Planting Garlic in the Snow??? The Garden Side Chat with Phil Easi episode 3

[@MysticFIREFLY]

I live in Southern Manitoba - will you please do some climbing rose trellis building info for me - I have to stake my 3 year old rose climbers this spring.......what do you recommend? Also, I will try some garlic planting - see what happens. Thank you.

[@EasyGardenHacks]

Hi Firefly, give the garlic a try especially if you like to eat it!! Great question on the climbing rose trellis. I will make this question the next episode in the Garden Side Chat, I will aim to get it posted by tomorrow night. Thanks for the inspiration!!

[@FWYSGT]

A quick question: did you plant the garlic bulbai?

[@EasyGardenHacks]

Yes I did, I ended up planting a bunch of rows using a chopstick, it became very tedious, so I did a bit of an experiment and sprinkled (broadcast spread) a bunch in an area and covererd that with finished compost and mulch... I should make a tool like the one I use for planting the garlic, just a scaled down version.

[@FWYSGT]

Another garlic question. We live in the Midwest US. As a result this time of year our Temps vary widely. The last couple of weeks the weather has been mild with temperatures in the mid 70s Fahrenheit. The garlic exploded and look great. Now for the issue. The temperatures are going to get into the low 20s. In your experience is that temp going to kill the greens?

[@EasyGardenHacks]

No. Frost wont kill it. My garlic is up and taking (25-28F) overnight no issues at all. I think mulching helps with this. If you are seeing signs of stress due to the cold and depending on how much area you have with garlic, you could consider covering it with a sheet/s at night. I do not recall ever having an issue or hearing of it. Really good question though given the wacky weather and growing. Thanks again for the questions!!

[@FWYSGT]

Thanks for the quick reply!

[@FWYSGT]

I planted 2300 cloves this year and expect to get 2100 good bulbs. With that amount is there an easy way of drying them out? How did your 7000+ do?

[@EasyGardenHacks]

Excellent, great number to get in. The way I dry them is to bunch them into groups of 10(easier number to then multiply) using binder twine (the twine that holds bales of hay together), which is usually found free from anyone who has livestock, usually a person ends up with way too many. I hang the bundles up underneath an open structure (I use my deck and carport). I put screws into the joists under the deck about 4-6" apart and hang there. This protects from direct sunlight and possible rain. Also allows a breeze to aid in the curing process. If you want to see images / video of the hanging / curing process you can check out some of my other garlic videos. Pretty sure I have one that takes you through the process. I just had snow finally melt off the garden about a week ago and the garlic is only about 1-2 " tall but it looks like everything took. Sorting out details of a low cost watering set up next. Thanks for the great question. I might use that for an idea for a future video. Best of luck this season.

[@FWYSGT]

I use IBC containers that I bought surplus for $40 each. Each one holds 275 gallons of water that i collect off of an outside shed. I then stick a pump in one of the containers that are linked together for my watering.....

[@EasyGardenHacks]

@@FWYSGT Nice I have a several of those containers and was thinking of hooking a pump up. So the pump goes in the container? I have not thought much yet on this but could a pump be external to the container? How do you power your pump?

[@FWYSGT]

The pump is powered by an extension cord. I only plug it in when necessary. Im sure you can rig something up external but I had an extra submersible pump around. I can send pictures if you want

[@EasyGardenHacks]

@@FWYSGT I never considered sub pump, good idea...I may have the stuff already for an external setup. Im thinking about it early after what happened with the heat dome last summer.