Re: [gardeners] garlic in Texas

Bill Loke (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Wed, 30 Sep 1998 09:50:58 -0400

I believe hardneck garlics form a false flower called a scape which , if
allowed to mature, will form bulblets after it straightens out. It starts
like a pigtail but they never get any further here because they are so tasty
chopped into salads, made into garlic vinegar, and boiled as a asparagus
flavoured veggie. We use the excuse that we want the strength to go to the
bulb. :-)  Softneck (whiteskins and silverskins as grown around Gilroy CA )
garlic has flowers and seeds.
bloke@silicon-north.com (Bill & Chris Loke)[Z4/5 on a good day]
The Lokeation, RR#1, Kars, Ontario K0A 2E0
Elderberries have more fun than younger berries!
-----Original Message-----
From: Barbara J. Davis <barbara@itexas.net>
To: gardeners@globalgarden.com <gardeners@globalgarden.com>
Date: Wednesday, September 30, 1998 7:23 AM
Subject: Re: [gardeners] garlic in Texas



Hello,

I've been raising a red garlic for years.  It is probably the Mexican
Pink that Allen mentioned because I started raising it in south Texas
from grocery store garlic.  I took it to east-central Oregon and
raised it there, too.  But, I don't know if it is "hard neck".  My
daughter raises fantastic garlic in a raised bed (over Texas clay) but
I think she bought the seed garlic from a catalog source and it is
pure white, like I used to buy when I lived in California.

Barbara Davis       zone 7/8       southwest of Fort Worth, TX


> Hi, Allen.
>  Thanks for the reply on my garlic dilemma. You can tell a "hard neck"
> garlic if the stem coming out of the bulb is hard. The stuff one gets in
> the grocery store has a soft, sort of pliable stem. Most of the hard neck
> garlics have a rosey colored outside skin and usually have roja in
> their names. So I wonder if the Mexican Pink could be a hard neck, and of
> course, when I think of Creole cooking, I think of red peppers.
>
>  If I have to give up trying my roja cloves I've saved for planting in
> Texas, where can I find the Mexican Pink or the Creole? Actually, I
> thought I'd go ahead and give my rojas a try. If they don't make it this
> year, I can start with one of your recommendations next year when I've
> finally moved myself down there.

That's what I'd do, too.  Give it a try.  If successful, you'll have what
you like.                  Barbara


> On Tue, 29 Sep 1998, Allen and Judy Merten wrote:
>
> > Hi Vicki,
> >     I'm not familiar with "hard neck garlic", but we plant garlic in
Sept.
> > down here in Texas. The three varieties recommended for Texas are
Mexican Pink
> > or Creole for South Texas, Texas White for most other areas, and Calif.
Early
> > White for Central to Northern Texas.
> >     The information that I have from the Texas Agricultural Extension
Service
> > says that the length of day light is what affects bulbing of garlic in
Texas.
> >     Allen
> >     Bastrop Co.,Tx
> >     Zone 8