Idiot’s Guides: Straw Bale Gardening by Tullock John

Author:Tullock, John
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: DK Publishing
Published: 2015-06-02T00:00:00+00:00

SPECIAL TIPS

Because straw bales generate internal heat, you can plant eggplant early in the season without damage … but they might just sit there until the air temperature is above 60°F (15.5°C) at night.

Garlic

* * *

Garlic appears in most cuisines of the world, and few cooks would want to be deprived of the pungent, savory flavor of garlic. Garlic might not be the ideal straw bale plant—it grows well no matter what—but it can, nevertheless, be included in your straw bale garden if you have a long growing season of 175 days or more.

WHEN TO PLANT

Garlic is started from the individual cloves separated from the bulb. Press the cloves into a conditioned straw bale as early in spring as you can. The actual time to maturity depends on multiple factors, including the genetics of the seed garlic strain and the weather in your region. Plant your garlic as early as possible, give it the maximum time to grow, and hope for the best. Even immature garlic is usable.

HOW MUCH TO GROW

Plant as much garlic as you can fit in among other crops. Until you know if garlic will do well in your climate and location, it’s best not to devote an entire bale to the crop. If you do, a bale will easily handle about 5 dozen garlic cloves and yield a sizeable number of bulbs, if the season is sufficiently long.

PESTS AND DISEASES

Garlic is subject to several soil-borne diseases, but you avoid these in straw bale gardens. Pest insects are rare. In fact, garlic can be used as a companion crop to help deter bugs from other plants, such as carrots. For this reason alone, it’s worth growing.

STARTING YOUR OWN SEEDS

Garlic is never grown from seed, and there’s no reason to start cloves early and move them to the garden. If garlic does poorly in your straw bale garden, it’s probably wise to devote the space to another crop instead.

HARVESTING, STORING, AND PRESERVING

Prior to maturation, at least some portion of your garlic plants may send up a bloom, or a scape. Remove scapes all the way to the base of their stem. These can be used in stir-fries or soups in much the same way you might use leeks. The flowers themselves have a particularly good flavor, too.

Assuming conditions are right for garlic to mature in your garden, expect the stalks of spring-planted plants to begin to turn yellow when they’re ready to harvest. In warm climates, this may occur shortly after the summer solstice. In cooler areas, the maturation time will be somewhat longer. But in all cases, the plants will signal their approaching dormancy by yellowing. When two thirds of your plants are showing some yellow, pull them all. Place them in a dry, shaded location for a week to cure, remove the tops, and store the bulbs in baskets or boxes. Or braid the tops and hang them in a warm, airy place. Garlic remains fresh for at least 6 months if properly dried and stored after harvest.

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