I've managed to harvest my first decent crop of garlic here at Struan Farm, hooray!
Last year I planted cloves in one of our veggie troughs. I suspect I watered them too much and also didn't fertilise sufficiently. Shoots grew but nothing that resembled heads of garlic when I lifted them out.
You will know that I am not one to shirk from a challenge. And so I tried again this year, planting cloves in the ground on the shortest day of the year in June. The bed was fertilised with compost, sheep manure and blood & bone. I didn't water the shoots, left them to the rain.
On the longest day of the year in December (okay, maybe a few days later, after the holidays...), I pulled the first batch up, followed by a second a week later. My crop is now drying on the potting table in the garage. I've tried braid the tops together in the "ristra" spirit of Santa Fe.
It's not nearly the amount of garlic that we use annually by a long way, but it's a start. I'm encouraged to plant more next year. I might need a dedicated bed, but at least I know the rabbits will steer clear of it. John and I are in discussion already....
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