Garlic for 2024, one new variety this year

[larry_stewart]

I still have about 8 More hanging in the garage waiting to be used. If they last through June, then I will have successfully planted harvested enough for a full year, which was my goal. One of my issues is at about 10 months storage , they start to sprout. I dont mind the sprouts, but the bigger they get, the quality of the clove goes down. This year only a few sprouted, I try to use the ones that are sprouting first.

 

[blissful]

Of the garlic we don't use for seed, or give away or share, 90% of it gets peeled by the quart (quick blanch, slip off the peel), then minced in the food processor, and packed into zip lock bags and flattened, or jars and frozen.

 

[bethzaring]

Last year I grew 400 bulbs with the intent to dehydrate slices and make, what I hope, is a life time supply of garlic powder. Boy, was that a long project! 400 bulbs was way too many to cure and process. Plus, I am at the point that I have begun to hire help to continue to garden. I am not as agile as I used to be and weeding has gotten to be beyond my capabilities. I have a woman who works between 4 and 8 hours a week to help keep my garden in shape. Anyway, here are photos of my garlic making powder project. There are 2 and a half pounds of powder in the mylar bags and I estimate 5 quarts of powder once the dehydrated slices in the jars are processed. Plus what I have used over the winter.

 

[Kathleen]

One of my varieties is called Music. I'm unsure what the other as it was garden store bulk.

 

[blissful]

I still have about 8 More hanging in the garage waiting to be used. If they last through June, then I will have successfully planted harvested enough for a full year, which was my goal. One of my issues is at about 10 months storage , they start to sprout. I dont mind the sprouts, but the bigger they get, the quality of the clove goes down. This year only a few sprouted, I try to use the ones that are sprouting first.

I can't know for sure but it seems to me that if we have a less humid fall and let the garlic cure (hanging under protection from rain) in the wind for a month, then it lasts the longest. A 2 week cure and they won't last all winter.
We have little to no sprouting after last fall with a long cure time. I don't remember if we had a lot of humidity or rain last year.
I'm guessing you had a long cure time to make them last so long.

 

[pepperhead212]

The Music stores very well, and is one of the larger ones, as well. The Estoninan Red, while the largest I have grown, is also the worst one for storing, which is why I grow only 40-45 every season, and use it first (and plant the largest in Oct.). The Georgian Fire stores a little better, and is almost as large, so I use that second. Metechi, while one of the smaller ones I grow, lasts until the next harvest! It never made sense that the smallest would store the longest!

I have never been a fan of dried garlic, even when I did it myself. I think it has something to do with the oxidation of the sulfur compounds - like what happens with the fresh if it sits around too long minced up. When I was first starting out cooking, and fresh garlic was not always available where I was, there was dry "minced" garlic, which was better, IMO, and those pieces, before dehydrating, must have been ¼" or so, which is probably the reason - much less surface area, and less of the "juice" to oxidize. But now, I'll stick with the fresh. Back then all we had was dried basil, too, and I can't remember the last time I even saw that!
How times change...

 

[larry_stewart]

After picking my garlic, I let it dry a few days out in the sun, then I put them on a wire screen, tops hanging off and blow a fan on it for a week or two. Finally, I have a bunch of screws in my garage wall so I put them in bunches oof 4 -6 (depending on bulb size) and hang the bunches on my garage wall. usually 4 -6 bulbs last a month my house, so I=I can tell how many months left just by looking at the wall. ( I have 1 1/2 bunches left, it's going to be close). I also bunch them by the look of their outer skins. The ones that are paper white and dry, I know will last longer. The ones that are slightly yellow and feel a little tacky, need to be eaten first. A small percent do dry out and are inedible,