Garlic is my favorite herb, both medicinally and for flavor. There is nothing better than a warm baked clove of garlic spread on a piece of straight out of the oven homemade wedge of sourdough bread. And for someone with a history of chronic infection, high quality garlic oil capsules are a staple in my medicine cabinet.
But garlic is also one of those things that someone as disorganized as I am can grow with ease. It doesn’t need constant care. You plant it, toss some water on it during dry spells, and leave it alone to do it’s thing. It even acts as its own pest deterrent! In other words, it’s the perfect plant: it grows itself and everyone in my family will eat it!
Today was THE DAY – the day the garlic was ready for harvest. Actually, the garlic was ready a few days ago but life happens, so I guess I should say today was the day I was ready to harvest the garlic! This is my 7th year growing garlic successfully. My organic seed garlic came from Bountiful Gardens, a John Jeavons organization that no longer has a retail shop. I believe their source was Big John’s Garden in Oregon. But as you know, being the disorganized gardener that I am, I can’t be 100% sure. All I know, is that my first few years were a bit rough, but by carefully selecting and reseeding the largest heads, I now have garlic that has acclimated very well to Central California’s climate. I believe that this is my third year of being able to grow and store enough fresh garlic for seed and for use for an entire year. I did cut it pretty close, I think I have only 6 heads left from last years harvest!
This year was an awesome harvest – most of my bulbs were around 2 inches across with some larger, some smaller. The size of the bulbs actually slowed down my harvest. Because of my cats, I plant into chicken wire so they are unable to dig up my garden beds. This year, the bulbs were so large I had trouble fitting them through the openings!
Since I grow in the soft soil of raised beds, I use my fingers to gently reach into the soil under each bulb and push up while pulling on the leaves. It’s important to not damage the leaves or the roots until the bulb has pulled all of the nutrients and energy from them during the curing process.
Curing process?!? That sounds complicated! Hopefully you know me well enough by now to know that I don’t do complicated. All it means is that we let the garlic, leaves, and roots dry. Many people braid the garlic, but since I’m only growing for my own use, I don’t bother with tarting my garlic up with braids. Besides, garlic is best stored in a cool, dark area. Putting it on display shortens it’s lifespan. Did I also mention it’s easier and faster to do it my way?
I used to cure my garlic indoors but my family, while lovers of garlic, weren’t overly fond of the mess or the smell. Now, my garlic hangs out in a shady spot on our back patio. While garlic can take up to 2 months to completely dry, here in our triple digit, low-humidity summers, the drying process usually takes just a few weeks. As you can see, I’m using an old clothes drying rack to hang the garlic from. After it’s completely dry, I’ll trim the roots and leaves and take a few layers of the papery skin off to remove the dirt. Then, I’ll store the garlic in the black rack you see at the top of the picture. This is nothing more than a tray from the nursery that six-packs of impatiens came in. I’ll place the rack on top of some wooden blocks on a shelf in my pantry so that air can circulate freely around the bulbs. That’s it, done. And all I had to do was water a few times!