Garlic Giveaway from Peaceful Valley
Last week I was thinking to myself that it was time to look through all my garlic and pull out the nicest bulbs for planting. Garlic is one of those crops that I’ve been growing since I first started gardening. It’s so easy to grow and brings such great reward.
Earlier this year, my interest was piqued when I read that softneck garlic stores longer/better than hardneck garlic. As much as I’ve read in my lifetime, I have never heard this tidbit of information before. Hardneck varieties of garlic are all that have been grown at Chiot’s Run, because it grows better in colder climates. Though, I have seen softneck garlic at the farmers market, so I know it can be grown successfully. Most of what I see is hardneck though.
Over the past few years, I’ve grown most of my own seed garlic as well. I do occasionally long to grow new varieties for flavor and to see if I can find ones that do particularly well in my climate/area. Your local farmers market can give you an idea of which varieties will do best, ask around, or just try a few that sound interesting.
With so many questions about planting garlic in the comments of this post, I wrote a Garlic Planting Guide over on the Your Day Blog.
When Peaceful Valley contacted me about doing a garlic giveaway I obliged, knowing one of you would love to win their garlic combo pack for your garden. I’ve talked about why I love Peaceful Valley before, so I’m happy to support a company I appreciate (they aren’t paying me to do this post, though I did get some softneck garlic to try).
What can you win?
A Garlic Combo Pack – Comprised of 1 head of Elephant (conventional), 3 heads of California Early White (organic softneck), 3 heads of Purple Italian (organic hardneck), 3 heads of Russian Red (organic hardneck), 3 sets of French Red Shallots (organic). Should yield approx. 50 plants, needs approx. 6-8 sq ft.
A Quart of Liquid Kelp – Cold-processed liquid kelp Enzymatically digested, concentrated liquid extract of California Bull Kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana), harvested from kelp beds in the Pacific Ocean off the Northern coast of CA. Freshly harvested kelp is rapidly processed at low temperatures, using naturally occurring enzymes isolated from the kelp, to digest and liquify the chopped kelp into a dark liquid extract.
a 10 gallon smart pot – which you can use to grow your garlic in if you don’t have enough space in your garden.
1 Garlic Twist (clever kitchen gadget that minces the cloves when you twist it; easy to use and clean)
and a print of your garlic variety.
So why kelp? Peaceful Vally has a great video that recommend soaking your garlic bulbs overnight in kelp before planting. I used kelp before, but I have soaked them in a baking soda and fish emulsion mix. You can bet I’ll be doing experiments by soaking a few and not soaking a few to see how they grow (similar to my remove or leave the scape experiment). If you’d like to read my post on planting garlic including a few of the varieties I grow, head on over to this post.
All you have to do to enter to win is to comment on this post. Contest will end at midnight PT on Wednesday, October 17. contest closed…check back for more great giveaways in the future.
Do you grow garlic in the garden? If so, what’s your favorite variety?
If you’d like more chances to win, there are 7 other blogs doing this same giveaway, with different varieties of garlic.
Peaceful Valley’s Organic Gardening Blog for ‘Bogatyr’
Gardenerd for ‘California Early White’
A Suburban Farmer for ‘Purple Gazer’
North Coast Gardening for some ‘Russian Red’
Western Gardeners for ‘Purple Italian’
Living Homegrown for ‘German Red’
Dirt Du Jour divas are giving away French red shallots
Thanks so much for the great info! I have been thinking of having a winter garden!
to Trudi S's comment
I keep seeing that garlic is so easy to grow. Can’t believe I haven’t tried it yet. Guess I had better get busy!
to Jackie Johnson's comment
Yes, I grow garlic but not sure what what type it is besides hardneck. I am trying 4 new varieties this year from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange!
to Jennifer's comment
I’ve never grown garlic before. I think I’ll try this year.
to karen's comment
I like all garlic! Thanks for the giveaway!
to bobbi's comment
I would love to add garlic to my garden! Thanks for the opportunity.
to Debbie's comment
Garlic is one of my favorite things to grow. I’m planting right now here in Montana and one of my favorite varieties is Chesnok Red.
to elizabeth's comment
Love garlic! Love to plant it too, though harvesting it is rather a crapshoot. I’m never sure when to pull it, and if one bulb is perfect the next is tiny. ah well.
Enter me!
to Miranda's comment
I love growing garlic and lost my crop this year due to 4 months abroad for work. I would love this starter kit!
to Jessica's comment
I love growing garlic!
to Kristi's comment
This is the first year I’ll be (trying) to grow garlic. I’ll be planting it this weekend so hopefully come spring time, I’ve got some!! Getting to try all those varieties would be awesome!
to Mandie's comment
Mmm! Garlic!
to Laura's comment
Lovin the contest….. Thanks for the entry….
to Konnie's comment
I haven’t grown garlic before, but it’d go great with my new bunch of grey shallots!
to Rebecca's comment
This is such a great giveaway! I’d love to try out the kelp for soaking.
to Bridget's comment
Great giveaway! Thanks for the chance to win!!
to Jeannine's comment
Thank you for the giveaway. I’ve only tried garlic once and didn’t know what I was doing at the time. Where did you get your information about the storing values of hardneck vs. softneck?
to Greg's comment
Yes- I do!! :) German red is my favorite…
to Kelly G.'s comment
Mmmm we love garlic…
BTW loved the podcast. I wanted to comment on the broody chicken I’ll try to when I’m home later.
Erika in MS
to erika's comment
I have grown regular white garlic from the grocery store with quite a bit of success (even though it is likely from California and I’m gardening in Michigan). I also bought heads of locally grown garlic at the farmer’s market for planting. This year I’m trying some Bill-I’s Garlic.
to Daedre Craig's comment
I have never grown garlic before but I’m planning to start soon!
to JD Mathews's comment
I’ve planted garlic for the last 2 years but I have no idea of the varieties (all were sourced from a local farm the first year, then from my own harvest last year). I would love to try a couple of new varieties!
to Jennifer's comment
I love porcelain garlic varieties because of the big cloves…have been growing an name unknown porcelain variety for several years, and the past couple of year, German extra hardy, which I have been impressed with. Actually spent the afternoon planting Killarny Red and German Extra hardy. Would love to win this sampler and try some other varieties!
to kateri's comment
I am growing some this year! Last year we just planted sprouted cloves from the store, along with a few bulbs from the farmer’s market, and had great success! Can’t wait to try even more varieties! :)
to Veronica Flores (@VeronicaInLA)'s comment
Garlic is fantastic and would be great to grow in the new farm we have.Garlic is also helpful in keeping colds at bay.Thats why we eat so much of it.I can’t rmember the last time we were sick.
to Amanda's comment
I grow quite a few different kinds of garlic.. Probably about 10 or so different kinds.
I think my very very very most favorite garlic is a Polish Porcelain hardneck. They make big, fat, quite warm, flavorful bulbs… Yum!
They’re easy to peel too. ;)
I wish I had about a gallon jug of them.. haha.. Unfortunately, this year, its probably the one I got the least of…
Have you ever seen one of those garlic plate graters with little teeth on them? I got one that was made in Spain & I love it. You just rub your clove back & forth & around the teeth & the garlic is completely turned into a paste in about 5 seconds.. Its amazing. My favorite garlic tool too. You can get them on Amazon for under $20.
This gals vid is cool… she shows its many uses in the kitchen.
to KimH's comment
I planted garlic for the first time this year and we tried a hard neck variety called Russian Red. I hope we have a successful harvest! Thanks for this give away!
to Sonja Twombly's comment
I grow Inchilium Red and a variety I was given that is grown for seed commercially here – haven’t a clue which variety though. I need to branch out a bit, I think…
to KimP's comment
I’ve only done it once, and I just planted a bulb I’d gotten from the grocery store. Didn’t turn out too badly, but I planted in the spring and got really small bulbs. :P I’d love to try again!
to Michelle's comment
Hi, would love to win this lovely garlic combo pack….I’m Italian…what more can I say? :) I have tried a few different kinds…usually elephant garlic or the red Italian variety but love any kind!
What a fun fall contest!!
to Chris's comment
Love Peaceful Valley. My cousin introduced me to them a few years ago and have received some lovely gifts from them via her. I love the garlic bundle. I grew it once, but am willing to commit a small bed to another attempt here in Texas.
to Joy Giles's comment
I tried to grow them about 2 years ago and nothing grew. I am not sure what I did wrong. I would sure the opportunity to try again. Thanks
to aruna's comment
We tried to grow garlic. I looked pretty good until we got about 2 weeks worth of rain. They turned to mush….. I will try again this year in a higher place.
to Sonya's comment
I just planted garlic for the first time this month. I would love to try different varieties
to April's comment
My first year at the cottage, I planted garlic. I had never done it before and didn’t really know what I was doing, but I surprised myself with about 20 nice heads of garlic that lasted a good while. I haven’t planted any in a while, but am planning on planting some this week. (I’m experimenting with some cloves I have that have sprouted.)
thanks for the chance to win.
blessings
~*~
to Laura's comment
I lost everything in a move, now I’m back to my roots in the country and can start all over again
to mike cole's comment
I’m planting garlic for the first time this, I have no idea what type it is, it came in my CSA box. Thanks for being an inspiration.
to Kathy's comment
We haven’t grown garlic for years but would like to start again.
to Debby's comment
From reading this post I see that I have a lot to learn about growing garlic! looking forward to it!
to Barbara C.'s comment
I grow garlic every year!
to Monica's comment
I’ve never grown garlic before but always wanted to give it a try. Might have to make some room for it next year
to Joey Stephens's comment
Last year was my first attempt at growing garlic. I planted in the fall and tried both soft neck and hard neck as I wasn’t sure which would do better in my area (north Idaho). We had a very wet spring, a dry summer, plus I trimmed the scapes but I was deeply disappointed by the size of the bulbs from this harvest; both varieties produced *really* small heads! But I’m determined and so I planted again this fall and prepped my soil better with chicken manure and bone meal and then mulched with straw. I’m really hopeful about this give-away because I think I need the extra help with my garlic crop!
I’ve been reading you blog for quite a while and have gotten a lot of inspiration from your postings; in fact, I’ll be growing my own shiitake mushrooms soon thanks to your recent posting!
to Alice Smith's comment
Wow, I guess a more accurate picture of how many readers you really have presents itself when you offer a great giveaway like this one! Looks like there are plenty of readers like me. I read daily but rarely comment. :) One can never have too much garlic. ;)
to Christine Jones's comment
We grow garlic and had a great first year with shallots this year. Never tried the kelp, though. Thanks for the chance to win!
to Kelly B's comment
We just love garlic :) Thanks for the opportunity
to Christy's comment
I’ve tried growing garlic, but like onions, I don’t get much growth. But I’ve heard it’s easy, so I must be doing something wrong. I’m throwing my hat into the ring for the garlic planting kit!
to Denise's comment
I’ve only grown the hardneck variety called, ‘German Extra Hardy’ when I lived in PA, it’s delicious and grew quite well. Now that I’m living in western NC I certainly want to expand on the varieties I grow. Thanks!
to Evelyn Vincent's comment
I am thinking about planting garlic in our big whiskey barrel planters…
to Kate @ Snowflake Kitchen's comment
I just started gardening last year and it’s on my “must have” list for my garden next year. We use garlic in everything.
to Lauren's comment
I don’t grow garlic, but my son really wanted to try so I think this would be nice for us.
to Kelly D's comment