Wednesday 13 July 2011

Autumn Planting Alliums

A brief mooch in the garden this evening, sowing some new carrot (Early Nantes) and beetroot seeds to replenish what we've taken up. We also collected some salad, kale, and spring onions (finally becoming a sensible size!). I don't know why the spring onions have taken so long to get going.

In addition, I have today ordered our autumn planting onions (100 'Radar' sets), garlic (3 bulbs of 'Germidour'; mild and good for storing), and a dozen cloves of Elephant Garlic (which is secretly a leek). All of these should arrive in August or September, ready to go straight into the ground.

The Radar should be ready May-July (ahead of next year's spring-planted onions, which will probably only be ready from August), and are pretty tough, overwintering well.

Germidour has about a dozen cloves per bulb, and a mild flavour. It's a soft-neck, which means it doesn't flower and stores better. Also, importantly (or not), it's easier to plait the garlic.

I've never grown Elephant Garlic, but want to try it for roasting during the winter months. In theory, it's a good candidate for a cash crop: the cloves cost about 75p each, but a bulb goes for about £4—and there should be 6–9 cloves per bulb. I'll probably keep at least a dozen cloves back for re-sowing.

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