Picking the Season's Garlic
We have lots of freshly picked garlic here at my Bedford, New York farm!
Determining when garlic is ready to harvest can be tricky. If it’s harvested too soon, the cloves are small and underdeveloped. If harvested too late, the clove heads begin to separate, making them more vulnerable to decay. The real indicator is the plant itself - when the bottom leaves have turned brown, and the top leaves are still green. Not long ago, my gardeners, Ryan McCallister and Brian O'Kelly, harvested our entire crop of garlic. All our varieties came from Keene Garlic, a family owned farm in Wisconsin.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
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- I plant lots of garlic at my Bedford, New York farm and up at Skylands, my home in Maine. Garlic is divided into two categories – the supermarket variety, softneck, which produces long-lasting bulbs with many cloves around a soft center stem, and hardneck, which are noted for their stiff central stalk, fewer cloves, relatively short shelf life, and intriguingly complex flavors.
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- Our garlic comes from Keene Garlic. We always get a variety of garlic bulbs for my garden. I have been planting Keene Organics garlic for several years, and am always so pleased with their growth and taste. We got our delivery earlier last fall and planted the garlic in November – it’s always one of the last crops we plant before winter.
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- Here is the garlic the day we planted it – each head was carefully broken to separate all the cloves and then the cloves were grouped together and placed in berry boxes along with a proper marker. For the best results, always plant the largest cloves from each bulb and save the smaller ones for eating.
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- The garlic cloves were soaked in fish emulsion to give them a fertilizer boost and to rid them of possible diseases, which could have been carried by the garlic. Well spaced holes were made where the garlic was placed and then planted at least three to four inches deep.
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- Here’s the bed after all the garlic was planted last autumn. The garlic bed is located behind my main greenhouse not far from my berry bushes.
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- By April, the garlic plants are already well established and several inches tall. Garlic loves a rich fertile loam soil or a silty loam soil. It also grows best in an area that drains well – the cloves can rot if they sit in water or mud.
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- Here is the garlic bed in May – it’s growing great.
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- In early June, one can see the scapes beginning to form. Garlic scapes are the flower buds of the garlic plants. They’re ready about a month before the actual garlic bulbs. Scapes are delicious and can be used just like garlic.
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- Scapes can be cut when the center stalks are completely formed and curled ends are seen growing above the rest of the plants.
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- It is pretty easy to tell when the garlic is ready to pick – just look at the plant. Once the top of the garlic plant begins to die back, it’s time. It is important to wait for a dry day to harvest – this allows the soil to dry out, helps to prevent rot, and makes it much easier to pull the stalks and bulbs from the ground.
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- Garlic bulbs are several inches deep, so Ryan loosens the soil first with a pitchfork. He does this about six inches from each bulb to avoid puncturing it.
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- A pitchfork is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines at the end. It is used to lift and pitch or throw loose material. We also use it to harvest our garlic and onions.
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- Each garlic is pulled out carefully from the base of the leaves so that the head comes out completely. I love to experiment with the different types to see what grows best in my garden.
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- The whole garlic is called a ‘head’, a ‘bulb’, or a ‘knob. ‘ Each small, individual segment of a garlic head is a clove. Garlic is both delicious and nutritious. It is known to lower cholesterol, decrease the risk of coronary artery disease, and is an excellent source of minerals and vitamins, such as vitamins B6 and C.
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- This is Elephant garlic – our biggest variety. Jumbo sized Elephant garlic will have about eight to 11 cloves depending on the size.
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- Look at this pair. The garlic on the left still had a scape at the top. If the garlic scapes are not pulled from the plant, the garlic’s energy continues to go to the flower – notice how much smaller the head is compared to the one on the right.
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- Here is a closer look at the flower bud of the scape.
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- The next step is to prepare the garlic for curing. Curing is a process of letting the garlic dry in preparation for long-term storage. There’s no need to wash garlic – the point is to dry them out; however, they can be cleaned and trimmed.
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- Brian brushes off any debris and dirt from the bulb and the roots. On the left are two cleaned garlic heads. On the right, one fresh from the soil and ready to be cleaned.
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- Brian then trims all the roots at the bottom of the garlic head.
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- The green leaves can be left intact during the curing process. The bulb continues to draw energy from the leaves until all the moisture evaporates.
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- Here’s Ryan placing the garlic in my old corn crib – it has good ventilation and overhead protection from any rain.
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- These garlic heads are plump and healthy. All the garlic will cure here for several weeks. Once the garlic is cured, Ryan will set aside the most beautiful heads with the biggest cloves to use as garlic seeds next season. Well-cured, well-wrapped garlic bulbs will keep six to eight months or longer. The best storage temperature for garlic is between 60 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit, with low humidity at about 60-percent – and never store garlic in the refrigerator. I will soon have lots of delicious garlic to use and share.
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