AAH...I cam smell it from here...mix some up with a little butter and spread it on a slice of home made French bread....
Add a few cloves to same garden fresh tomatoes, simmer a bit and serve it with a slice of bread....
Nothing like fresh garlic!

Beautiful looking garlic.

I just made about two pints of garlic/light olive oil paste. I keep it in the freezer. The paste does not get frozen solid. Each time I need garlic, I just spoon some. very convenient.

dcarch

Ann, I think I can smell it.
But maybe it's the garlic that I bought yesterday, what a coincidence. I bought 3lbs, all they had ready. I'll go back soon and buy more. It was $3.00/lb. I try to get enough to last all winter. It's so much better than the grocery store garlic.

Nancy

I've got garlic too... I just harvested mine yesterday. I think I pulled up 13..
They are curing in the garage. :)

Last week I used one right out the garden.

Ann, why don't you take a few of those big cloves and plant them?
That's what I do. I buy from a local farmer and "save" a few for planting..Garlic grows really well in the PNW. Plus you get garlic scapes too.

Question though..How do you guys store them for MONTHS and MONTHS?

Lovely photos Ann and Nancy!

Terri, I have one Max pulled from the garden last week also. I've been using it. This is the first year we have had garlic in the garden.

My questions, first, exactly like Terri, I'm wondering how to store it. And second, when is the optimal time to pull it from the ground?

I have the same questions about onions. Max planted Walla Walla onions this year too. We've never had them in the garden before. When do we pick and how do we store these?

Ann, I hope you don't think I've hijacked your thread too badly - your title just drew me right in.

Lee

Oops forgot to add, that I also have made finely minced garlic in olive oil after the posts a few months ago, put in the freezer and have been using it ever since. My comment about that is that I used several kinds of olive oil and while it is all good, the jars with the best, most flavorful oil are fantastic. I will never buy jarred garlic again.

Lee

Lee, gosh I didn't even think of doing the oil/garlic thing..
Thanks for that tidbit.

I pull my garlic when it's starts to die back..you can clearly tell that the tops are starting to yellow and the stalk just above the ground is "drying" and starting to peel.

I then lay it on my drying rack (those laundry folding ones)..in the garage..

I have Walla Wallas and red onions in the garden. I pull them as I need them..they too are starting to dry a bit at soil level too..So I will probably pull them all out in the next few weeks. Mine all grew out of the soil this year.

I cure them similar to the garlic...although it's a bit harder because they are so much more top (bottom) heavy..

oh wait I have piece of metal screen I can lay across..
:) Thanks for talking me through that Lee. tee hee

Beautiful pictures ladies!

I've never seen garlic with those long stems on them before. Interesting looking!

Terri, I made the minced garlic from a large bag of peeled garlic cloves that I bought at Costco after reading about it on several blogs and from posts here. There was also lemon juice used in it. It's great, so good that I gave a jar to my DIL and her mother to try. I don't think I would want to peel enough fresh garlic at one time to do that but I'm sure it would be even better with home grown garlic.

Thanks for the tips on pulling the garlic and the onions and curing them. Our garage is really hot and dry - is that a problem?

I'm still interested in knowing how to keep the garlic heads from the garden for long term storage.

Lee

It is the change in temperature that causes garlic to start sprouting. The grocery store garlic is shipped in refrigerated units and then when it reaches the store and gets put out on the shelf, where it is warm, the garlic starts to sprout.

I store fresh garlic in a brown paper bag in a dark cupboard. I have not had a problem with sprouting.

Ann

Well being that I live in the land of maritime cool...
I don't have a hot garage. LOL

Dry is good..Do you have a covered area outside? That gets some breezes?

I too await Nancy and Ann to tell us how to keep the garlic for MONTHS!

I guess when I'm out of home grown garlic/farm bought..that I'll grab some from Costco too..

Lee, it is best to store a large amount of garlic with the dried scapes attached and braided. I bought a 2 foot braid at Garlic World in Gilroy when I drove through last year on my way to San Francisco and Sacramento. Another place in Gilroy is The Garlic Shoppe aka Garlic Dude, but there are probably other places in Gilroy that ship. The two-foot braid took me about seven months to use up, but the garlic heads were quite large. If you haven't bought it by the braid, I highly recommend doing so. I was sad when I ran out and had to go back to buying the small individual heads. Now is the best time of year to stock up on garlic braids!

Lars

Here is a link that might be useful: Gilroy Garlic

Ann, thank you. This is the first time I have had garden fresh garlic. I promise, it will NEVER see the inside of a refrigerator unless I'm simply storing food that has garlic in it. I'll try the brown bag in a dark cupboard. That is certainly a low cost solution!

Lars, several years ago a friend visiting from CA did bring me a fresh braid from Gilroy. I waited several months to cut off the first head because it was so pretty on the wall. I probably just tried to keep it too long because the last six or so heads were all browned and shriveled. Max only planted the cloves from one head of garlic, purchased from a seed store, in our garden, so I'll cure it some and then try Ann's brown bag method. I can't imagine that I could make a pretty braid. I will, as you suggest, leave some of the dried scapes attached.

Lee

Ann & Nancy, nice garlic!

We planted a LOT of garlic this year. It's been curing in the garage. Just this morning we started cutting off the tops/roots on about 150 heads. We drizzled it with olive oil & roasted on the rack of the BBQ. After squeezing the cloves on parchment lined trays we froze it for an hour. Then put the pieces in vac pack bags. We use mostly roasted 'cause of tummy issues. Still have about 50 to 70 heads to store fresh.

Fresh is so much better than store purchased but usually we buy from a farmer's market. This was our first year growing our own. We also gave about 100 heads away to friends. There will be no garlic shortage here this winter. lol

We planted 2 kinds but the Italian Purple is our favorite. We're going to try some of the more "exotc" bulbs this fall.

/tricia

Pretty! I won't be digging mine for a couple of weeks, at least.

I've been experimenting with different kinds of garlic, trying to find varieties that will store really well. I had a few kinds that stored until May, just in a wicker basket in my pantry. They have to be well-cured, though.

Softneck varieties are supposed to store the best (the kind you usually find in the grocery store and it braids the best). But they don't grow all that well for me... hardnecks do better. They have the curly scapes and stiff center stalk. I cut the scapes before they flower so the cloves will get bigger. Making garlic scape pesto today...looks like I'll get a dozen or so packages in the freezer. Yes, I have really bad garlic breath right now.

Like katieC, hardnecked varieties grow best for me. I just store them in the basement, like I do onions and potatoes and they last very well until at least spring.

Lee, I pull onions as I need them, but I've always pulled/dug the "harvest" when the tops fall over, they don't get any bigger after that. However, the sweets don't really store all that well, so I'd leave them in the ground until I wanted them or there was danger of frost.

Annie

Annie

Thanks Annie, I've used three or four of the onions, guess I'll stop buying onions from the store for a while and use the ones from the garden that are the largest first. They are sweet and good. We only have one short row - maybe twenty five or thirty. Both the garlic and the onions are growing well, I'm sure Max will plant them again next year.

I don't know if the garlic is hardnecked or softnecked - there was a basket at the end of the checkout counter where I bought seeds - it just said something like organic garlic for planting. Next year I'll look for hardnecked.

Lee

I haven't grown onions in a long time but we always pulled them after the tops droop and let them stay right there on the ground for about three or four days to harden off a bit. Of course as long as it's dry. Smiles. The dirt seems to help draw moisture from the skins and they last longer in storage. After that as everyone said, cool and dry as you can get them.

Lee, did they get a curly Q from the center stalk? If so they are hard neck..if they did not they are soft..

My favorite is Georgian Fire.
I have that one and one other..I don't recall it though. LOL

Both of the ones we grew were soft neck...Italian Purple & something or other. They are beautiful so we're happy with the harvest. What's the difference in growing conditions suited for each? Would hard neck do even better here? We are Zone 7 with acidic soil, loose soil with lots of organic matter (beds made by lasagne method).

Thanks.

/tricia

Tricia, found this information for you. Apparently your softneck will store better.

Your garlic probably has many cloves per head where the hardneck has fewer larger cloves. Some of the garlic I bought has only 4 to 6 large cloves per head.

I chop most of my Walla Wallas and use them in cooked stuff.
Or carmelize and freeze them.
I agree, they don't store well long term.

I didn't really grow any garlic this year and will be picking mine up at farmer's market. I also make an olive oil/garlic paste and freeze it in "spoonfuls". Makes wonderful garlic bread and is delicious smeared on fresh corn on the cob.

Deanna

Thanks Ann. Good descriptions. Our garlic has about 6-8 large, plump cloves around the outside & smaller cloves in the center so I guess that fits the description. Also, no curly scapes. It roasted well & came out in perfect cloves. We've only eaten it raw, so far, so anxious to use the roasted we froze. There certainly won't be any vampires around here this winter! :)

/t

Terri, they do not have a curly Q and have multiple small cloves so I guess they are softneck.

Deanna, thanks, caramelizing and freezing the Walla Wallas after we have used what we can fresh, before the first threat of frost, sounds like a great way to store them.

Lee

I agree with Lee, Deanna...never thought of that..Thanks!

I agree, caramelizing the onions and freezing them is a good idea. Thanks to katiec I caramelize a crockpot full, just slice them up, drizzle with olive oil and cook for about 18 hours. They don't get brown enough or dry enough for some people's preference, but they're fine for me.

Annie

"I agree, caramelizing the onions and freezing them is a good idea. Thanks to katiec I caramelize a crock pot full, just slice them up, drizzle with olive oil and cook for about 18 hours. They don't get brown enough or dry enough for some people's preference, but they're fine for me.
Annie"

They ended up a bit soupy for my taste, too. I just cooked off the moisture in a large sauce pan after the crock pot time.