Create a job seeker account to manage all jobs, easily apply to jobs, or be found by companies looking to hire. Posted by Karyn Moyer. History of Garlic Garlic has been cultivated for thousands of years for consumption and medicinally. Planting to Harvesting Garlic is planted in the fall on raised beds covered with either black, green IRT, or blue plastic much with drip irrigation.
More Facts: Gilroy, CA, home to the annual garlic festival, is known as the garlic capital of the United States, mostly because majority of the U. It is sold by the pound, by the rope, or by individual bulbs. It was once used to treat acne, warts, toothaches and evil spirits.
Its strong flavor is caused by a chemical reaction that happens when the cells are broken. Most garlic plants are divided into some fleshy portions known as cloves. Garlic cloves can either be consumed raw or cooked for both culinary and medicinal purposes.
Garlic cloves are characterized by a tart, spicy flavor that gets savory and sweet when cooked. The leaves, and flowers on the head of a garlic plant are also edible and are occasionally consumed but while they are still tender and young. Garlic has economic value to the countries that produce it in large quantities. However, the consumption of garlic has a high amount of nutritional value since it contains very little calories.
Garlic is popularly known for its ability to work as a natural antibiotic. Garlic contains a compound known as Allicin which is believed to possess medicinal properties. Supplements of garlic are known to boost the immune system in fighting diseases such as common cold and boost athletic performance, heart function and helps reduce blood pressure. To reduce fertilizer runoff, nitrogen applications should be split. Apply one pound application at planting, a pound application at 6-inch height, and the remaining 25 pounds around May 1.
Granular fertilizer can be applied by banding or broadcasting; liquid fertilizers can be injected through a drip irrigation system. Apply all topdressings to dry plants at midday to reduce the chance of fertilizer burn. Retail customers pay premium prices for large garlic bulbs. To meet this demand a grower must remove the scape flower stalk as soon as it is visible. If the scape is allowed to develop it will compete with the bulb for nutrients, resulting in a reduction in bulb size and quality.
Once removed, scapes should be disposed of off-site to limit them as a source of disease inoculum. Garlic is a weak competitor with other plants and does not thrive in weedy fields. Growers must start with a weed-free planting bed and mulch with clean straw after planting.
There are only a limited number of herbicides currently registered for use in garlic. Herbicide recommendations can be found in the most recent issue of the Pennsylvania Commercial Vegetable Production Recommendations. Onion thrips are the major insect pest of garlic in the eastern United States and cause a bronzing or whitening of the garlic foliage. Adults and larvae overwinter in clover, alfalfa, and small grain fields.
Specific insect management recommendations for garlic can be found in the Pennsylvania Commercial Vegetable Production Recommendations. Several diseases affect garlic including basal rot Fusarium , white rot Sclerotinia , and occasionally Botrytis. Long crop rotations and the planting of disease-free stock will limit most of these diseases. Garlic is ready to harvest when percent of the leaves have yellowed garlic generally has 6 leaves.
Garlic maturation is a function of day length. Most varieties are ready by mid-July with some minor differences between varieties. Early harvests reduce storage quality, while bulbs that are harvested too late will start to split open. Split bulbs have no commercial value and can only be utilized as planting stock. Be sure to discard any planting stock that has blemishes or obvious disease signs.
Because garlic is ready to eat after harvest, curing is only important if you intend to store it. For this reason, many growers who market garlic directly to retail customers do not cure it after harvest. If long-term storage is desired, freshly harvested garlic can be cured by placing it on racks with good airflow.
The racks should be placed in a location out of direct sunlight and the weather for approximately 3 weeks or until the outer 2 leaves are completely dry. Many smaller growers spread their bulbs on the wooden floor of a barn to cure. Once cured, trim the tops and roots and clean the remaining soil from the bulb. There are several risk management strategies you should consider for your operation, including liability, property, and crop insurance. Discuss the types of coverage you may need with your insurance agent or broker.
If you are engaged in direct marketing especially roadside stands or pick-your-own or agritainment activities you need adequate liability protection. You may also want to purchase crop insurance as either a traditional crop-based policy or whole-farm revenue protection AGR-Lite coverage. For more information on agricultural business insurance, please see Agricultural Business Insurance. For more information on crop insurance, contact a crop insurance agent or check the Penn State Extension website.
Included in this publication is a sample fresh-market garlic production budget and price sensitivity analysis. The budget summarizes the receipts, costs, and net returns of a garlic enterprise. This sample budget should help ensure that all costs and receipts are included in your calculations. Costs and returns are often difficult to estimate in budget preparation because they are numerous and variable. Therefore, you should think of this budget as an approximation and make appropriate adjustments in the "Your Estimate" column to reflect your specific production and resource situation.
About Us. Contact Us. Garlic is booming in popularity in kitchens and gardens as Americans learn how easy growing this tasty bulb can be. Abundant garlic harvests don't take much expertise — even beginners can grow these nutritious homegrown treats.
Just a few simple steps, and you're on your way to enjoying homegrown garlic and heady harvests. Choosing Your Garlic. True garlics fall into two main categories: Hardneck garlics get their name from their hard center seed stalk, called a scape. They typically have a strong or hot flavor, but a shorter storage life — 3 months at most after harvest.
Cloves in hardneck heads usually number 12 or less. Softneck garlics don't form a hard center stalk; their tops stay soft and supple. If you plan to try your hand at creating garlic braids — like those you see hanging at farm markets — softnecks are for you. Softneck garlics offer a milder flavor than the hardneck type, and they store for six months or longer.
Heads consist of up to 40 small, irregular cloves in multiple layers around the center. Softneck garlics have soft, flexible stems — perfect for braiding. Timing Your Planting. Fall planting generally results in larger heads and bigger harvests. Preparing Planting Beds. Planting Your Garlic. Unlike vegetables grown from seeds or plants, garlic is grown from single cloves — the same cloves you use in cooking. Each clove grows into a full head. Prep cloves by hand right before planting time, and invite friends to help.
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