ABC Wednesday 5: I is for...

...Intriguing

Some of the bulbs in my garlic harvest this year have these intriguing mini cloves part way up the stem. They're too small to use for cooking, so I'm wondering what will happen if I plant them instead. I usually save some of my crop for next year's sowing anyway, so I'll be finding out very soon!

According to the Boundary Garlic Farm's website, these mini cloves are actually called bulbils and are an exact clone of the parent plant. Most bulbils occur when the plant forms a scape at the top of the plant. Scapes can be eaten, but if left to mature they form what looks like a flower head, but it actually contains lots of tiny bulbs which can be used to bulk up garlic seed supplies over 2-3 years. Sometimes bulbils are found in the stem instead, which is usually a sign the plant's been stressed. We've had a lot of garlic rust up at the allotment this year, I wonder if this is what triggered the bulbil formation?

The variety's Albigensian Wight: this is a softneck variety - one with pliable stems which can be plaited and store well - so I'm surprised that bulbils have formed as all the references I've looked up say they occur in hardneck varieties. Hmm, come to think about it, those stems look more like hardneck ones, but they've definitely come from the bed where my Albigensian Wight cloves were planted. Another indication that the plants were stressed perhaps, or maybe a case of mislabelled bulbs from the supplier? Have you seen anything similar in your garlic harvest this year - stem bulbil formation and/or softneck garlic looking more like hardneck? If you did, what happened and in which varieties?

For more stories bought to you by the letter I, do visit the ABC Wednesday blog.

Comments

  1. CanadianGardenJoy16 September 2009 at 11:00

    VP ! How are you ? : )
    I have been thinking of planting garlic for a while but haven't nailed it so far .. now you have me thinking about it again.
    You didn't mention if it was a good idea to plant this bulbis for a garlic crop next year or not .. are you going to ? It would be interesting to see !
    Joy : )

    ReplyDelete
  2. Carrie16 September 2009 at 11:21

    Good grief that is interesting! We lifted all our garlic (softnecked and hard) a few weeks ago and didn't notice anything like that. Bit jealous really, I like odd things. Andrew plaited our softnecks to prefection; I got him instructions of the web, looks so good. Can't believe we forgot to try a scape or two in our dinner ~ next year. xx Thanks for the comment by the way x

    ReplyDelete
  3. Deborah at Kilbourne Grove16 September 2009 at 15:10

    VP, I have only planted hardneck garlic, not the softneck, but have not run into this yet.
    The first year that I planted garlic, I let the scapes flower. Well, you know what that leads too, I am still weeding tiny garlic leaves out of my bed!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Q16 September 2009 at 16:25

    So very interesting. My father gave me a few wild garlic bulbs in 1985 and I planted them.
    They do add height in the flower beds.
    Sherry

    ReplyDelete
  5. our friend Ben16 September 2009 at 19:30

    Cool, VP, please let us know what happens! We love to saute garlic scapes in our stir-fries and the like, so none escape to form bulbils or anything else. Despite all your troubles, your garlic bulbs look gorgeous!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Unknown16 September 2009 at 19:40

    Aren't plants ingenious? It never ceases to amaze me!

    Would be great to see how you get on with the bulbils!

    Ryan

    ReplyDelete
  7. Jay16 September 2009 at 20:40

    Very interesting post - I went and read the link 'scapes' too. Good one!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anna16 September 2009 at 21:29

    My garlic had bulbils last year but I can't remember which variety I grew. This year's crop (autumn planted Solent White) suffered from rust but produced an excellent harvest :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Roger Owen Green16 September 2009 at 22:06

    Actually look like percussion instruments.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Rose16 September 2009 at 22:34

    I've never seen anything like this before, VP! I've never tried planting garlic before, so I don't know much about them. Will you be planting these little bulbils?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Tumblewords:17 September 2009 at 04:18

    Very interesting! I had no idea this could happen.

    ReplyDelete
  12. 3c17 September 2009 at 08:30

    Haven't heard of 'scapes' before and have never seen 'bulbils'. It seems a bit science-fictiony. Sometimes I find nature as un-nerving as it is interesting.

    I'd be interested to know too whether you grow garlic because it is useful or because it feels a good thing to do. I ask this because I've never been happy with any garlic I've grown - the flavour hasn't really been strong enough or interesting enough to make it worth while and I've decided I can make better use of the space it takes. But I still find the idea of growing my own garlic appealing. (Maybe I am trying to pretend we have a Mediterranean climate!)

    . . . and do you manage to store it without letting it go grey and dry?

    ReplyDelete
  13. VP17 September 2009 at 09:41

    Hi - it's good see so many of you are also intrigued by my garlic!

    Joy and Rose - yes I will be growing the bulbils. They won't bulk up enough for eating next year, but are a way of rapidly increasing seed supplies. I'm not sure how long it takes for them to get to eating size - must ask Patrick @ Bifurcated Carrots when I see him in October as he knows loads about garlic.

    Deborah - welcome! That's quite a problem as those scapes produce hundreds of bulbils! It's also got me thinking about what to do after I've planted my bulbils - the leaves will be tiny, so keeping them weed free will be quite a problem up at the plot. I wonder if I might be better growing them in a container?

    Sherry - that's an interesting use for garlic - do you grow lots of flowers and vegetables/fruit together in your garden?

    OFB - sounds yummy, must try that some time. I'm pleased with my harvest - it's been a good one in spite of the rust :)

    Ryan - I'll keep you posted!

    Jay - I'm glad you told me that as I do like to put together informative links just in case you want further information on what I'm talking about :)

    Anna - Cristo's my favourite so far, another softneck variety. Looks like rust hasn't affected our crops, but I wonder if keeping some back for sowing next year keeps the rust going. Another question for Patrick methinks...

    Roger - I'll try them out at our next choir practice ;)

    Tumblewords - I was surprised too!

    3C - oh I grow garlic because we use so much of it in cooking. The flavour's much stronger than shop bought and I can save some to use as 'seed' for next year, so it's a free crop after the initial outlay :) I'm storing it as seen in the picture. Cristo (my usual variety) looks much more like the garlic you see in the shops. I find the key is to make sure you get it dried thoroughly first, then it'll keep for ages, especially the softneck varieties. Hardneck is meant to have the better flavour, but doesn't store as long and I haven't fond flavour to be a problem with the softneck varieties when compared to shop bought garlic.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

I love hearing from you and welcome thoughtful conversations :)

Comments aiming to link back and give credence to commercial websites will be composted!

Your essential reads

That blue flower: A spring spotter's guide

Image
Spring is a prime time for blue flowers and my daily walks currently have several from the same plant family* lining the local footpaths. As I walked past the Donkey Field the other day, I overheard some children ask their parents** what the pictured blue flower was. It reminded me it's often mistaken for those other familial blues and this time was no different, as they said it was forget-me-not, instead of the green alkanet it actually is. As well as similar flowers, most of these plants are hairy in their nature, flower around the same time, and favour damp, shady places. Many of them are great for pollinators too, especially bees and this week's warm weather has certainly drawn them to these flowers. This makes it even more likely for these plants to be mistaken for each other and it's a great opportunity for me to put together a spotter's guide in case you find the same flowers on your outings. Staying with green alkanet, the key features which set it ...
Read more

Jack Go To Bed At Noon

Image
Last year this rather exotic looking flower appeared on mine and several other allotments for the first time. Having been stumped (again) by Mr Allotment Warden as to its identity, I rushed home to find out what it was. It's salsify, aka the marvellous Jack Go To Bed At Noon - named as such because its flowers always close by midday. Here you can see both open and closed flowers - making it seem even more exotic and alien than in the first picture. I think this must be the cultivated version because the flower in my Francis Rose Wild Flower Key looks exactly the same in form, but is bright yellow in colour and called meadow salsify . Its other common name is Goatsbeard, which must be a nod to the fantastic dandelion-like clock which forms the seed head. With 'parachutes' like those shown above, who knows how far our plotted plants came from. I rather like the photographic dissection of the seedhead found in this link . Salsify is edible: its lateral shoots and fl...
Read more

Red Nose Day - Gardening Jokes Anyone?

Image
The nation goes ever so slightly bonkers on Red Nose Day - hurrah! Previously, it's been very easy to join in - usually via a dress down day at work plus lots of people up to mad things at the station and in the office. Everyone smiling for once - it's a real feel good day and all in a good cause. This year's different - every day's a dress down day for me now - my friend L suggested yesterday that perhaps I could have a dress up day instead and whilst that's a good idea, I confess that ballgowns and tiaras don't really feature in my wardrobe: scruffy student's always been my favourite look. So my Red Nose Day contribution for this year is to compile a list of gardening related jokes. For each one (clean ones only please) you leave in the comments below, I'll make a donation of 50p to the cause. Here's a few for starters just to get you warmed up: Q Why do potatoes make good detectives? A Because they keep their eyes peeled. Q What did the grape...
Read more

Salad Days: Mastering Lettuce

Image
I've decided one of my salad challenges for this year is to grow as many lettuce varieties as I can, ready for the publication of my planned Factsheet* later on. The idea is to grow as many of the Tried and Trusted lettuce varieties last year's Salad Challengers helped compile, then provide a visual guide and as many lettuce facts as I can muster. So far I've found around half of those listed**. Then naturally whilst I was out searching - because such is the way with seeds - a number of other varieties found their way home too ;) A couple of weeks ago I sowed 22 varieties***. Just the simple act of sowing them has me intrigued. Why are some lettuce seeds black and others white****? They split into about half white to half black in my sample and as far as I can tell it's nothing to do with whether they're a type of cos, iceberg, or whatever. I sowed them indoors and popped them into a propagator on the windowsill. The soil's too cold outside for sowing ...
Read more

VPs VIPs: Derry Watkins of Special Plants

Image
Last week I had the pleasure of visiting Derry Watkins at her home, garden and nursery - the acclaimed Special Plants - just a few miles along the road from me. I first met Derry at one of her open garden days last year and was keen to find out more about her wonderful garden and running an independent nursery. She specialises in tender perennials and regularly goes on plant hunting trips to find new treasures, particularly in South Africa. As well as running Special Plants and opening her garden under the NGS scheme , Derry holds day courses at her nursery, hosts Special Tuesdays from April until September, lectures and has written a couple of books. How did you find your way from Connecticut to the UK? I'd started a biodynamic vegetable garden in Connecticut and we used to have people come along at weekends to help out. A particular young man turned up: he returned many times and at the end of the summer I married him. So it was all down to love? Isn't that the...
Read more

#mygardenrightnow: heading into summer with the Chelsea Fringe

Image
Ahhhhhh, that's better! I love walking through dewy grass in bare feet, not that there's much in the way of grass on my back lawn this weekend. My wild and woolly lawn has morphed into meadow of sorts this month, which even NAH admits looks attractive*. It's also proved a great source for my Flowers for mum project so far, yielding self-sown perennial cornflowers, lamb's ears, and lemon balm in addition to the blooms you can see. These originated from elsewhere in the garden, the ox-eye daisies must have blown in from the A350 nearby. * = he got very stroppy about the weeds aka self-sown foxgloves in the lawn one year, so he's come along a bit since then. Skimble's demanding to say hello to you too. He does enjoy the patio when it warms up. If the embedded video doesn't work try this link instead. The Nectaroscordum are a revelation. I planted the bulbs around 2 years ago, but it's only this year they've bloomed properly. The bee...
Read more

Make Use of Mildew

Image
On my garden patrol this morning I spotted some powdery mildew on a couple of my new Verbena bonariensis plants. I suppose it was almost inevitable as I prefer to grow my plants hard - this means no water for them unless they look absolutely desperate. This approach means plants root themselves more deeply and have a better chance of survival during spells of dry weather like we've had lately. However, it also means I run the risk of problems like today's, especially with any garden newbies planted late in the season. We've had a good drop of rain overnight, so this should help my plants survive. I'll mulch them later today to help lock in the moisture as it's water stress which encourages the mildew to take hold. I've also removed the infected leaves and sprayed the rest with a milky drink.* I'm also pleased to find there's a use for my infected leaves. Oliver Ellingham at Reading University has started a PhD - sponsored by the RHS - researchi...
Read more

The Resilient Garden

Image
  Part of Tom Massey's Resilient Garden at RHS Hampton Court I've been pondering VP Gardens a lot lately. Last year's drought conditions set me off initially, then our harsher than usual winter combined with this summer's flip and flop weather means the thinking continues. It's a huge topic which I freely admit I'm struggling to get my head around. Tom Massey's Resilient Garden  at Hampton Court recently  tackled this topic brilliantly and was a timely interlude which gave me much food for thought. There he encapsulated the detailed research he'd found which informed both his show garden and book of the same name. I think it's one of the most important show gardens I've ever seen. It's clear the way I garden needs to change so that I have my own resilient garden. I haven't worked out the exact details yet, but Tom's book plus a couple of others (see below), alongside the rainwater management handout from the show garden's  sponso...
Read more

Chelsea Fringe 2014: Shows of Hands - Episode I

Image
The gloves NAH used to build the raised bed . The effects are L to R, top to bottom:  Original photo, Warhol, HDR, Green tint, B&W, Posterize, Boost, Cross process and Sepia Welcome to Shows of Hands - my Chelsea Fringe project for 2014! As you can see I've been having a bit of a play around in Pic Monkey for my first contribution. You're welcome to join in between now and 8th June 2014. The idea behind this year's project is to highlight the tool most precious to a gardener: their hands. How do I take part? It's simple. All you need to do is take a photo of hand(s) in a gardening context and then share it via your blog or other social media (such as Twitter or Facebook), then make sure I know you've done so. I've set up Mr Linky below for your blog contributions. The Chelsea Fringe photo on the right sidebar links to this post, so you can easily find it again when you're ready to add your contribution. If you share your photo on Twitter, ...
Read more

Testing Times: Tomatoes

Image
  I've run a couple of tomato trials this year. The first is a revisit of the biochar trial with Oxford University I attempted some years ago (with a different organisation this time), and the second is a trial of a water gadget called Plantsurge which I was given to try at Malvern Spring Show earlier this year. Most of you have probably heard of biochar already and the claim that this inert, carbon-rich material can help soil fertility and plant health. The RHS information in the above link says results can be mixed, with reduced effects found in alkaline soils. This may help to explain the lack of difference I found in my previous trial as VP Gardens is on a lime-rich soil. Plantsurge is a different beast altogether. It's a strong magnet which is attached to a hosepipe as shown in the photo above. It's claimed that it softens water, with the result more like watering with rainwater. The higher nitrogen found in rainwater is thought to be beneficial to plants. Gardener...
Read more