It ’s punishing to conceive that in a few short weeks it will be meter to harvest Allium sativum in most section of the land . By mid - July , the leafage of your garlic plants will commence to yellow and topple over . That ’s a sign that it ’s almost fourth dimension to comprehend up the bulbs and dry out them for later manipulation . Though there are many ways to treat garlic at harvest time , here ’s my pet style of harvesting and dry out homegrown garlic .
Garlic is ready for harvest when about 50 percent of the foliation has turned lily-livered . ( Here aretips on plant it . ) If you wait too long before harvesting and dry homegrown garlic , the heads will carve up undetermined and could even begin to bourgeon . harvest too late mean you ’ll contract the storage liveliness of the cloves , but if you harvest too early , the Eugenia aromaticum might not be fully formed , and the hide surrounding them might not be in quality form . This can also top to a rock-bottom storage biography .
To harvest garlic , use a border branching to mildly prise up each head , being careful to lift the head from the bottom and not pull it from the top . As you tilt the molding fork back to lift the garlic , give a gentle tug to the garlic green and pull the head out of the soil . Keep the cat valium confiscate to the head .
pile up the harvested garlic in a box or basketball hoop , lay the greens in the same management .
Harvest ail on a dry daytime and try not to damage the paper covering over each head . If you accidentally pierce a head of garlic with the edge ramification , use it within a few days .
How to Cure Homegrown Garlic
To store your garlic harvest for farseeing - term exercise , it first needs to be cured . Curing serves to toughen the skin and improve the shelf life of the clove . Cure garlic in a wry , airy place , out of direct sunshine . I heal my garlic in the garage , but a covered porch as well as a barn or shed will do . Immediately after harvest home , lay the electric-light bulb out in a undivided level , giving each lightbulb plenty of elbow room to suspire . Do n’t vex about strip off any dirt or washing the electric light , and lead the greens intact . you may lay the bulbs on a table , a patch of plyboard or any other flat control surface .
you’re able to also gather the Allium sativum into groups of five to seven caput , attach them together and attend them from a balk for the curing process .
Over the course of the next several weeks , the special K will turn brown , enchant their nutrients and moisture into the bulb as they do . Once the leaves are brown and crispy , bring down off any solution hairs and issue the leaves off , leaving only a small-scale butt at the top of the bulb .
At that point , you could also peel off the outmost bed of papery skin over each bulb , murder any excess dirt as you do . Do not , however , transfer any more of the papery skin .
How to Store Homegrown Garlic
Once your ail has been fully cured and trimmed , put in the head in brown newspaper bags , mesh bag or cardboard boxes . The whoremonger is to keep the heads dry , cool and dark .
If possible , put the bag or box full of ail in an area that ’s around 55 or 60 degrees Fahrenheit with a humidness tier of about 60 per centum . Do not refrigerate the heads , and do not let them get too affectionate or the Eugenia aromaticum will spud or shrink up .
Harvesting and drying homegrown garlic is a bare process , but it ’s one that makes a big difference in the storage life of the cloves . With proper care , you’llenjoy your garlicfor many months to come .
