Back in May 2023
we wrote A POST ABOUT ELEPHANT GARLIC
In that post I promised to give an update. I am finally getting around to it. And seeing that it is now early November in 2024 it is long overdue. Especially when I have just finished pulling out the elephant garlic I grew from the garlic I grew when I first tried growing it. You may have to read that last sentence twice to figure out what I am saying. Don’t worry I took pictures.
I had a look at the previous elephant garlic post and there is a comment that gives a short view of where we were up to at that time. And seeing as I had now pulled out this years crop, hopefully you will get a few more insights.
Standard egg timer on an Elephant Garlic
At the top of the page, the background image is some of the current crop just pulled out, measured against a standard egg timer. If the bulbs have half disappeared on the desktop make your page view narrower and they will move up so you can see them better. Making the page narrower also helps when reading. You don’t lose your place as much when moving to the next line.
Elephant Garlic Just Pulled
Looking at the above image, it doesn’t look like the Garlic is as big as it is in real life. You get more of an idea when you look at the next image with the Garlic measured against a standard egg timer.
What Have I Learned
Last year when I pulled the garlic, it had been raining. And looked like continuing. I didn’t want to leave it in the ground getting wetter. I didn’t have any real drying facility and coped as best as I could.
This year November 24, it has been quite dry and the Elephant Garlic looked better than when I pulled it in Nov 23. I was able to tie it up and hang it from a rafter in an old garage to dry. I expect to get a better looking clove than the ones below. We’ll see.
Nagle Falls Farm Cloves
When it came to planting the cloves this year April 1st 24 (fools day) some of the cloves looked like the image above. They are now 12 months old and have been sitting in some old egg cartons for that time. I am hoping to have the cloves look more like the ones from Nagle Falls Farm purchased 18 months ago.
Elephant Garlic
Pulled 5 Nov 2024
The Other Things I Learned
I had read about the nodules that grew on Elephant Garlic and also had seen plenty of them on the previous crop. But this time they really stood out.
I will replant some of these under a bushy tree and see if I can get these nodules to grow over summer. I will also plant some on the 1st April and see what happens.
Don’t forget to dig for nodules
I was lucky with the weather this year. There was no heavy rain and in the last two weeks I didn’t water the Garlic either.
But I did have to dig a bit more to look for all the nodules that stayed in the ground when I pulled them out.
Rescued Nodules
From Elephant Garlic
Nita
From atcProducts
Thanks for reading
I have run out of things to say. But have probably forgotten something that you might want to know about.
If that’s the case, add a comment below or don’t hesitate to call. We enjoy hearing from clients.
Until next blog post… best regards Nita