IAM WAITING, WATCHFULLY, FOR THE MOMENT–the garlic-harvest moment. Unlike its botanical cousin the onion, garlic doesn’t want to be left to go completely brown in the garden–but digging it too soon can diminish storage life as well. How to tell just when to harvest your homegrown garlic–and if yours is ready, how to stash it for a long-lasting, firm supply, along with all my other garlic how-to’s.
THE LECTURE that he’s been giving for a number of years is not-so-subtly called “Kill Your Lawn.” Ecological horticulturist Dan Jaffe Wilder knows that starting over and creating an entire native habitat instead of a lawn isn’t for everyone. But Dan just wants to grab our attention and get us to start to make some changes at least in the way we care for the turfgrass we do want in our landscapes. And maybe give up a little square footage of it to some other kind of more diverse planting, too, like the wild strawberries (Fragaria virginiana, inset). Alternative, more eco-focused styles of lawn care, along with some lawn alternatives is what he and I talked about on the podcast. Dan is Director of Applied Ecology at Norcross Wildlife Foundation in Wales, Massachusetts, and its 8,000-acre sanctuary. He’s also co-author with Mark Richardson of the book “Native Plants for New England Gardens.”
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Thanks for this post, it is my first time growing garlic and I can use all the help with this part of the stage of growing it. You are correct it has been an easy crop so far. My garlic scapes came up about 4 weeks ago, so maybe soon…
You are a gem to remind us all to harvest such a beloved crop! I’m still making garlic scape pesto, garlic scape dip, garlic scape omelets! I live in Maine and we are ahead of schedule.
About right on schedule here in the PNW. Have you ever heard the scapes called “whistles”? That is my preferred term. Since the snow peas also ripen up at the same time we enjoy eating a combo that we call “Peas and Whistles”.
Thanks for all the info. I just harvested mine and with the hot dry weather, it cured well. I did think to move it into the garage before last nights rain shower. Yea! Garlic is so easy and worthwhile to grow.
Thank you for this well timed post. Here in Missouri my first garlic was harvested last night and one head roasted for dinner. Thank you also for sharing your wealth of knowledge. My garden is better because of you.
My softneck garlic keeled over this week, which I took as a sign that it was tired, and would like to be laid out to dry.
I stored my garlic in my basement, hanging it up by string and I am still using it a year later. The average temperature of a basement (low 50’s ) seems to be the perfect storage place. As I need it, I then bring it up and store it in an old yogurt container with holes punched in the top- which I keep in the refrigerator. You don’t need a fancy garlic container- – recycling is the way to go!
Welcome, Don. I store mine similarly, but find that the heads begin to get looses (cloves separate a bit) by early spring at the latest, hence my bags of frozen garlic cloves with a portion of the harvest. I often wish we all had root cellars with various compartments ideally sited to different crops…and not like the basement itself, which here houses the furnace, which depending on the outside temperature goes on more or less often, altering the temp in the basement by a few degrees (and also the humidity).
Can you store garlic in burlap sacks?
Hi, Teresa. I suppose you could but I like something even airier like mesh.
Thanks for the great tips on harvesting. I am in Birch Bay, Wa. Cut my scapes 7 days ago and harvested a few of my Susanville garlics today. I am proceeding with caution as this is my first experience with garlic. I planted the soft necks. What hard neck varieties do you grow?
Hi, Vernon. I grow ‘German Extra Hardy,’ also called ‘German Stiffneck.’ You can get it here.