Hello There, Garlic Growers!
I know we are all sizing up the garlic plants at this time of year, and some of you may have even dug a few bulbs up already. Maybe some leaves are drying down early, which can be a fungal issue, with all this rain we've been getting. It's quite early for most garlic to be dug yet, but sometimes you have to save it before the leaves are all brown and the wrappers are gone.
Typically for me the main crop is harvested on or after July 20th, but I adjust the harvest timing each year to match the crop - as much as two weeks early sometimes, but usually not a lot later. Depending on the seasons conditions, I have to judge by the leaves being about 50% dried down.. (I may have a slightly later harvest than most other growers, as I play around with leaving the scapes on until a bit later, and that seems to delay the drying down a little bit.)
My first harvested bulbs this year, came out of the ground June 30th - just so I could say it wasn't July! Three Turban strains were ready to go (they don't need to be as dried down as most other garlic, and have fewer leaves, so two dried leaves is fine, they also fall over like softnecks, which is an indication they are ready.) On the shelf above are Basque, Tuscan and Xian.
Last year I discovered that Turbans make great black garlic. But, they are a bit finickity and not super winter hardy, and not very consistent or large bulbed. So, do I expect them to leap into a big niche for the early market, and as the first black garlic to hit the shelf at the start of the garlic season? - not really. But the fact that I can harvest them now and they dry down quickly; the fact that I've been growing them for at least twelve years, says to me that bulb size isn't always the most important factor to consider when selecting which varieties to grow.
On the other end of the spectrum from Turbans, are Creoles. Creoles also make great black garlic, but what's even better is that you don't have to use them for months and months. If you are using up culinary garlic to keep it from spoiling (you'll typically get this problem if you grow a lot of garlic, and some of it is not saleable), Creoles are last on the list of urgency. They basically only sprout if you cold treat them. I still have some from last year's crop. I just had to take this picture of the 2023 Creole cloves sliced in half, on July 1st, 2024. There were a few that spoiled, but some firm bulbs lasted good.
After I had captured the image, I popped a slice of the creole clove in my mouth and crushed it a bit with my back molars for a nice slow release raw garlic experience, as I do sometimes when I'm planting in the fall and find a nicked seed clove I don't want to put in the ground. Holding it there for a few seconds I tried to distract myself from the bite, but I had to spit it out, it was so sharp!!! Flavour changes over time. With 10+ months of storage under its belt, the Barcelona Red Spanish Creole was less juicy, so, it was very concentrated!
But again, the bulbs are small! And to get any real consistency in size, I have to spring plant Creoles.
But is size the only thing that matters?
Not when you can overlap your crops. We grow a lot of "winter vegetables" like carrots and beets, and with the right varieties and storage techniques, you can be eating the old crop after the next one is harvestable and ready in the new season. It's really cool, and local, and self reliant. With a bit of luck and planning, and the right varieties, the same can happen with garlic.