name of it. It did pretty well and I am strongly considering using that again, unless someone has some suggestions of a good one to try.

[Sniper-T]

I HAD a nice patch up until a couple years ago. Unfortunately, the previous owners had it planted right in the middle of the back yard. So when I had a backhoe in digging my pond I had him dig it out and move it, but it hasn't really come back that well (probably too shady now). I have another area cleared which gets some decent sun, so I am going to start planting there. hopefully in a couple years I'll be good again! I LOVE asparagus!

[4suchatimeasthis]

I have done some research on this, sounds a bit tricky. My folks have always had a nice bed of it, so I asked dad about starting one.....he laughed at me, and said it's "complicated". . Ha, jokes on him, when they come visit the grand-kidlets he get's to help me set up an asparagus bed.

[bacpacker]

I found it to be a lot of work, but nothing difficult about it. I dug a 50' x12" deep x 15" wide trench. Filled the bottom 1/3 with a high quality ompost with it mounded up in the center of the trench. Placed the crowns on top of the compost about one foot apart. Be sure to spread the roots around really well. Once thats in cover the roots with another 2-3" pf the compost. For the first year just add some compost as the spears come up leaving a little bit of the spear showing. Keep that up until the trench is full.

Don't pick any the first year and in Jan or Feb spread about 1-2lbs of triple super phosphate per 50' of row. In the spring give it about half lb of 12-12-12 in the spring. You can pick a little the second year but not much. The roots need time to establish themselves. Do the same routine every winter and spring and the third year enjoy. Just remember to stop pocking when the spear size decreases. And let them grow out the season to keep the roots going strong. We typically harvest for 6-10 weeks.

[Evolver]

Garlic... We have never grown Garlic before and this thread has sparked an interest. We have some produce store bulbs and I was thinking about planting them.

What are the pros or cons? I know that allot of the commercial growers and now treating potatoes with growth inhibitors to stop people from using them as seed potatoes in their own gardens so I wonder if the Garlic has been treated as well.

[Evolver]

It looks like there are two types of Garlic one being "Hardneck" and the other "Softneck" and both come in many different
verities.

Hardneck

Hardneck varieties of garlic are the more dramatic with fewer but much larger cloves. Hardnecks prefer cold winter climates. They have less of an outer bulb wrapper which makes them more sensitive and reduces their shelf life. As they grow, they produce a stalk that coils from the top called a “scape” or garlic flower. Scapes can be harvested and used for creative cooking before the garlic itself is actually harvested (see recipes). We will have scapes for sale in May and June (see scapes on order page).

There are three main types of hardnecks: Rocamboles, Porcelain, and Purple Stripe.

Rocamboles tend to grow better in cold winter climates and produce large, tan or brown colored cloves, easily peeled skins, with a deep full-bodied flavor, considered by some to be the finest tasting garlic of all. The Rocamboles we grow are: Amish, German Red, Killarney Red and Spanish Roja.
Porcelains produce a beautiful plant and impressive bulb. They have a satiny white wrapper with four to six cloves around a sturdy scape. Porcelains are easy to peel and great for cooking. As a group, the porcelains have the highest yields of allicin, the sulfur compound most associated with garlic’s therapeutic benefits. The porcelain types we grow are: German Extra Hardy, Georgian Crystal, Romanian Red and Music.
Purple Stripes are named for their vivid purple striping on the bulb wrappers and cloves skins. Their taste is strong, complex and richly garlicky,without being overly sulfurous. Many regard purple stripes the best for roasting. Purple stripes are further broken down into two groups: Glazed and Marbled. In the purple stripe category we grow Belarus and Chesnok Red.

Softneck

Softneck varieties are those most commonly found in supermarkets because they have a longer shelf life than the hardneck varieties. Softnecks are the variety used to make garlic braids. You can recognize the softneck varieties by the papery white skin and the abundance of cloves, often forming several layers around the central core. These are the most adaptable garlics and will grow in a variety of climates.

Softneck garlic is further broken down in two main types: Silverskin and Artichoke.

Silverskin type is the most common and easy to grow. We are pleased to be able to offer you three types of silverskin: Silver White, Nootka Rose and S&H Silver.
Artichoke type is larger, may have fewer but larger cloves and a milder flavor. The bulb wrappers on the artichoke varieties are coarser than the silverskin and may have some purple blotches. Of the artichoke varieties we have: Inchelium Red, Red Toch, and Susanville.

[Sniper-T]

Garlic... We have never grown Garlic before and this thread has sparked an interest. We have some produce store bulbs and I was thinking about planting them.

What are the pros or cons? I know that allot of the commercial growers and now treating potatoes with growth inhibitors to stop people from using them as seed potatoes in their own gardens so I wonder if the Garlic has been treated as well.

Check this out...

http://www.gardenswag.com/2011/12/5-...itchen-scraps/

doesn't hurt to try...

[ladyhk13]

My father grew about every type of garlic there is ever since I was a teenager. He loved it. The year he died (will be 2 years in Aug) he had packed up a box of German garlic for me to start growing and then passed away but his wife sent it to me anyway. I had no idea how to grow it but planted it anyway and said lots of prayers (I wish I had paid attention to him).

Well, I could not believe how easy it is. So easy if fact that I have thought about growing a lot of it and maybe doing a little side business at the farmers market or online.

2 main things with growing garlic - keep them mulched and keep them weeded. That's all. It's as easy as that. Wait for the scapes and then cut them off and use them in cooking! They are super strong in their taste - amazing. Once you cut the scapes off the garlic will start getting big underground. Then the green on top will start turning brown as the clove matures. I dug up one every once in a while just to check the size and found that when the tops were pretty dead the cloves were the biggest. Then ya dig them all up and put them somewhere to dry. Keep your biggest ones for next year.

BP if you haven't put them in the ground yet it probably is too late. You needed to plant them around August/Sept here. I put mine in pots this year because I didn't think we would still be here but I'm going to replant them when we get our garden ready. My stepmom said they would be ok to replant (I was really worried about it) since they are from my dad's origional ones and they are all I can get now since he is gone. I can't even tell you how many generations old they are - could be 10 or 20 years. Pretty amazing.

[bacpacker]

Sounds like they did well Lady. I haven't even gotten any ordered yet. The year I planted bought bulbs, they didn't arrive until spring. They still did OK, but the bulbs were much smaller than normal. I replanted some of my harvest that fall and the next year they got much bigger and a more garlic taste as well. It just turned into more of a asparagus type thing in having to wait a year. I do need to get that ordered ASAP and in the ground right away.

[ladyhk13]

They were small because they were planted too late. They need all that growing time to get mature. I don't know why they sell them the wrong time of year, kind of like onions - they need a longer growing time as well to get big. I guess they well them because people buy them and don't know when to really plant them. Since my dad was an expert grower I did know when to plant them, I just didn't know when to harvest and since they were taking so long I thought I had done something wrong but it's just that they actually take that long to grow. But once the scapes appeared I knew I was ok. Up until that point I was really upset thinking that I killed the one thing that my dad loved so much and wanted to share with me. But I'm more confident now and I'm going to just keep harvesting these to get my numbers up to replant (eat only the small ones). They are special to me.

I have asparagus too but they are only 2 years old and I don't think I have enough plants to really cook so I've just let them go so maybe this year I'll get a better harvest. I'm going to have to dig them up and replant when we redo the garden in the spring so I hope I don't kill them. I don't have a great green thumb but I try hard.