36 Things: Grow Garlic and Shallots

I planted the small, lovely smelling cloves in the fall and waited through rain, sleet, hail, winter, spring, and summer. Now my waiting has come to bear fruit! Or, well, garlic, that is. Growing them yourself is great because they are organic and local. Only 15 paces from the back door local. Except I had to drive to the nursery to get the starter cloves.

The shallots did not turn out so well. I tried to separate the shallots a couple of months ago and then I found out that is not what to do. They looked like they might make it; a few crying out, "I'm not dead yet!" and then the 16 year old I hired to trim our laurel trampled all over them.

So lots of garlic: at least 14 bulbs. But no shallots.

But I also harvested my first monster elephant garlic. It is technically different than normal garlic I have been told, so I am not sure if I have to dry it out for as long. I should probably do some research on that. We'll see.
The garlic was so easy, I will do it again this year for sure. But I will check pricing this time. The regular garlic is a fine price, but I picked up the elephant garlic and it had no pricing and I forgot to check when I was buying a zillion things at the nursery and the 3 were $17!!! I discovered my tragic mistake too late--the nursery doesn't accept returns on bulbs. So I planted them and they look good, but not sure if I will do that again. I will double the amount of garlic, because we go through a bulb or two a week. And I will plant the shallots in a less vulnerable place and leave them alone!

Get closer and closer on my list of 36 Things to do Before I Turn 37. Only 4 months to go!