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
I would love to win this garlic seed package! This will be my first time growing garlic. I look forward to tasting the fresh garlic in my winter soups and enjoying the beautiful blooms in the spring.
to Lisa's comment
I’ve never grown anything other than Elephant…would love to try some of these!
to Jennifer B's comment
I’ve tried garlic a couple of times without much success. Maybe the wrong varieties? Would love to try again!
to Jenny's comment
I’m growing garlic for the first time this year – both soft and hard neck. Looking forward to seeing which grows better.
to Christine Allen's comment
My favorite over the past 4 years has been Music garlic – it’s a hardneck variety that grows big and is easy to peel. It also seemed to withstand the attack of the dreaded bulb & stem nematode (or is it stem & bulb nematode? :)…
to The Plant Lady's comment
how do you keep the gophers out of your garlic all winter? that’s my biggest challenge.
to nadine's comment
I’d love to try growing garlic, although I haven’t yet. I recently bought a house and am excited to have the space to do so!
to Krysta's comment
I love garlic! Do I need to rotate garlic in the garden?
to ess's comment
You probably should.
to Susy's comment
I don’t grow garlic, but I LOVE to eat it. Yum!
to domestic diva's comment
My garden at the Experimental Garden UC Davis is plagued in the spring with Gophers. I took some fence boards and made a shallow box which I attached som 1/2 inch wire to the bottom. Hopefull this will foil the pests.
to Nancy Webb's comment
Super excited to try planting garlic this year! Your garlic planting tips were helpful, thanks!
to Megan's comment
So many garlic’s so little space!
to James Williams's comment
I have tried to grow garlic, love the stuff, was somewhat successfull, some of the garlic made it some did not, bought a variety from Peacefull valley, but I hope to try again and be more successfullthis year..
to brenda baker's comment
I love garlic. Trying it in a container sounds like a great option for me.
to Liz's comment
Last year I bought the Calif. early white from Peaceful Valley and was really proud of my crop. Big, beautiful bulbs. this was the 1st time I purchased seed garlic. I always just planted what started to sprout from the cooking garlic I purchased. Now I just picked up a combo pack from P.V. I’ve mixed in some homemade compost made with different manures and garden/vegatable/kitchen debris. I just gotta soak my garlic in some kelp, make my rows, plant,mulch,water and I can’t wait for spring to see what kind of crop I’ll get. A little giddy just thinkin’ about it!
to sharon's comment
Thanks for doing this give-away!
to Gretel's comment
Never grown garlic, but curious to try
to Mona's comment
I’ve thought of flavor when choosing garlic varieties, and tried to discover which ones do best in our area, but I had not thought much of storage characteristics, so that is interesting to add into the mix. And since some varieties produce earlier, I’ll think of a succession of varieties that might taste good, but store poorly, and then others that will hold through the year.
to Nickie's comment
We just received our order from peaceful valley. This will be our first year growing garlic in our garden.
to contentedgardeners's comment
My best performer last year was Music. It had the biggest cloves and the best flavor. Looking forward to trying more varieties!
to Kristen's comment
Beautiful garlic photos! I love to grow garlic and am heading out into the garden on this misty afternoon to plant what I saved from last year’s hard neck garlic (from PVFS)! Unfortunately, my labels faded, so I don’t remember what kind of hard neck it is : ( It is always my intention to keep a better garden journal – for next year!
Thanks for your blog!
to Karen's comment
I think garlic is beautiful and a culinary necessity too. I even have a giant poster of garlic varieties in my bedroom. Yes, I’ve grown garlic. Picked up a few bulbs at the Heirloom Expo. Purple Glazer, Bogatyr, and German red.
to Dana's comment
Tried growing it years ago, but this will be my first year of Fall planting. Wish me luck!
to Lissa's comment
What animals will eat the garlic bulbs? and will planting them maybe keep voles out of the garden?
to Linda Read's comment
I have grown Susanville and it did very well here in North Texas.
to Carol Moss's comment
Love this post, especially your intent to experiment with soaking vs non-soaking. I did the same as you with scape or no scape. What did you find? I found, fairly consistently that removing the scape does in fact produce a larger bulb.
Judy
to judy bernstein bunzl's comment
I would love the Garlic Combo pack. I have not grown elephant garlic in more than 10 years and haven’t concentrated on much garlic in the garden of late because I am so busy trying to teach others about organic/sustainable gardening and landscaping. In the back of my mind, I was thinking this might be the year to try to find time to dedicate myself to putting in garlic and a new potato bed.
to Sue Jenn's comment
I have been growing purple garlic for three years now. I am still tweaking it since mine are always so small.
to melissa's comment
I have been gardening since I was a child but last year I finally was successful with growing good garlic. Here in south Texas timing and variety really count. Fortunately I did both serendipitiously! I would love to win your garlic!
to Jo-Ann Jewett's comment
Thanks for the tip on the kelp and for the great giveaway!
to andrea's comment
I love growing garlic in raised beds. Covered with shredded dried leaves, it emerges in spring and continues growing into the summer. When it is ready to be harvested in July, its like winning the lottery.
to Chris Cole's comment
We tried PV garlic last fall. Had good results. The garlic from our garden is so much better than garlic from the store. With a small garden, rotating will take some creativity this year. Will also try kelp this year.
to ANNE DAVIS's comment
I have gardened most of my life, but never tried growing garlic. I love garlic for the kitchen as well it’s medicinal properties,and want to learn to grow it in my boxes. I am 64 years old and feel like I’m starting a new journey with all the wonderful sites I can go to and learn so much,on-line!! Thank you!
to Francis McIntyre's comment
Garlic is so easy to grow that it almost grows itself! True, in Southern California where I am from, but a tad more difficult here in the low desert of AZ where I have transplanted myself. Perhaps difficult is the wrong word… different would be better.
I have learned that exposure means a lot more here than it did in gentler climates. I lost my entire crop of garlic my first year in the desert due to the poor choice I made in it’s planting location. I had a 1 foot wide by 20 feet long area between the sidewalk and the house. Perfect for garlic, I thought. Unfortunately, it was the west side of the house. By early June, it was already in the 110+ degree range, and kept getting hotter each day. My garlic did not stand a chance trapped in full afternoon sun with the reflected heat of the house wall and the cement sidewalk. I lost all of it. An expensive lesson. I learned that “full sun” in the desert is a bit different then “full sun” in coastal CA. Also, I have found that planting in pots is a really good way to garden here because I can move the plants to a more shaded location when it starts getting too hot. A west exposure might be just fine during the winter, but the north or east side of my house is better for my plants during the worst of the summer heat.
Favorite variety? When finances allow me to buy varietal garlic, I love German red and Italian for all around cooking, but Spanish was the flavor I liked for salad dressings and minimally cooked recipes. These varieties put the stuff sold in chain stores to shame! There is no comparison in flavor!
to Juanita Colucci's comment
Are you trying the smart pots? I tried 5 gallon smart pots this past year. My garlic grew well but small. I have been adding #15 smart pots for this year. I just planted them. I am experimenting with growing potatoes underneath the garlic. After the potatoes grew, and I added the soil about three times, I finally got to plant the cloves. I have 8 more bulbs to try without potatoes. So, it is an experiment.
to Jodell's comment
After trying many varieties, We grow the variety “Music” because it grew the best in our N. Mi climate!
to Susan Hanaford's comment
Have been growing garlic for several years now and buy most Peaceful Valley.
My favorite(wife’s) is Music.
to Bol's comment
Container garlic; how clever!
to Liz T.'s comment
I love growing garlic but sadly I have only used cloves from the grocery store.
to Terry's comment
I would love to grow my own garlic, but I have never done it before. I love foods with garlic added, and would probably use it even more if I grew my own.
to Virginia Janow's comment
I grew up in a garden, with out garlic. My family just never ate it or planted it. After I married I learned to cook with garlic and my family enjoys it. Last fall I planted some, just cloves from the grocery store. I realized after tilling and planting my garden this past spring that I had tilled it up and when I realized this it was too late. I have been trying to find out all that I can about growing it and I will plant some this fall and I will remember not to till it up next spring ! I am in zone 7 in South Carolina.
to Barbara Shaw's comment
I heart garlic. I have grown hard necks for 2 years now and they are so easy. I do not grow a lot but, I get asked for my garlic by many and never have enough!
to Fun Lee's comment
We have tried both softneck and hardneck, and here in the Carolinas, the softnecks store much more reliably. By early Nov. when it’s time to plant, many of the hardnecks are dry or moldy.
However, I always love to try new varieties! Let’s see what’ll grow!
Thanks!
to Marla's comment
I have not grown garlic but would like a chance to try growing some.
to Tina S's comment
Sleep
Grrrrrrow
Streeeeeetch
Cuuuuuurrrrrrrrllll
*snip*
Garlic is a beautiful thing.
to Blue Oak Ranch's comment
Love garlic and Peaceful Valley. Never tried growing garlic though. This might be the year!
to John R's comment
Love gathering garlic and roasting with homegrown tomatoes…
to Terry Smith's comment
Until I was an adult, I only new garlic salt. Fresh garlic was a revelation … and continues to delight. We’ve gone a couple years without growing garlic because of disease buildup in our small garden, and we’re looking forward to getting started again.
to Carol's comment
I meant … I only “knew” garlic salt …
to Carol's comment
Wow, being from California in the SF Bay Area and then living in Central Coastal areas, I can hardly imagine never eating at least California Garlic. Then, again, I had never eaten Elephant Garlic until I visited Washington state. Until I started looking for seed garlic I did not even know that California Garlic was the dominant garlic in grocery stores. I thought California had a variety of types because I have driven been to and by the Garlic Festival many times. I assumed that if they were having a Festival that they must be trying out different garlics not just different ways to cook or pickle garlic.
to Jodell's comment
My husband and I are tearing up sod to plant more garlic. we could use more starter bulbs.
to Tara's comment
Wow, I would love to win one of these packages. I have grown some hardneck garlic before. It would be great to try these varieties too. :)
to Eleanor McCarthy's comment
I have never grown garlic, & i only tasted elephant garlic. so this would be all new to me. i hope i win .i am saving heirloom seeds
to JANET coliron's comment