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4 Dec 2009

Garlic Harvest


Time to get your garlic out of the ground, if its not already!
Category: General
Posted by: christina
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The wet weather is by no means good garlic harvesting weather . . . . but in most Hobart gardens its probably time to get it out anyway. Garlic planted around ANZAC day is usually ready around late Nov or early Dec. If you planted later in May or June you might need to wait a bit longer.

Ideally garlic should be harvested when the soil is as dry as possible, but who's had dry soil lately?? If you're not sure if yours is "ready" pull out a big looking bulb and check to see if the cloves are fully segmented inside. The aim is to harvest after they're segmented, and before the outer skin splits to let in dirt that will stop them keeping a long time.

Spread your harvested bulbs out in a sheltered place to dry a bit, and strip off a few outer leaves to get them clean. Check to make sure there's no rot on any of them. If there is, take the rot affected ones to the kitchen to use the good bits, including the stem! Fresh picked garlic is mild, juicy and DELICIOUS!

Once they've dried for several days, the tops should have wilted enough to make platting easy. If you get them before the leaves become brittle they can be formed into plaits for hanging in a cool airy place to finish drying. We hang ours between the kitchen and living area where there is good air flow, and i'm happy to report no vampires have been seen in either place.

 


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