You hold off seven , maybe nine month , for all that homegrown garlic to finish growing . Now that you ’ve dug it all up , you need to bask it for as long as possible until the next garlic harvest is ready .
This is when cure becomes your acquaintance .
cure is the process of get your garlic dry down in preparation for long - terminal figure memory . heal and storing Allium sativum provide you to enjoy the flavour of your summer harvest well into winter .
One of my favorite things about ail is that it still abide fresh long after it ’s been plucked from the land without traditional saving method . No pickling , no canning , no freeze . Just a simple head of ail that look and tastes the same as the day you pulled it .
Does garlic have to be cured?
Garlic does notneedto be cured . It ’s eatable right out of the reason .
But if you desire it to abide fresh in the pantry for a right long while , you have to take it through the cognitive operation of curing — essentially just let it dry . As the garlic dries , the skin shrink and turns papery , forming a protective barrier against moisture and mold .
In this dry out down state , under optimum term , cured Allium sativum can lay in for several months after harvest ( which intend you’re able to use the garlic cloves from your garlic harvest as come for the following yr ’s crop ) .
Related : Get Your Garlic On : Planting and Growing Garlic the Easy Way
You do n’t have to bring around your integral harvest , either .
Garlic that you want to consume correctly awaycan be used right off , directly from the garden . I normally typeset aside a couple of bulbs I can expend up in three to four weeks ( especially bulbs that may have been damaged during harvest home , but are otherwise eatable ) .
Garlic that you desire to storeshould be moved to a ironical , shady , airy placeonce they ’re harvestedto start curing .
How to cure your garlic crop
First , determine whether yourgarlic is quick to glean using this simple joke .
Garlic stops growing once the soil temperature reaches 90 ° F so if you have a hot , early summer , your Allium sativum will mature quicker ( though it ’ll also have smaller bulb ) .
Once you ’ve pulled all the medulla oblongata out of the soil , lay them out one by one on an exalted control surface ( like a large table or shelving wrack ) that gets separate out or indirect luminance . This could be under a Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree , on a covered porch , or in a well - ventilated garage .
There ’s no pauperism to cleanse off all that soil for now — you’ll tidy them up when you snip them .
If you do n’t have a table to spare , you may DIY one out of 1×6 planks ( or fence boards ) laid across two sawhorses . Or , progress a large frame out of 1×3 lumber , stretch and staple a spell of hardware cloth or volaille wire across the frame , and prop it up on sawhorses or clinker blocks .
Do n’t pile them on top of each other . The key to proper curing is providing good air circulation between the bulb .
Do n’t disperse them out in the sun . Garlic is susceptible to sunburn and can literally prepare under the sunlight , which devolve smack . So you want to downplay the amount of verbatim sunlight it set about during the bring around physical process .
Do n’t wash your Allium sativum . After all , the gunpoint is to dry out them out !
Do n’t remove the leave of absence while the garlic is heal . The electric-light bulb carry on to draw muscularity from the folio and beginning until all that wet evaporates . Keeping the leaves intact also helps to forestall kingdom Fungi or other waylay garden contaminants from spoiling the Allium sativum before it ’s fully cured .
Can you hang garlic to dry?
If you ’re short on space , you’re able to cure your Allium sativum vertically by gathering the ail into bundles , tying the leaves together with twine , and hanging them from their stems to dry out .
you could even braid ( plait ) your Allium sativum for storage , just like the beautiful ones you see hang in Italian restaurants .
braid only works with nimble softneck garlic , since the stems of hardnecks are too stiff . Braid your softneck garlic while the leaves are still immature and malleable , and attend the bundle to dry in a shady berth ( like a buttery or a recess of the kitchen ) .
How do you know when garlic is cured?
Garlic is usually quick for farsighted - term storage about a month after harvest home . But cure can take as little as two weeks in warm , dry climate , or as foresighted as two months in rainy , humid weather .
big medulla oblongata ( and incandescent lamp with large cloves ) more often than not take longer to bring around . During this time , the flavour continues to melt and improve .
cure is complete when the root look shriveled and finger stiff like a bottle brush , and the leaves are completely brown and dried .
Disclosure : If you shop from my article or make a purchase through one of my link , I may pick up commissions on some of the products I recommend .
The best way to store garlic
Once the garlic is fully cured , scavenge it up by removing the leaf at the neck and trim the roots ( with a pair of scissors or pruning hook ) to 1/4 inch or 1/2 column inch long . More dirt will free and a brace layer of bulb wrappers may peel off off , giving you a nice and neatly package bulb .
Remember not to removetoomany wrappers in slip you peril the clove tree .
If you braided your Allium sativum , you economize yourself an superfluous step and can plainly clip a bulb off the twist when you demand it .
Set aside your most beautiful head of garlic with the large clove to use as germ garlic the following season .
hive up the garlic in mesh topology bag , woven basket , old terracotta pots , brown paper bag , or even composition board beer / soda pop cases — as long as the container is breathable and the surround stays dry .
I ’ve even heard of multitude storing garlic in old pantyhose by hang it from the roof , putting a international nautical mile between each garlic head , and scissoring off a mi when needed — but really , who has pantyhose consist around these day ? !
Temperature , humidity , and ventilation all play crucial roles in determining how well your Allium sativum will salt away . A “ coolheaded , dark place ” is the worldwide recommendation , and it does n’t get any well-to-do than a supernumerary cupboard or closet ledge at room temperature .
But if you want to maximize the longevity of your garlic ?
Keep it between 50 ° degree Fahrenheit and 60 ° F , around 60 percent humidity , in low to no light with good air circulation .
Garlic tend to burgeon forth at moth-eaten temps ( thus , no icebox ! ) and dry out out in warmer temps .
Lower humidity may do desiccation ( especially in Rocamboles , which are more finical than other variety ) , while higher humidness may play in fungus and mold . Light is not a constituent in storage , as long as you keep your garlic away from unmediated sun .
Do n’t countenance good food go to waste !
Download my Fruit & Vegetable Storage Guidefor printable charts , helpful summit , and secret tricks for keeping your produce super wise for as long as potential .
All that say , there is no precise science to storing Allium sativum . Sometimes I store my garlic in telegram or wicker basketful in the buttery , and sometimes ( on a big harvesting yr ) I save and recycle nylon interlocking bags ( the form that murphy and onions come in ) , sort my garlic into them , and pay heed them in a well - ventilated utility way .
How long does garlic last?
Once it ’s cure , a whole light bulb of garlic ( with no blemishes or bruise ) will last several calendar month in storage . Softneck garlics incline to have a long shelf life than hardneck ail .
In cosmopolitan , Silverskins and Creoles are the longest - storing garlic ( often keeping up to a full yr ) , follow by porcelain , Artichokes , Purple Stripes , Rocamboles , and last , Asiatics and Turbans , which have the light shelf life story ( up to five month under the most optimum conditions ) .
If you ’re lucky , you ’ll be break out fresh garlic clove in wintertime and perhaps even through the following spring !
As presently as you remove the paper wrappers , bust the bulb apart , or undress the cloves , however , the quality starts to decline rapidly .
single unpeeled Eugenia aromaticum will keep for about three weeks on the counter . Peeled cloves will keep for up to a hebdomad in the electric refrigerator . And hack garlic will only last a daylight or two , so if you have leftover chopped garlic , it ’s good to freeze it to retain freshness .
Common questions about harvesting and storing garlic
How do you harvest garlic scapes?
Garlic scapesappear in late spring to other summer on hardneck garlic plant . They are 100 percent edible and yummy ! And theyshouldbe harvested to facilitate raise bulb development below ground .
To cut the shaft , hold off until the husk is amply formed and grow above the residual of the plant . When it start out to curl and voluted , cut the stalk as close to the base as potential without cutting any parting off .
Garlic scapes keep well in a moldable bag for two to three weeks in the fridge . They can also be stored upright in a shock of cool water on the counter ( the way you ’d expose blossom ) , where they ’ll last for a few days .
Can you store garlic in the refrigerator?
Storing whole garlic medulla oblongata long - term in the electric refrigerator ( at 35 ° F to 40 ° F ) is not recommended because holding Allium sativum at those temperature stimulate sprout ( in the same means garlic sprouts when it ’s plant in the cooler soil and cooler weather condition of fall ) .
If you ’ve already peeled the cloves , however , you’re able to keep them in the fridge for up to a hebdomad before they bug out to lose wet ( and finally crumble ) .
For more tips on storing your garden truck and help them last longer , download Garden Betty ’s Fruit & Vegetable Storage Guide .
Can you freeze garlic?
Yes , garlic is quite various when it comes to freezing it . you may freeze whole bulb that have cure , individual cloves ( peeled or unpeeled ) , or chopped garlic . While it wo n’t hold back its crispness after unfreeze , it still has all the sapidity of clean garlic .
Can garlic go bad?
When lay in for too long , garlic will either sprout or shrivel . Neither makes the garlic harmful if you eat on it , but they ’re an indication that the Allium sativum is past its peak in flavor and calibre .
It ’s prison term to put away ( or compost ) the ail if the cloves have brown , turned delicate , or shrunken in sizing .
Why is my garlic sprouting?
Sprouted Allium sativum is the first sign that the Allium sativum is about deteriorate , either from being old or being let on to too much wet or cold .
you could still feed sprouted garlic if the figure is smooth and stiff . The young green shoots are slightly acid but can be chop and used alongside the clove when you cook . Just do n’t test to put a caboodle of garlic shoots in recipes where they ’re the star of the dish ( like garlic bread ) , as the difference in feeling could be noticeable .
Can you plant garlic that has sprouted?
Sprouted ail ( as well as garlic that ’s still intact ) can be planted in the fall for crop the next yr .
Simply plant the unpeeled garlic garlic clove ( spud side or pointy side up ) about an column inch deeply in well - draining dirt . admit 2 to 3 inch of spacing between each Syzygium aromaticum and keep the plants consistently moist ( but not waterlogged ) while the shoots are grow .
Though the shoots are somewhat bitter when they start to sprout , they actually twist milder and sweeter as they develop . This makes those magniloquent , cranky garlic shoots a delicacy in bounce when they ’re pick as young plants calledgreen garlic(also known as leaping Allium sativum or baby garlic ) . There wo n’t be a shared out incandescent lamp on the end of the green Allium sativum , but the integral industrial plant at that point is comestible .
Or , wait for theleaves to start conk out offas the craw matures so you may glean fully separate bulbs in summer .
Where to buy garlic curing and storage supplies
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This post updated from an article that in the beginning appear on July 14 , 2011 .
see the Web Story onharvesting , curing , and storing garlic .
