The undercutter

[Ironman]

Still looks pretty labour intensive to me....

What kind of soil does garlic like?

Garlic likes a rich friable soil. All truck farming is labour intensive, garlic less than most.
It takes 4 people 2 days to plant 15000 cloves, and that is the end of the work until harvest. We irrigate in summer. We harvest, clean and rack 4000 a day right now. The most work is packing and shipping and my wife does that. Yesterday I sold 16lb right out of the field, new customer, and he could not wait for them to dry.

 

[LenVW]

Garlic likes a rich friable soil. All truck farming is labour intensive, garlic less than most.
It takes 4 people 2 days to plant 15000 cloves, and that is the end of the work until harvest. We irrigate in summer. We harvest, clean and rack 4000 a day right now. The most work is packing and shipping and my wife does that. Yesterday I sold 16lb right out of the field, new customer, and he could not wait for them to dry.

That is the market you want . . .
Customers who come to you farm and purchase on the spot.
We could do with LESS middlemen in produce markets.

 

[DPittman]

I sold 16lb right out of the field, new customer, and he could not wait for them to dry.

16 lbs of garlic ! Good lord does the person run a vampire riddance business? 16lbs of garlic would last me a lifetime I think.

 

[Susquatch]

16 lbs of garlic ! Good lord does the person run a vampire riddance business? 16lbs of garlic would last me a lifetime I think.

I married an Italian. I swear to God she uses a pound per meal.

But...... I confess she is an amazing cook. It's hard to go out for dinner at even the finest restaurants because I know the meal won't be as good as hers.

 

[Mcgyver]

Garlic question occupying much of my available bandwidth for years now ....... with our resident expert, can I get some help with these?

1) sometimes you get it and its an easy peel. sometimes terrible? What's the reason? What to look for when buying it?

2) Is there a super easy way to peel it? I'm usually soak in cold water, rub a fist full together and cut of the very end to get a spot to start from .... ok but I'm looking for a fast easiest way.

3) I see the long bundles of it in restaurants etc, decoration or does it really store this way? Seems like if I buy a bunch it dries out/rots/goes mouldy. How to store? Do you need a root cellar? (don't have one in city)

 

[Susquatch]

Seems like if I buy a bunch it dries out/rots/goes mouldy.

Get an Italian cook or housekeeper. My wife goes through a pound so fast it has no chance of going bad. I have no idea how she does what she does. Her cooking is always perfect and never too much garlic or too much anything.

Sometimes I eat too much though......

Edit - Better get an ugly one though.... Don't need any spousal jealousy.......

 

[Ironman]

Garlic question occupying much of my available bandwidth for years now ....... with our resident expert, can I get some help with these?

1) sometimes you get it and its an easy peel. sometimes terrible? What's the reason? What to look for when buying it?

2) Is there a super easy way to peel it? I'm usually soak in cold water, rub a fist full together and cut of the very end to get a spot to start from .... ok but I'm looking for a fast easiest way.

3) I see the long bundles of it in restaurants etc, decoration or does it really store this way? Seems like if I buy a bunch it dries out/rots/goes mouldy. How to store? Do you need a root cellar? (don't have one in city)

1) usually softneck garlic (chinese) is hard to peel as the skin is like onion paper Canadian grown hardneck, which has a hard central stem about 1/4" thick will be like shelling a sunflower seed.
2) Cut off the basal plate end, and soak in warm water. Then rub it in your paws, or squash it by pressing down on it with the flat of a knife.
3) You cannot braid hardneck garlic, only the softneck chinese or American varieties. The softneck is harder to peel.
Store in cool and dark place with around 60% humidity. It will keep for up to a year. Storing is a frig will cause the chemical changes needed for it to sprout, and it probably will.
If you have a damp cement floor in a wellhouse that is perfect. One customer I have in Langley BC puts his garlic in his 2 car garage, and as the coastal humidity is perfect it keeps for the whole year. A wine refrigerator set at 60F works too. I would think a crawl space under the house would work. Also, you can peel your supply of garlic, and freeze the cloves. My wife puts the peeled cloves through the food processor, mixes in a little cooking oil, and freezes it in a flat cake about 3/8" thick. The when she wants garlic, she just goes to the freezer, unzips the bag and snaps off whatever she needs. We usually do this if the garlic is getting old and becomming rubbery, chop and freeze.

 

[Mcgyver]

thanks for the thorough answer!

 

[Greywynd]

I've been getting garlic from Ironman for a while, usually about 10 pounds a year. We store it in cardboard/paper in a cool storage room in our basement. Lost a few bulbs this year, but we moved and our storage area isn't the same conditions as the old house, hope to have that fixed for this year.

 

[Ironman]

I would like to report that the last of the crop is on the rack drying. But...the last bit is still in the wagon.
During this time, whenever I had a moment I have been rushing off to the shop to machine this expensive Nylatron product in to shapes. I am making 4 stabilizers for the drill jumbo and a 7" sheave wheel for the pull down cable. Started out with a square of 2" plate and 4" round stock. This AM I have a panic call and they want some other parts I have done so I am running to town to ship the hose press and pump parts, sheave, hydraulic fittings etc, so the final end is postponed for a day.