Several years ago I planted a few bulbs of elephant garlic in the herb bed. I harvested that year and left a few smaller pieces back. Each year I have meant to harvest but the time has always gotten away from me. This year I decided early on that they needed to be thinned out. I cut off the flower stalks that tried to form and left them to their own devices. The tops died back signalling they were ready for harvest. I expected a few small bulbs but was pleasantly surprised as I started to dig. I put back the small corms that develop below the large bulbs. There is one just to the left of the large bulb in the middle of the photo. These will sprout later this summer, die back over the winter and return next spring.
2 thoughts on “Garlic Harvest”
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what kind of soil do you plant garlic in ? does it need any special care? we just bought a home in oklahoma, there is wild sweet basil growing everywhere. would it be good to cook with you think?
Neva,
Since garlic is a bulb with a fairly shallow root system it does best in light fertile soil. That being said, my soil isn’t exactly light. For this last harvest I dug in a lot of compost and the garlic and onions both seemed to like that a lot.
As for your basil. If you are absolutely sure it is basil I wouldn’t see why you couldn’t eat it. If you have any doubts I would ask a county extension agent (if you are in the US) or another professional to id the plant for you. I don’t know of any poisonous plants that look and smell like basil but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any.
I never have had basil reseed here in Ky but that would be awesome if it would.