Grow Your Own Magazine

I usually plant garlic in spring but I want top try and plant this autumn. One website, T&M had 2 bulbs for £3.99, but postage was £5.99!!! Another one was £9.00 which again I thought expensive for 2 bulbs, any recommendations or am I just a stinge??!
cheers
eden

No your not tight. I always find garlic for planting very expensive so I buy mine in France where it is seriously cheap. When you consider I plant something like 30 bulbs worth of it a year the savings are enormous.

Do yuo know anybody goingover on hols?

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Kindest regards, David.

http://pigletsplots.blogspot.com/
updated - Sunday 19th at 2100hrs

The cheapest postage I have found so far is Seeds of Italy for £1.95. However, not so good if you only want two or so bulbs (for those of us on a smaller scale!).

Others (Dobies and Suttons for example) are £3.95.

Like you, I want to buy some, but only want a few as I plant in containers only.

Anybody have any suggestions for those of us who do not have access to France?

Organic catalogue is £3.95 for 150 g and only £1.20 for postage. Lifted their garlic over the weekend and had a very good crop. Enough for the year and some spare to plant again.

Hello Eden, this year I planted garlic in November and March. |The March planted was good and worthwhile, but I think the november planted was superb. See the pic. I bought it in the Supermarket. The variety was Melody from the Really Garlicky Co in Nairn, Scotland. If you can't find it in the supermarket I think their postage is £1.25.
PS I grew the garlic in a container.

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From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.

I did a trial last year using Garden centre bought 'seed' garlic and 'eating' garlic I bought from Tesco's............. No difference!

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My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

same here planted tesco garlic 15p each last november and they all grew , the only thing that happened is most of them bolted towards the end but still had all the bulbs to harvest just open instead of tight formed.
on a planting note i read somewhere that garlic gets used to your soil over time so i'm planting my crop to get a better harvest next time.

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---) CARL (----
ILFRACOMBE
NORTH DEVON

a seed planted today makes a meal tomorrow!

www.freewebs.com/carlseawolf

now in blog form ! UPDATED 01 / 04 / 08

I'm with PW as I have been buying mine from a fella in France for years, but as Carl said, it is important that it is bred for a similar climate and I grow strains from Brittany.

I would suggest you get hold of some from Isle of Wight garlic. I was going to try some Elephant garlic from them this year.

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Advertising is the rattling of a stick in a swill bucket. George Orwell
Paul

So we could buy garlic from a local greengrocer and plant that out in Nov then? I'm with those who only want a few bulbs and find the catalogues very expensive. Can you explain what you mean Carl, about it getting used to your soil? Do you mean using the same spot every year, or re-using some of your own grown bulbs to plant the following year? Sorry to be dim (and to hijack the thread).

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Life may not be the party we hoped for but since we're here we might as well dance

Mogsue,

Its all about strains of plants that are local to your conditions. As paulottie says, like me he buys garlic from Northern France where the weather is very similar to southern England so is very compatable for growing where I live in the midlands.

If I bought garlic grown in Southern France or Spain, it would be "used" to much warmer growing conditions and if planted at home, may take a few seasons through being selective with the bulbs I keep for replanting for it to "adjust" to my locale unless of course we had a splendidly warm summer and it felt at home.

If you buy from a greengrocer or supermarket to plant, try and buy that which has been grown close to home.

__________________
Kindest regards, David.

http://pigletsplots.blogspot.com/
updated - Sunday 19th at 2100hrs

I bought mine from Wyevale, planted them last sept lifted them last month. THree whole cloves produced about 20 decent large cloves, 10 medium and about 5 mini cloves. Quite a decent success rate I thought for an outlay of about £3.

That's where I get mine. They produce big whopping cloves with good flavour.
http://www.reallygarlicky.co.uk/main.html

I got mine from them. It grew wonderfully over the winter and looked good and strong by late spring.
Then it rotted
What we did rescue has a lovely flavour, and they were really helpful when I phoned for advice.
NB- we do grow on peat and I'm sure that didn't help!

I had a few losses as well, same sketch - everything looking good then a late rot set in. I put it down to my wet, cold clayey soil.

moggssue i agree with what PW said , garlic is intelligent and will learn what soil you grow it in and adapt to suit it over a few years, so planting your harvest to make new bulbs means less problems as each clove you plant would have had a year in your soil already.

__________________
---) CARL (----
ILFRACOMBE
NORTH DEVON

a seed planted today makes a meal tomorrow!

www.freewebs.com/carlseawolf

now in blog form ! UPDATED 01 / 04 / 08

Some really useful replies!

Got another question, hardneck or softneck variety?

And another ..... beintg up in Northumberland means I have a milder climate here (currently raining very heavily and hailstones too!) so I assume that those varieties from the south of France, Spain etc are no good really for me. What about those varieties from northern France or Isle of Wight? Looking at the really garlicky website I am wondering if that is my best bet for my location??

Another place you can order garlic for planting in autumn is Mr. Fothergill's. They have 2 bulbs of 'Purple Wight' for £2.95 & post & packing is free if you just order garlic & /or onions.
http://fothergills.co.uk/en/plant-bulb-onions.aspx

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Into every life a little rain must fall.

Just ahd a look at the Mr Fothergills site, they also have a decent range of over-wintering onions (including some red ones that I might give a try...) and a few varieties of second-cropping potatoes. Unfortunately it's my daughter's birthday nrxt week, so cash a bit tight (don't think she'd appreciate a bag of onion sets for a pressie) so hope they don't sell out too soon...

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Sarah

“Tell me one last thing,” said Harry. “Is this real? Or has this been happening inside my head?”
“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?”

Thanks PW and Carlseawolf, it makes sense now! I think my garlic is too small this year to save and replant, it hasnt really split at all. I'll get some from a catalogue or GC this autumn and hope for some decent bulbs to save next year (dont have access to france and tho I do to the Valencia region of Spain think that might be a bit warm to adapt to bucks?!).

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Life may not be the party we hoped for but since we're here we might as well dance