Garlic at the Farm
I have been slow getting started on writing this.
Last garlic season I had planted 12 varieties of Garlic. Garlic season here starts in early September when the garlic is planted until June or July or later when the last is harvested and hung to dry. Those varieties included hard necks and soft necks and all did well.
This season I planted 27 varieties. Of these there are 25 varieties that are in a garlic test with Dr. Joe Masabni, Horticulturist with Texas AgriLife Extension Service at Texas A&M University College Station.
There is garlic native to just about all parts of the world. They do best in areas where the climate is close to the climate in the area where they were found. My farm is located in USDA Zone 8B. Only soft neck garlic is recommended for this area. The hard necks are recommended for colder areas. I am trying the hard neck varieties that appear to have the best chance in this area. They all grow here and the true test is the size of the bulb when it is mature. A small bulb does not spell failure and it may only be a matter of replanting to see if it will adapt to the area. The garlic saved from last season sprouted a lot quicker than the seed garlic that was brought in from other areas. That could show that it is already adapting.
I have about 8,000 garlic plants in the field. I am also growing 4 varieties of onions and 3 varieties of shallots and currently 1 variety of leek but am looking at 2 more varieties of leeks.
If you have checked the Garden section of the web site you saw that I plant a lot other varieties of vegetables.