Garlic - Cledor

I don't usually bother planting spring garlic, as I find overwintered varieties get away to a better start in spring and bulk up more. However, someone gave me an unwanted pack of Cledor, and it will be interesting to compare the yields with the strongly-growing bed of Germidor  planted last Autumn.

Busy Day - autumn sowings

A busy but dull day. Cleaned out the small greenhouse a while back, and sower lettuce Merveille de Quatre Saisons and cilantro as an experiment (given that I can't grow the latter in open ground, as carrot fly gets it just after it germinates). 

The adjacent potato bed was dug, and composted last week, so planted garlic (Thermidor cloves saved from this year's crop). Half grown in pots, with good root system already, the rest planted as bulbs. Will be interesting to see if there is any difference later on.

Lastly, dug the harvested beetroot bed and planted spinach, matador and ?. I know it's too late, but the seed needed using and the soil is still quite warm. Covered opposite bed with 2-3" well-rotted poultry manure to keep it friable over winter. Have enough left to cover one of the other large beds, must crack on with it tomorrow.

Was very tempted by the various onion sets on offer, but made the decision long ago that it's not worth it. When we had the smallholding, we grew fantastic onions on raised beds mulched with well-rotted cow manure. They never attain the same size and quality in the garden, and despite heat treatment, a significant number seem to bolt. I'm not sure onions are one of those things that taste remarkably different when home grown, and I will stock up on Brittany ones next time I go to Wales. 

The compost heap was very active, already hot and steaming about an inch under the surface. It was a bit smelly for a day, but seems to have calmed down now, probably due to adding a bit too much grass to the mixture.

Garlic: Germidor?

Part of the reason I need a blog is torecord what varieties I actually grow in a year, rather than have a hazy memory of months later. I'm not absolutely sure which variety of garlic I put in last year, other than it was the only variety available in the local garden centre, bought on impulse. Which is a pity, as it has done very well, producing a heavy (literally) crop of very large bulbs with no sign of rust whatsoever. A number of the larger bulbs did split, but careful harvesting ensured little earth ended up in the cavity, so they should keep quite well if dried properly.