I harvested my first somewhat successful batch of garlic July 9th and I was very lucky these grew … here is what I learned. I planted garlic LAST spring (not this spring) and had no clue when to dig it up, so I more or less just forgot about it. In the meantime, I purchased the book “Growing Great Garlic” by Ron L. Engeland and guess what …… Garlic should be planted in the Fall – not spring! AND it needs to stay in the ground for 9 months before harvest! So considering I am in Illinois I should be planting garlic in October and harvesting in July. The reason I think I was confused with the planting time is because most stores sell garlic in early spring so I just figured that’s when it gets planted. The few garlic that I just did harvest sent up tops and were growing along with the rest of the garden. The tops did start to die down just recently so I decided to dig them up wondering what I would find. July is harvest time I recalled and here is what I found!
I spotted a few cicadas in the new garden we dug up this year. Last year was the year for the 17 year cicada to emerge in our area – we had very few, but other towns were swarmed. Not sure if these newly emerged cicada are late bloomers or our area will get hit this year??
This is the shell they leave behind -
The Swan Family is doing very well and seem quite happy – they even acquired a new buddy … a Beautiful Blue Heron!
[...] Original post by Deb’s Gardens [...]
I loved your post on garlic. I too, tried planting it, but I failed miserably. I will try your suggestions to plant in fall and harvest in summer.
Yes, I will be planting garlic this fall (October) and I will see what other tips I can share from the book. Thank you!!
I like your posting. I will try your hints to plant in fall and crop in summer.
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Aady
Addiction Recovery Illinois
The bugs are called semi in Japanese. Been of the opinion I should be able to plant in April, harvest in October and replant ready for the following April. Planted a month early and expecting to harvest end of May…
Adekun – Keep us posted how the garlic does and pictures if you are able. I will be receiving my garlic order soon and will plant in October. Looks like we are going to have an early fall here!