The Garlic Harvest

[wayneyquo]

Once it has dried where is the best place to keep it?

Best to plat it and hang it in your kitchen. Somewhere light and warm. the dark & cold will encourage it to start to sprout which you don't want.

[WillyNelson]

I'm pretty chuffed with our crop this year. Half bought bulbs (closest to the front) and half from last year's crop (at the back). With some onions in the middle.

[Hazel at the Hill]

Best to plat it and hang it in your kitchen. Somewhere light and warm. the dark & cold will encourage it to start to sprout which you don't want.

Didn't know that!

I always thought that I shouldn't store mine in a plait in the kitchen as it will be too warm/humid there, so I store them in the garage (cool, dark), and it lasts pretty well up till June without going soft/sprouty.

I'd like to hang them in the kitchen though (as they look pretty to me!), so might give that a bash this year.

[Alison]

Personally I think that garlic stores much better when not in the light and the humidity in our kitchen would be far too high.

[Kaiya]

Mine are drying on blowaway shelves about 6 inches above the ground at the moment - this weather is bad for everything bar drying garlic Last year I dried them on blowaway shelves in a blowaway as they needed protection from the rain last year - not an issue this year! After a couple of weeks drying like that I hang mine in the garage (tied to a bamboo pole as shown below) which has a small window but is otherwise cool and low light. I put little ones that are too small or leafless to hang into a soil sieve. I didn't lose a single shallot, onion or garlic to rot though some of the very smallest in the sieve decided after about 8 months or so to start growing again.


Last years lot hanging.

[wayneyquo]

Nice crop. Are you supplying the whole of West Sussex lol

[wayneyquo]

Yes and I'll try storing some in my shed as well as the kitchen to see how they store thanks.

[wayneyquo]

I suppose it's down to the individual and the climate. Some say warm and light, some say cool. I think that if you have a good system going that works for you,, just stick to that. I also think that a lot is down to the variety grown as some varieties store better than others anyway.

[JustPotteringAbout]

The garlic in my garden didn't come to much, which wasn't unexpected
I sowed into paper cups in January (when I took on the garden) and planted out in spring.
I'll have the opportunity this year to prepare the soil properly.

[wayneyquo]

May try that next time

[Monkey_honk]

My garlic is shocking. I may well not try next year. My bulbs rotted in the ground

[wayneyquo]

The garlic in my garden didn't come to much, which wasn't unexpected
I sowed into paper cups in January (when I took on the garden) and planted out in spring.
I'll have the opportunity this year to prepare the soil properly.

I'm doing that this year. Sowing in 3" pots in October. Leave in cold greenhouse until February then plant out. I need time to prepare a raised bed.
Anyone else had experience of doing it that way?
Could do with some tips on this method please.

[BUFFS]

Thank you. Gonna save the best bulb from each variety and off we go again lol.

Might try planting some in October as normal but in 3" pots and leave in a cold greenhouse until February then plant them out once spouted. This should give me time to get the new planting bed ready. They say that this is a good way of doing it, but I've not tried it before.
Has anyone had any success with this method?

i used that method this year and it worked well,it even offset the effects of the cold spring as it was the end of april when they went into the ground,i lifted them yesterday,a fairly good crop,and they are now hanging up ,drying,and its tipping down...

[wayneyquo]

Garlic from Growing to storing

HHere are my efforts for this year from the growing stage through drying to platting.
I've had a good first year and look forward to October when I start again.

[Farmer_Gyles]

My elephant garlic is the size of normal garlic, and my normal garlic is the size of large marbles .... looks like none of it split into cloves .... the long cold spring lost us a good 2 months of growth ....
I'll dry most of it and re-plant it in October ....