I've harvested half of my garlic last week and plan to harvest the rest this week. I think it might be time to harvest the shallots, too. Any hints, tips, tricks are welcome. Here's my first harvest of garlic. I think these are the purple strip hardnecks.
Oops. I learned after the fact that I wasn't supposed to trim them until AFTER they finished curing. Oh well. I still have half the bed to harvest. I'll do it right with those and I'll read more carefully about harvesting the shallots. I also found that I have jumping worms in my raised garlic bed. After I finish harvesting, I plan to try that heating trick. The summer is nice and hot. I'm sure I have plenty of time to cook the bed. I can probably do it a few times; cook, stir and cook some more. I'd like to know what brought them in. I've put all store-bought peat moss, compost and manure in my raised beds. I made sure I only use domestic organic material but I guess that still isn't safe enough.
Wow! I'm not finding any regular earthworms in my gardens anymore at all! Only these jumping worms. I thought it strange that I wasn't seeing any earthworms come out on to the driveway when it rained in the past couple of years. Now I know why. When I was harvesting my garlic yesterday, I threw some jumping worms onto the driveway but I read that only moles will eat them. Like I really need moles in my garden... I already have rabbits, chipmunks, squirrels and groundhogs helping themselves to what ever they can get their little paws on. My better-half is opting for the diatomaceous earth fix. Since we don't seem to have any earthworms to injure, I think I'll do it. It will only harm garden pests in the soil, right? So far, I'm finding these jumping worms, ants, small spiders and crickets. Any thoughts?
I just let the garlic dry for a week, then store in a single layer in a cardboard box, in my unheated attached garage. Same with shallots. . I save about ten or so of the biggest ones, to plant again in september or october. The biggest ones give the most vigorous start, and they seem to adapt to local conditions. I don't think cutting tops off like that hurts anything. I've done that for ages.
Sorry you have the worm challenges. Maybe the mustard method would help. https://wormmy.com/how-to-get-rid-of-eradicate-jumping-worms/ It's over my head, but here is a research paper about the US being invaded by earthworms. I think it would make a good sci fi movie.
Thank you, Daniel. That is all very helpful information. I read that earthworms were considered alien and invasive to our area, too. That surprised me, as we all talk about them as beneficial to our gardens. Considering they only spread 30 feet per season, and don't ruin the soil chemistry, I think we continue to think of earthworms as friendly, beneficial creatures. The Jumping Worms, however, ruin the soil chemistry and spread 17 acres per season. They are a problem. Yes, I have used the manual method of picking the worms out as they come to the surface, but that doesn't stop the cocoons. I am not spending too much time picking worms because I know our winter will kill off the adults. I must kill off the cocoons and the fresh worms that hatch from them before they reproduce. Jumping worms hatch from their cocoons already fertile and ready to lay more cocoons which can overwinter. These are the conclusions I've come to and the steps I plan to take to eradicate the scourge in my gardens: I believe these were introduced to my raised beds from the store-bought soil, peat and/or compost I filled them with. Because our yard is on a main road and at the bottom of multiple hills, we have very poor soil. I have to purchase organic soil and matter to fill the garden beds. From now on, I will purchase the soil and organic matter a full year ahead and let them cook through the summer to make sure any worm cocoons are destroyed before adding them to my garden beds the following year. In the mean time, I will use the diatomaceous earth to kill off whatever jumping worms are in my gardens. Any thoughts, advice or information would be appreciated.
Mine were kind of small, too. I decided to order more to plant just in case, figuring I'd taste mine and the new ones, compare the flavors and then plant the ones I liked the best. I just harvested my shallots! Boy, does my cellar stink, now! I let one shallot scape go to seed and put a bag around it to see how it goes. As a just in case, I also purchased more seeds. The place I originally ordered from sent sets to plant. This second place sent a packet of seeds. This is interesting and I'm very curious.
@Sjoerd - Yes. I may have waited too long before pulling it. Also, it rained yesterday and I forgot I had it hanging on the fence. It is now in my cellar, where the dehumidifier is running, hanging to dry. Here are a couple of pictures. What do you think? To me it looks like they may have sprouted, but maybe not. If it's too late, I've got seeds to replace them. It just would've been interesting to try harvesting the seeds from the shallot myself.
They are looking good to me, Beeker. I hope they don’t go mouldy on you. Good result. Go Beeker, go !
Thanks, @Sjoerd ! I'm keeping an eye on that moldy spot. It's dry now. I have them drying in the cellar, but I don't know what to do with them now. Even though it was in my shallot bed, I think it's actually garlic. I probably found a stray clove, pressed it in when I was planting my shallots and forgot about it. Here's a pic. You'll see what I mean. Sorry about the fuzz in the above picture. That's not mold, it's lint from the dryer. The garden workbench is in the laundry room and I cleaned the lint trap right before bringing in the harvest and taking the pictures. After I hung everything, I cleaned up. Sorry for the messy pictures, but I was excited. Here are the shallots: Yes, I found a use for my better-half's old t-shirts. I figured I'd want to use something clean and gentle to tie them up and hang them. I guess I'm babying them. When they dry a little more, I'll be able to brush off the rest of the soil and trim them. I'll take better pics when they're all clean and bagged. Now, what should I plant in its place? Something that can handle this brutally hot weather and will be ready to harvest in 3 months tops... Any ideas? My old standby is radishes, but is there anything else?
Beeker—I agree with you that it looks like a garlic. Oh, and lint on the garlic— awful. What kind of housewife are you! Oh, what a scandal, what a scandal. Well, you were excited down in your basement. You should have posted a piccy of you being excited with your garlics. Chuckle. Your shallots are looking quite good too, aren’t they. Do you plan to eat them all or save some for planting next year? As for what to plant in that now vacant bed— I’ll get back to you on that in a bit.
Oh, I know. I'm terrible. *hanging my head in shame* I definitely plan on saving some to plant next spring, but, if I don't have enough or if they don't make it that long, I did buy seeds. But, I was actually sent seeds, not shallots, to plant. I will have to research how to plant those and when. I'm intimidated by seeds for garlic and shallots. They seem so fragile. At least the cloves and sets are already grown. I can plant them or eat them. But seeds...
