garlic-y questions

[voddybabe]

This is my first year of growing garlic and it is doing really well. But i spaced them far too far apart and have wasted so much space. So first question is what can i plant with them? Any ideas?.
Also if i save a bulb from this year can i use it to grow more next year?
Thanks for the help xx

[perkin]

You could probably sow some salad leaves between your garlic rows - just a guess though, so am happy to be overruled by someone with more knowledge.
You can certainly save a bulb from this year's crop to plant for next year. I've been very successful (so far) with Purple Moldovan garlic in this way - I saved the 3 largest bulbs from August 09, planted them as cloves in Nov 09 and now have 18 very sturdy looking plants.

[maypril]

This is my first year of growing garlic and it is doing really well. But i spaced them far too far apart and have wasted so much space. So first question is what can i plant with them? Any ideas?.
Also if i save a bulb from this year can i use it to grow more next year?
Thanks for the help xx

Unless you've spaced them a few feet apart, you can't really grow stuff inbetween as the stuff in-between will compete for nutrients.

Wait and see. Often extra large spacings results in extra-large crops. You might be pleasantly suprised.

You certainly can save bulbs to be used next year. After drying, leave some in the fridge or a cold place until planting time (october-november) and then use them to plant new garlic.

[SarzWix]

IF the spaces are really big, maybe you could put something like leeks in between them because they stay thin and spindly for so long?

[tlck9]

is it too late to sow garlic now?

[Maddie106]

This is my first year of growing garlic and it is doing really well. But i spaced them far too far apart and have wasted so much space. So first question is what can i plant with them? Any ideas?.
Also if i save a bulb from this year can i use it to grow more next year?
Thanks for the help xx

Try sowing some raddish and rockett seeds in the gaps between the garlic. Both germinate fast and you can harvest a crop before the garlic needs more room. Or even pop in a lettuce grown in a module between each garlic? (little gem is ideal)
You need something that will grow FAST and that you can harvest beore the garlic gets going. I wuldn't think leeks will work, because they have a long growing period.

I grow my runner beans as two rows of canes....I have my canes up now, with a cloche warming the soil up between them. I'll get a crop of raddish plus lettuce before the beans I plant out midmay start to shade the middle of the canes!

I saved a couple of garlic bulbs from sumer 2009 and planted them out last autumn. They are doing well so far ( plus the ones that sprouted from a bulb I missed last year that I planted up last month!)

[Noodles]

I often sow lines of spring onions in gaps between rows of other veg where I haven't been paying attention and spaced too widely.

[realfood]

Why not put some shallots between the garlic?

[binley100]

Why not put some shallots between the garlic?

Shallots need a fair bit of room like the garlic , I think radishes or spring onions.

[voddybabe]

cheers guys, will have a go at everything tom, have a boat load of spare seeds so if it works great, if not hey ho xxx

[jojo2910]

Does anyone know when you can harvest 'green' or 'wet' garlic? If so what do you take and what do you leave?

Ta

[maypril]

Does anyone know when you can harvest 'green' or 'wet' garlic? If so what do you take and what do you leave?

As soon as you like really. Once the stems are pencil thin, you can pull them and use them like spring onions in a stir fry or salad (I grow a bed with garlic at close spacings specifically for this purpose) You eat the small bulb and a goo portion of the green stem.

If you want wet garlic like you buy in the shops, then pull them at the same time as the dry garlic, but wash it and use it immediately, don't leave it to dry.