The first of the garlic

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Trying to figure out when to harvest garlic can be tricky.  You can’t see what’s going on under the dirt, so how do you make a decision?  Hardneck garlic at least gives you some indicator: it sends up a central flower stalk.  We call that a scape, and it should be cut off and made into all sorts of delicious things.  The rule of thumb is that the garlic should be picked about a month after the scape shoots up.

Well, in theory.  Not all garlic will be ready a month later.  Another indicator of harvest readiness (with all garlic) is the color of the leaves.  Garlic will let you know when it’s ready to be picked when the leaves start to turn brown and die.  In the case of softneck garlic, which I’ve never grown, I hear that with some varieties you should pick it the second the lower leaves turn brown, and with others you should wait until all but the top couple of leaves have died off.  With hardneck garlic, you typically pick it when 50% of the leaves are brown.

There’s also a theory that letting garlic in the ground longer will make it more flavorful and potent.  And that withholding water for a week or two prior to your planned harvest is beneficial.

Friday night I harvested one variety of garlic out of my garden.  The stalks were all leaned over and mostly dead.  It was time, even though I harvested the scapes about three weeks ago.  And the other three varieties of garlic in my garden are all just beginning to turn brown.  I think the garlic I harvested (pictured) is the Georgian Crystal Purple variety.  This variety produces a smallish bulb with a very hot, strong flavor.  I would guess that I got about 15 heads of it or so.  And I easily have another 30-40 heads of garlic out in the garden between the other three varieties I planted. Woohoo!

The garlic I harvested on Friday is currently tied together, hanging out my back porch.  After harvest you should remove the dirt from the garlic, leave the roots on, and hang it somewhere with good air circulation but out of direct sunlight to dry, or ‘cure’.  A curing time of 2-3 weeks is ideal.  Yes, you can eat fresh garlic immediately (called green garlic), but if you intend to store garlic for any length of time it needs to be cured.

It’s not too early to start thinking about planting garlic.  Garlic has to be planted in the Fall, and it does pretty well in the clay soil of my garden.  It’s super easy to grow.