An unexpected bonus

[greenishfing]

Last year I struggled to get any garlic sets. I got some but not the varieties I normally grow. They were a real let down. I did get enough for me, but not enough to give any away and one variety never split and were just small bulbs. I pulled a few of these and in the end just left the remainder in the ground where they died off.
Come Autumn they started sprouting again and I meant to dig them up and try replanting them in a more convenient (for me) location......but never got round to it. (Surprise, surprise. ) By the time I got round to preparing the ground for my potatoes they looked quite big and healthy and I didn't have the heart to upset them. I ended up with a row of garlic running through the potato rows. A couple of days ago I decided to pull one to see what was on the bottom. It looks really happy and I can feel that it has split, so a real bonus. Here it is next to a 10p piece.

Because last years crop was so awful I put extra in this year so hopefully I'll be overrun with garlic.

[Snoop Puss]

Congratulations. New garlic is always really tasty.

[Perko]

That’s a nice chubby looking bulb of garlic! We get through loads of garlic in our house, never really thought of it as a potential crop as this is my first year of trying to get into growing properly at home. I always find supermarket garlic really hit and miss in terms of quality and size of the cloves.

When you say it’s not the usual variety you grow, I’m just wondering what do you normally grow? What’s best for the English climate?

Thanks

[ameno]

I had that last year and the year before. The garlic never split, and just formed small bulbs. Like you, I missed a few and they got left in the ground, and the following year grew as normal.
Garlic needs a cold period in order to make it split, so spring pla garlic is usually cold treated first. But evidently these ones weren't. I won't be buying spring garlic from Wilko again...

[annie8]

Bit of a result!

Am trying not to get my hopes up but the garlic I planted outside last autumn is still looking good and the stems are really thickening up. Hoping for a good crop. Bought two types from the garlic farm - one soft neck and one hardback. Picardy wight and carcassonne wight.

[greenishfing]

That’s a nice chubby looking bulb of garlic! We get through loads of garlic in our house, never really thought of it as a potential crop as this is my first year of trying to get into growing properly at home. I always find supermarket garlic really hit and miss in terms of quality and size of the cloves.

When you say it’s not the usual variety you grow, I’m just wondering what do you normally grow? What’s best for the English climate?

Thanks

I normally grow mainly Solent Wight and a small amount of at least one other variety to try.