The new garlic variant Dukát that I planted in the new raised bed started to poke out of the leaf mulch, so I scraped the mulch away so the plants have light. Also, the leaf mulch was sometimes too compacted, and the plants had trouble getting through. We shall see how this turns out. I will definitely use fungicides this year to try to protect this crop, since garlic is one of the most expensive crops that I grow, and I like it.
© Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size.
The ten cloves of garlic Janko that I planted from last year also all poked out of the ground.
© Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size.
That means they were at least healthy enough to not rot over winter. We shall see if they grow. I would very much like that, the variant is tasty, and it made huge cloves that are easy to peel.
Other than that, I continued to do some heavy work whenever the weather allowed it, until I was forced into a pause yesterday, when strong western winds brought with them rain, snow, and eventually frost. I did manage at least to prepare some of the potato patches. I have approximately 400 potatoes to plant, which means I need somewhere around 130 m total length of rows. I am nowhere near that; it will be a lot of work.
© Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size.
For the Ruth Stout method, I started to prepare the lawn by spreading rows of last year’s mixture of moss and soil, together with some rotten grass from the last mowing of the lawn in 2025. I will plant mostly the early potatoes Bellarosa and Camel in here, and since both of those are red tubers, I will put two rows of the yellow early variety Dali between them to keep them separated. For the Dali, I will plant the smallest tubers here. The bigger ones will go into deeper soil for better results.
© Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size.
The patch between the big greenhouse and the bamboo patch is deep, sandy soil, not the natural soil around here, but one that I created over decades. It is not ideal, but it is easy to work, and I will plant the variant Agrie here, because it is an indeterminate variety which should benefit from the depth and sufficient hilling. On the south side is this year’s attempt at growing spinach. I have sown half of a 50 cm strip with spinach seeds, and the other half with pre-grown spinach plants.
© Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size.
The patch in front of the entrance to the big greenhouse, where I grew butternut pumpkins and red beets last year, will also be planted with the variant Agrie.
© Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size.
Most of the Dali variant will go on the elevated mound, where I tried unsuccessfully to grow peas and wintering onions last year, and successfully grew outdoor tomatoes under a shelter. I will try the tomatoes in the same patch again, after supplementing the soil with compost and fertilizer, and the potatoes will go on every available bit of soil around it.
This year, I will use commercial fertilizers on all my crops since a lot of this soil is still far from optimal. I am planting 30 kg of tubers, and unless I get at least 300 kg in return, I will be sorely disappointed.
When you say you like garlic, do you ever make and eat it like a vegetable such as onions? Or do you mostly use it crushed to add flavor to sauces and soups and such?
Here in the USA, I think people mostly use it as a flavoring. I occasionally hear of people who roast the garlic and serve it with cheese. It would be interesting if you could comment on what your family has found desirable for garlic. Thanks.
@Bruce, I like adding one clove of crushed or cut garlic as a flavoring per serving to almost any soup.
I also like garlic soup (česnečka), and garlic is an important ingredient in potato pancakes (bramborák). I think English recipes for those can be found on the internet. I might publish our versions here in due course, when I am processing this year’s harvest (provided I get one).
Recently, we also discovered that potato bread with garlic is delicious and can be frozen for long-term storage.
I do occasionally use bigger amounts of garlic in stir-fried or steamed vegetables used as a side dish to meat or fish. Not too often, though, garlic lowers blood pressure, and if I eat too much in one go, I can get dizzy. Especially if combined with flu or tiredness.
We are not using garlic as a food per se, but I do go through approximately one head a week on average.
@Charly, thanks for your reply. That makes sense to me. The potato pancakes and potato bread are good ideas. (Except for me, as I am avoiding potatoes). I think there are several recipes on line for potato pancakes. I don’t remember any specific for potato bread, but I haven’t looked. But thanks again for elaborating on your garlic situation. Even though it’s mostly “just” a flavoring, it’s smart to remember that you can still grow it so you can use it easily. I hope your crops do well!
I found a recipe for garlic potato bread, on the food network.
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/duff-goldman/rosemary-garlic-potato-bread-3416224
@ Bruce, I will look at the recipe. Our recipe is here -click-
Bruce I like roasted garlic a lot, it changes the flavour of course softening and sweetening it. Roasted garlic is very good with cheese, I’m particularly fond of it with a sharpish soft cheese, both spread on toast or a cracker sturdy enough for spreading. It keeps well in the fridge if covered with oil, I’ve been known to roast the small garlic cloves you can get when it ‘flowers’ then skin and mash into a paste which I jar, cover with a layer of oil then pop into the fridge ready to go for a tasty snack. As long as you keep it covered with oil it pretty much lasts forever like that.
Other things I do with garlic include slicing and browning to add to a ‘romanescu’ sauce I make to go over vegetables, you really have to keep a close eye on the slices as the point between beautifully browned and solid charcoal is short!