The Garlic Reveal

Yesterday I decided it was time to remove the remay cover from the garlic row inside the kitchen garden. I had noticed last week, when the sun was hitting the tunnel, that it appeared that some of the garlic inside was as tall as the tunnel.

When I pulled back the remay cover I discovered that this was true! The "Russian Red" garlic is already over 12" tall ! I would be really shocked at this growth except that I clearly remember how huge the 15 individual garlic cloves were that I planted November 3rd. Those big cloves are turning into really big plants.

Some of the stalks are thicker than my thumb already. They kind of remind me more of leaks with their size right now than garlic plants. But I am really please at how strong and healthy they are. I am excited to watch and see how large these plants will get to be by July.

Next to the "Red Russian" are 10 "Chesnook Red" plants. While they are much smaller that the "Russian Red" garlic plants, I am not worried. I grew this variety last year for the first time so I know that it is right where it should be in terms of height and overall growth. 

Again I am super pleased that all of these plants have a really healthy deep green color. It looks like I should have another good crop of "Chesnook Red" this year.

Things are a little different on the West side of the house. My raised bed of "Tzan" garlic is struggling a bit. Many of the plants are still quite small and have a light green/yellow ting of color to their leaves. I think it was a mistake putting this extra raised bed in this location. I think that it just doesn't receive enough hours of direct sunlight to meet the garlic's needs. I do have 2-3 plants that seem to be doing fairly well, so maybe I will have just enough healthy bulbs to harvest a few to eat and one to save for next year's seed crop.