A Seed Saver's Garden

heirloomgal said:

...It's interesting to me to observe what's popular and what isn't - and it certainly isn't predictable.

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garlic starts/scapes. even if the planting season is completely wrong people always were willing to take some.

flowerbug said:

garlic starts/scapes. even if the planting season is completely wrong people always were willing to take some.

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I guess I could do bulbils, those would be do-able in early February. They'd basically be like seeds in packets; I actually ordered a few rare varieties of garlic bulbils this winter. I'm quite excited to try them, been a long while since I grew garlic. These of course will take a few years, but I'm willing to wait with the specialty varieties. I chose types that are said to store well.

heirloomgal said:

I guess I could do bulbils, those would be do-able in early February. They'd basically be like seeds in packets; I actually ordered a few rare varieties of garlic bulbils this winter. I'm quite excited to try them, been a long while since I grew garlic. These of course will take a few years, but I'm willing to wait with the specialty varieties. I chose types that are said to store well.

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if you don't trim off the scapes the first season you plant them you should get some tiny ones to harvest and use or give away. i've had them the size of grains of rice and they'll still grow.

one year (some time ago now haha) i had a garden of alfalfa and a large variety of birdsfoot trefoil that i planted and weeded and i wanted some garlic in it so i scattered many thousand bulbules in it. big mistake in terms of how difficult it was to harvest or weed but i did pull many small bulbs of garlic out of that patch over the years.

one year in an effort to get the garlic cleared out of that patch was when i dug up two buckets of bulbs (many the size of my thumb or less) but before i dug up any of them i also cut off all the scapes and that was another half a bucket.

i must have had a huge amount of spare time that year because i peeled all of those small bulbs and some of the larger scapes and made garlic relish out of it all - a few cases of 18oz jars. the house smelled pretty good.

flowerbug said:

if you don't trim off the scapes the first season you plant them you should get some tiny ones to harvest and use or give away. i've had them the size of grains of rice and they'll still grow.

one year (some time ago now haha) i had a garden of alfalfa and a large variety of birdsfoot trefoil that i planted and weeded and i wanted some garlic in it so i scattered many thousand bulbules in it. big mistake in terms of how difficult it was to harvest or weed but i did pull many small bulbs of garlic out of that patch over the years.

one year in an effort to get the garlic cleared out of that patch was when i dug up two buckets of bulbs (many the size of my thumb or less) but before i dug up any of them i also cut off all the scapes and that was another half a bucket.

i must have had a huge amount of spare time that year because i peeled all of those small bulbs and some of the larger scapes and made garlic relish out of it all - a few cases of 18oz jars. the house smelled pretty good.

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Will a bulbil develop scapes the first year its planted? I would have thought they're too tiny? When I did do garlic years ago I planted cloves not bulbils so I have no idea what bulbils will do.

Did my first round of sifting through the 'yet to be grown' seed packet box tonight.

What a backlog, tomatoes in particular. Sorta thrilling though. Creating a line up of varieties to grow is one of the most fun parts of the season.

Im pretty structured, the only changes are when i tweek starting dates. Locations change due to rotation but the varieties have mostly been the same for 8 years! I keep this schedule on my tablet for easy referral from year to year, plan once then be lazy for years to come.

2026 seed starting schedule. Light timers at 16hr’s. After seeding a 10/20 water up from the bottom 1/2 gal. Check watering needs of seed flats multiple times a day. Switched to 300watt LED’S this year. less Amendments on Zinnias!!!

February 1st
Tango celery 3ea, Darki parsley 9 ea. don't stratify, or tamp soil. Start some lettuce for fresh eating. Use heat mat and thermometers for all seed starting!

February 18th
Early figwort, the other bee plants. Tomato’s start 4-?

March 11th
Gypsy Broccoli-18 ea. 3 per pot. Darkibore Kale-18 ea. Sweet success cuke- 6ea -3 per pot. Brite lights chard - 6ea 2 per pot.

March 20th
Seychelles Pole beans 18ea, 3-4 per pot. Summer squash 6ea.-2 per pot. Plant at ends and center of bed heading the same direction!!
Calendula-9ea, Nasturtium-9ea, Marigold-9ea. Benarry giant Zinnias- decide colors and quantity? Anise hyssop 18ea- when grown.

April 7th / April 20th 2nd crop pole beans.
Sweet peas, 10ea- 5 1/2 “ pots, PRE MIX SEEDS! Set flat on shop floor for heat and dark germination. Snow peas 12 ea- 3 per pot. Racer pumpkin 12ea / 2per pot.
start lettuce and Cilantro in long pots for populating cold frames.

May
Direct seed Bolero Carrots, Parsnips, Red Ace Beets, Redwing Onions and Red Norland Potato’s. Both onions and Potatos get double amendments! Hang onions over line to dry.

Before spring direct seeding: till, amend, till, rake, trowel and tamp. Dibble whole bed at once, and seed. Broadcast 707/compost over dibble divots, tamp again and water with sprinkler. Keep wet during germination. Hook up drip manifolds.

Shade cloth on Greenhouse to cut down “RAYS” on raised beds. Pay close attention when hardening off starts and be sure to go long enough!!

June 1st
Start 2nd Broccoli’s.

July 4th Set up winter cucumber's. 5/6 plants and again in early November in the shop.

Amendment repipe: Fish Bone Meal 9 cups, Kelp 5 cups, Azomite 3 cups, Prilled lime 2 cups, FS Lime 1 cup, Shrimp meal 3 cups, Humic acid 2 cups, Langenbite 2 cups, Feather meal 1 cup, Comfrey meal, 2lb. This will be a 2 gallon bucket mostly full minus the comfrey, which is given to every 3x12 bed.

heirloomgal said:

Will a bulbil develop scapes the first year its planted? I would have thought they're too tiny? When I did do garlic years ago I planted cloves not bulbils so I have no idea what bulbils will do.

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they might. i've certainly seen them in very tiny versions. the smaller the bulbule the less chance. like if it starts out as very tiny you will get a very tiny plant that first season (it may look no bigger than a thread like when you start onions from seeds), but 2nd season i would say good chance even if it is just a bit bigger than a grain of rice.

as an example of how different things can be and why it is better to start from the largest cloves or bulbules the last crop of garlic bulbs i planted the bulbules i got from the tops are as large as many of the smallest cloves i might get from the bulbs from the ground (they probably weigh 1-2g and are a cm or bigger across).

when i was planting these tiny bulbules intentionally (to increase my supply of plants) i would put them someplace i wasn't going to disturb them at all for the first few seasons (because finding them when they are tiny is a challenge ).

i'm assuming they are planted in full sun, no competition from weeds, enough regular waterings in reasonable soil.