In my garden this year, I’ve been experimenting with two root crops: garlic and potatoes.
There are two kinds of garlic you can plant: hardneck, and softneck. Hardneck is planted in fall; softneck is planted in the spring. I didn’t plan far enough ahead, so I planted softneck. It grows smaller clumps. When the tops start dying, it’s time to harvest. My tops have started to die, so I dug up some roots. They’re very small clumps, but they’re definitely garlic.
I’ve read that fresh garlic tastes much different from store-bought, so I’d like to try roasting some or something like that. I’ll have to look up a recipe.
The other exciting development in my garden is the potato tub. I planted my potatoes in April. By May, they were growing strong. Some time in July, the tops died completely. It seemed early to me. Maybe they didn’t get enough water or something. Or, maybe that was normal. Yesterday, I dumped out the tub.
There weren’t many potatoes in there, and they were kind of small. The literature says the potatoes should dry outside for a few hours, then cure in a warmer temperature, then get stored in a cool temperature. I’m just going to eat them. But I did leave a few in the tub to sprout again. Can I grow another crop before it gets too cold? We’ll see.
Yay!!! You could make mashed potatoes with roasted garlic! Or a smaller version of Alton Brown’s Chicken with 40 Cloves and a side of potatoes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAGtkAoVBCU&feature=related (The recipe is about at the 6 minute mark.) You’ll need some crusty bread to spread the fantastic garlic all over. Mmmmmmm……
We just had that the other night. Only we do chicken and at least 60 cloves. Who’s kiddin’ who?
I think that is quite a bountiful harvest of potatoes from one tub. I’m impressed! I think you would make a fine farmer! Maybe you should have lived back in the Little House days.
I harvested about a dozen potatoes from 3 plants that had died back about a week or two before. They were red skin golden that had sprouted. I have another 6 or so fingerling plants. Some of them don’t look so hot. But they’re still green so I have a few weeks. Next year I want to get this cool contraption. But it says that you plant a number of layers of seed potatoes to geta big harvest. I especially love the door at the bottom! http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CC4QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.burpee.com%2Fgardening-supplies%2Fgarden-growers%2Fpotato-planter-prod001475.html&rct=j&q=potato%20box%20planter%20burpee&ei=bFs-TvONIePb0QHP4cjFAw&usg=AFQjCNEzu9OO9dP8fV28nFrSURLf2mrkiw&sig2=HrGYW6Ek2lVGNcOUTb2tow