Garlic Harvest!
Sunday, June 18, 2006
On Friday, I mentioned that it would soon be time to harvest the garlic. Well that moment came sooner than I was expecting, as last night, we decided to go for it.This is the first bulb we pulled. It was plucked from its earthly womb at about 9:00 p.m. last night -- the only time it was cool enough yesterday to do any serious gardening work.
We decided to pull half of our crop and leave the rest to grow a little while longer. We cleaned these up and now they'll hang in our kitchen for at least a month to dry. In the meantime, our apartment is perfumed by a wonderful fresh garlicky scent. We don't mind it... but I hope we aren't reeking of garlic when we walk out the door!
The garlic is perhaps my most favorite of all the edible things we grow in the garden. There is just something very special about it. Maybe it's because it takes so long to grow. It's hidden under the ground all winter long and we can't see how it's coming along until June. Digging for it is like finding hidden treasures, and once those treasures are unearthed, we'll be able to enjoy them -- one by one -- for the next several months in the dishes we cook. I just love everything about garlic.
5 Comments:
Beautiful garlic. This year is the first I have planted any and I just dug my first head today kind of experimentally to see if it was really ready - since the plant had flopped over. It looks pretty good, but how long does it have to dry and do I keep the stem attached? Thanks for any advice.
If the leaves are turning brown and the plant flops over, the garlic is probably ready. We leave about 3 inches of the stem and hang the bulbs to dry or "cure" for about one month. It should be ready to use by then. Acutally, you could use it right away; it's just that it won't have as strong a taste as it would once it's been dried. Good luck... and enjoy!
I just love garlic. It is a staple in our food, since we aren't onion fans.. How long did it take from start to finish to get them??
We planted in late October and we're just harvesting now so... it took about 8 months. A long wait!
Thanks Christa. Glad to hear I can use it now -- I'm not sure if I could wait a whole month just to try some.
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