Welcome, October!

Free Parsley and The Black Moon

It is a dark, cool (3 degrees), rainy day with snow (up to 10cm) forecast for the weekend.  Knowing the weekend would be wet, we dug up the remainder of the potatoes and leeks yesterday and I brought some of the sunflower heads indoors to dry.  The only things remaining in the garden are parsnips, a few tiny beets, parsley, and sunflowers.

I have had an abundance of parsley this year.  I dehydrated enough to fill several mason jars, gave some away, and traded some with people for garlic and a zucchini.  There is still plenty left growing - it somehow has made it through the last few frosts - so yesterday afternoon I put a sign on the mailbox:  FRESH PARSLEY - FREE.  I hate to compost produce if there is someone who would enjoy having it.  So far, a former neighbour, the newspaper carrier, and a Jehovah's Witness have helped themselves!  

One of the North Georgia Candy Roasters had to be used sooner rather than later due to some frost damage and cracks on the bottom where it was laying on the ground.  It was loaded with seeds, which I planned to set aside to dry. Most of the seeds were dimpled or cracked, though, and not suitable for saving.  I picked out about 20 that looked the best and will try drying those.  There is one squash left; hopefully, the seeds in that one will be intact.

I peeled and cut up the squash.  It almost filled our spaghetti pot!  It cooked quickly, in less than 15 minutes, and mashed up nicely. Very smooth and a cheerful yellow.  It tastes more like acorn squash to me than pumpkin (I was expecting a pumpkin or a butternut flavour).  Then again, it didn't have a chance to "after-ripen" for several weeks.  Maybe the remaining squash, once it has been stored for two or three months, will have a deeper/richer flavour.

Tonight, we'll end the month with a Black Moon (the second new moon in a month).

 

Dreamer - Larisa Strelkova

Garlic Bulbils

August 25, 2016 - This week, I ordered some garlic bulbils from the Seeds of Diversity garlic collection.   They keep a collection of dozens of heirloom varieties are seek growers throughout the country who will grow out these varieties and report back as to which varieties did well in their region.  

An excerpt from the Garlic Collection section of their website:


      Seeds of Diversity's Great Canadian Garlic Collection is a national project that explores and documents the many varieties of garlic grown in Canada.

     There are well over 100 varieties of garlic that are suited to Canadian growing conditions. Our goal is to grow as many varieties as possible in all of Canada's major agricultural areas and to record their success and characteristics. The collected information will be posted to our web site for use by all. In 2014 we harvested 153 different varieties. 

     Garlic grows differently in different climates. Some varieties have particular colours, shapes or other characteristics in certain areas of the country, but not in others. For instance, some varieties grow scapes in the east but not in the west. Some have a purple or red colour when grown in certain climates, but are white elsewhere. More importantly, some varieties grow better than others in different regions.

 
In this month's newsletter, they wrote that they have over 30 varieties available this Fall.  For a $10 shipping fee, they send at least bulbils of 5 varieties to anyone interested in growing them.  The catch?  It takes 2-3 years before full-grown garlic can be harvested (as opposed to being able to harvest garlic yearly when planting cloves).   Seeds of Diversity has written a really good article about how to grow bulbils. 

Beyond knowing that hardneck varieties do well in zone 2a, I do not know much about different types of garlic.  I asked them to select some varieties they felt might do well in this gardening zone.  We'll see what arrives!


YEAR ONE

September 2016  


September 21 - My garlic bulbils arrived today.  I am glad I placed my order early, as the note that was enclosed with the bulbils stated that Seeds of Diversity had an overwhelming response to their offer and that their supply ran out in only a few days.  The varieties they sent me are Siberian, Central Siberian, Kiev (same as Kyjev?), Brown Tempest, and Baba Franchuk's.  I'll have to work up a spot in the garden so I can plant my pots of bulbils in the ground in the next week.


September 25 - The garlic bulbils (in pots) were planted in the north garden.  I also planted two rows of garlic cloves (Red Russian and Northern Quebec).  The pots and cloves were covered with leaf mulch and grass clippings.  Nice and cozy for the cold weather ahead!
 

Baba Franchuk’s – large bulbils

Kiev – medium bulbils
Central Siberian – medium bulbils

Siberian – small bulbils

Brown Tempest – very small bulbils

 

May 2017 (Update) 


We had a relatively mild winter.  Most of the snow we had fell in March/April. The first three weeks of May have been mainly cool and overcast, with lots of rain.

May 1–15  Kiev (about half that I received have germinated), Baba Franchuk's (several have germinated; these look robust), a few Siberian and a few Central Siberian have germinated. None of the Brown Tempest bulbils have germinated.  I planted quite a few, but the Brown Tempest bulbils were very small.  Perhaps most of them rotted in the soil

May 22 - One of the Brown Tempest bulbils has germinated.  Better than none at all!

I am glad I followed the planting recommendations outlined on the Seeds of Diversity site.  The growth that has emerged from the bulbils does look and feel exactly like blades of grass.  It would be difficult to know what to pluck out and what to leave if they were planted directly in the garden.

August 2017 (Update)

August 10 - I dug up the Kiev rounds that grew from the bulbils planted last Fall.  They are 1.5 - 2 cm across at their widest point.  Of the Kiev bulbils I planted (should have recorded the number), 6 germinated and formed rounds. I was surprised at the length of their roots!  They have been hung to dry and will be replanted next month or early in October.

August 14 - Dug up, labeled, and hung the rest of the garlic rounds to cure.

Siberian - Measure about 1 cm across at their widest point. Of the Siberian bulbils I planted, 10 germinated and formed rounds.

Central Siberian - Very similar to the Siberian rounds.  They also measure approximately 1 cm across at their widest point.  Of the Central Siberian bulbils planted, 5 germinated and formed rounds.

Baba Franchuk's - These are the largest of all the rounds.  They measure about 2 cm across at their widest point.  The largest one is almost 2.5 cm across.  Of the Baba Franchuk's bulbils planted, 5 germinated and formed rounds.

Kiev - These are the second largest rounds, each measuring between 1.5 - 1.75 cm across.  Of the bulbils planted 6 formed rounds.

Brown Tempest - These are the smallest of all the rounds, generally measuring slightly less than 1 cm across at the widest point.  Of the Brown Tempest bulbils planted, 12 germinated and formed rounds.

Odds and Ends...  one container had 4 rounds in it are a mix of Siberian and Central Siberian. They are so close in size and appearance, that I find it hard to tell which is which.

YEAR TWO

September 2017 


September 25 - I planted the Siberian, Central Siberian, and Brown Tempest rounds (from last Fall's bulbils) in pots again.  These rounds are still quite small, and I don't want them overtaken by weeds or accidentally mistaken for grass and pulled out of the patch.  The Kiev and Baba Franchuk's rounds seemed large enough to plant directly in the ground, so I planted them beside the regular cloves of garlic.  

In total, 44 rounds were planted (33 in pots and 11 in-ground):

Kiev - 6                        Baba Frankchuk's - 5
Central Siberian - 5     Siberian -  10
Brown Tempest - 13    Mixed (Siberian & Central Siberian) - 5

Just need to mulch the garlic patch with chopped leaves later this week!

August 2018 (Update)

August 11 - Dug up, labeled, and hung the garlic rounds and bulbs to cure.

Siberian - Measure 3 - 4 cm across at their widest points. Of the Siberian bulbils I planted, 7 germinated and formed small bulbs and rounds.

Siberian

 

Central Siberian - Very similar to the Siberian rounds.  They measure approximately 3 - 3.5 cm across at their widest points.  Of the Central Siberian bulbils planted, 3 germinated and formed small bulbs.

Central Siberian

 

Baba Franchuk's - These are now bulbs.  The largest item harvested this year from all the bulbils originally planted in 2016.  They measure between 4.5 and 6.5 cm across at their widest points.  I am impressed!  Of the Baba Franchuk's rounds planted, 5 germinated and formed bulbs.  (I forgot to put a loonie beside the bulbs for comparison).

Baba Franchuk's

 

Kiev - These are now bulbs.  The second largest item harvested from all the bulbils originally planted in 2016.  They measure ~ 5 - 5.5 cm across.  Of the rounds planted, 3 formed bulbs.  (Note: September 22nd:  this is the only variety harvested this past August that developed a bit of mildew on the inside of one of the bulbs, between the cloves).

Kiev

 

Brown Tempest - These are the smallest of all the rounds, generally measuring ~ 2.5 - 3 cm across at the widest points.  Of the Brown Tempest bulbils planted, 6 germinated and formed small bulbs.

Brown Tempest

Mix (Siberian & Central Siberian) - 6 small bulbs and rounds harvested this year. (No picture)



YEAR THREE 

September 2018  


September 26 -  I planted the garlic patch today in the North garden.  

The Brown Tempest, Siberian, and Central Siberian cloves are quite small, so I planted those in pots in the ground.  I forgot to count the number of cloves planted this year, but I estimate about 16 Brown Tempest, 7 Siberian, and 9 Central Siberian. 

The Kiev and Baba Franchuk's garlic were big, beautiful bulbs when I harvested them in August!  I planted the cloves in-ground.  To my surprise, I found that the inner skins of these two varieties were quite thin/delicate and peeled off a number of the individual cloves when I split the bulbs for planting.  The bulbs were so large that I thought their skins would be thick and sturdy, like Red Russian (my favourite variety to grow).   Approximately 9 Kiev and 18 Baba Franchuk's cloves were planted.

Once the plot has been covered with shredded leaves, the garlic will be ready to settle in for the winter.  :)

Note:  A-ha...now I realize why the Kiev and Baba Franchuk's garlic had such thin skins.  Both are rocambole varieties, which are easy to peel (thin skins!) and not the best for long-term storage.   As I understand it, Red Russian garlic is a Marbled Purple Stripe variety that is good for long-term storage (thicker skins).


June 2019 (Update) 

June 14th - This is how the garlic patch is looking so far this summer.  :)

The Brown Tempest cloves were still quite small, so I planted them in a white, rectangular container last fall (front/right side of the patch). 

The small garlic plants behind it are Central Siberian.  These cloves were also fairly small and were planted in pots. 

Directly to the left of the white container is Siberian.  The Siberian cloves were fairly small and were planted in pots.

The small section of larger garlic plants growing behind the Siberian is Kiev.  These cloves were large when they were planted, so were planted directly in-ground.

Behind all these, in the first full row of large garlic plants, is Baba Franchuk’s.  These cloves were full-sized (gorgeous!) when planted.  They were planted in-ground.

At the back of the garlic patch is a row of Northern Quebec and several rows of Red Russian (tried and true, an excellent variety for storing).   These were full-sized cloves from my own supply rather than varieties that were initially planted as bulbils from Seeds of Diversity.

August 2019  (Update)

August 10  - July and August have been unusually cool, overcast, and wet this year.  We have rarely gone more than 48 hours without rainfall in the last two months. This month, it has rained almost daily and this morning, it was 2 degrees at 6:30am.  I typically harvest my garlic in mid-August, but the garlic plot hasn't had a chance to dry out.  On the contrary, it has been wet for weeks.  

A close look at the garlic yesterday morning revealed mould growing along the stems and lower leaves.  I removed the in-ground pots containing the varieties that were started from small rounds last Fall  (e.g., Brown Tempest, Siberian, and Central Siberian).  I brought them indoors to let the soil dry and am hoping the rounds and small bulbs can be salvaged.  I also dug up one of the Kiev bulbs to see what kind of shape it was in.  The Kiev cloves planted last fall were a good size, but the bulb I full is not as large as I expected.  No doubt because of the lack of sunshine, warmth, and adverse growing conditions this summer.  There are small speckles of mould on the base of the stem and on parts of the skin covering the bulb.  And, of course, the soil is very wet.  We have hung the Kiev garlic bulb in the laundry room to allow it to dry.  We'll see what condition it is in after that.

August 15 - We had three rain-free days in a row this week. It was good to see the sunshine. More rain and cool weather is in the forecast, unfortunately, so I took my chances pulling some of the garlic early to prevent more mould from developing on the stems and to prevent the bulbs themselves from starting to rot.  Today, I pulled the Kiev bulbs (5 in total) and 3 of the Baba Franchuk’s bulbs.  As expected, the skins are thin and fragile; most of the leaves on the garlic are still green.  I will hang them to dry and will hopefully be able to plant them again in September/October.

Kiev bulbs

I have one Kiev bulb and two bulbs of Baba Franchuk’s with the scapes left on, hoping they'll produce bulbils when all is said and done.  They are all underdeveloped at this point.  Last year, everything was harvested, labeled, and hung to dry at this point!

September 20 - The weather has remained quite damp this month.  All the garlic was finally pulled and hung to dry as best it could by Sept. 15th.

Kiev and Baba Franchuk's are beautiful, large bulbs at this stage.

Siberian and Brown Tempest remain small.  In fact, they are about the same size as the ones harvested last Fall.  No doubt this is due, in part, to the cool, wet weather this past summer.  Central Siberian is now producing a mix of small to medium-sized bulbs.  Of the 3 varieties, Central Siberian produced the largest number of bulbs.  Most were firm and had their skins intacts when harvested.  Siberian had the hardest time, with the smallest number harvested and several of those were mouldly and/or spongy.  The size of the bulbs varied so widely that I'm going to opt out of noting the averages for each type this year.  

Normally, I would remove the outermost layer of the bulbs to expose the beautiful colours beneath, but this year the skins are so fragile that I thought it best to leave the outer - muddy - layer in place.


Kiev -  4 bulbs of Kiev made it through this season (three large and one medium). 

Kiev

I also let one of the Kiev develop bulbils to be planted this Fall or next.

Kiev bulbils

Brown Tempest - 5 bulbs were harvested.  This variety has remained quite small.  To my relief, the ones harvested were firm and the skins were intact.

Brown Tempest

Siberian - Only 3 made it through the season in good shape.  They have beautifully coloured wrappers, though!

Siberian

Central Siberian - 9 bulbs were harvested.  Those pictured are among the larger bulbs it produced this year.

Central Siberian

Baba Franchuk's - 17 nice, large bulbs!  This variety might become one I regularly grow, along with Red Russian and Northern Quebec.

Baba Franchuk's

YEAR FOUR

October 2019

October 1 -  A total of 114 cloves of various sizes were planted in the North Garden near the rock wall.  No bulbils or rounds were planted this year.

From the back of the plot to the front:

40 Red Russian - four rows

15 Baba Franchuk’s - one row. This variety is one I started from bulbils in 2016.

24 Northern Quebec - two rows, plus 3 cloves at the end of the row of Kiev.  The Northern Quebec wrappers are white.

8 Kiev  - one row. This variety was started from bulbils in 2016.   I only had 5 bulbs from last year’s garden, and 3 of those bulbs ended up too mouldy to use. 

17 Central Siberian - one row, plus 4 cloves beside container of Brown Tempest.  These were small cloves. This variety was started from bulbils in 2016.

10 Brown Tempest - small cloves. They were planted in a plastic container, which was placed at the front of the plot, in the ground.  Another variety started from bulbils in 2016.

Baba Franchuk's and Kiev are big, beautiful varieties of garlic, but the wrappers were so papery and fine that the cloves practically peeled themselves as I split the bulbs open!   About 20 cloves lost their wrappers when bulbs were being broken apart for planting.

Most of the varieties I have grown have purple stripes on the wrappers, or a light purple hue.  Kiev, though, had beautiful brown, gold, and amber tones to the wrappers that I hadn't seen before.  So pretty. 

In the next day or two, I'll mow some leaves and put the mulch on the plot. It will be nice to have the garlic patch "tucked in" for the winter.  :)