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Writer's pictureJere Folgert

Harvesting this Year's Garlic

Updated: Jun 17

By summer, your garlic bulbs will be flexing like they just hit the gym.  These underground warriors will likely be ready for harvest when the bottom three or so leaves yellow and practically throw themselves on the ground, like a stage diver at a heavy metal concert. This flamboyant display is their way of saying, "Dude, the party's over, dig me up!"


Remember, with garlic, procrastination is the enemy. You harvest early or you risk a grumpy, shriveled bulb, with exposed cloves. So, when the harvest siren song blares, have a plan for these pungent powerhouses. Think of it like a garlic boot camp - cool, dark, and definitely not next to the oven. These guys need a rest after their head-banging growth spurt. Garlic harvest: Let is go forth and conquer our garlic patch, and unleash the flavor!

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Bowl of Garlic

Here at  GroEat Farm, in Bozeman, Montana, It is August 2nd and we are absorbed in harvesting the season’s harneck garlic crop; Right around 10,000 plants. GroEat Farm, is a family-owned farm in Montana. It was only a month ago, when we harvested the garlic scapes. Garlic scapes are the curling, non-flowering “flower” stalks of garlic plants that appear a few weeks after the first leaves. We remove the scapes from the top of the hardneck garlic plant to encourage larger bulb growth. On a few selected garlic plants, we allow the scapes to mature. Eventually, the scape develops a casing that looks like a plum bob, about an inch in diameter and three-six inches long, housing countless teardrop-shaped bulblets (or bulbils) with pale purple to brown skin. These bulbils, look like tiny garlic cloves ranging from the size of a grain of rice to a kernel of sweet corn.


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Above: Removing a Garlic Scape

Harvesting hardneck garlic at the right time is very important. Determining when to harvest is probably the trickiest part of the process, and every year is different based on weather conditions. If you harvest too early, the bulbs will be small and may not have the necessary paper wrappers needed for storage. If you wait too long the important and delicate paper wrappers that seal the garlic head - may dissolve, split, or will separate from the head, which can result in dehydration and even the growth of a blue mold called Penicillium hirsutum. Penicillium decay of stored bulbs is common if the garlic was harvested too late.


To determine when to harvest our hardneck garlic, we use a three-step approach as a rule of thumb.


  • First, we wait until the bottom three leaves are yellow-brown and the top leaves remain green. These three or so leaves likely will be dropping towards the ground.

  • Second, we harvest just one garlic bulb (starting in mid-July) and inspect it carefully. How does the bulb look? Size, shape, color, wrapper integrity? The shape of the individual cloves should be visible under the wrappers. If the bulb still appears underdeveloped, we wait another week.

  • Third, we harvest another garlic bulb a week later to determine if it is time to harvest all of the garlic based on our inspection. Because each leaf represents a wrapper layer on the bulb, we do not want to wait until all the leaves to turn brown, as there will be no wrapper layers on the bulb. We harvest garlic when the soil is dry, typically a week or so after a rain or after irrigation has been turned off. This helps ensure the garlic bulbs are dry on the outside.


Now that you know when to harvest garlic, you’ll want to know the best procedure for how to harvest garlic bulbs from the garden. Grabbing the foliage and giving it a pull often results in a handful of foliage with no garlic attached (or even worse, a damaged bulb). It helps to loosen the soil with a garden fork before harvesting. This freshly-harvested garlic can be easily bruised so we carefully remove excess soil using a brush, although you can leave most of that dirt on as we'll take care of it later. We never wash the garlic and we do not leave freshly harvested garlic in the sun.


Curing : Transforming Garlic into a Kitchen Powerhouse: The Art of Curing

Curing is like a spa day for your garlic, transforming it from a fresh harvest into a long-lasting kitchen hero.


Here's the magic:

  • Water Be Gone! Resist the urge to wash your garlic. Curing needs the natural skin intact to keep moisture at bay. Think of it like a built-in raincoat protecting the delicate cloves inside.

  • Leave it All On: Don't be tempted to trim the stalks, leaves, or roots just yet. These leafy greens act as solar panels, drawing energy towards the bulb for one last growth spurt before slumber.

  • The Great Transformation: Find a well-ventilated room bathed in gentle shade, or a similar spot outdoors. Direct sunlight is a bit too harsh for our garlic friends, potentially altering their flavor profile. Imagine sunburnt garlic cloves – not ideal.

  • A Time for Patience: Give your garlic some TLC for 3 to 4 weeks. During this time, separate the bulbs generously, laying them bulb-side down. Picture a garlic slumber party, with each guest having ample space to breathe.


As the weeks progress, witness the transformation. The papery skin will dry and crisp, the leaves will turn a warm amber, and the stalks will become firm. This signals that your garlic is cured and ready to add its pungent punch to your culinary creations for months to come.


Bonus Tips for Garlic Nirvana:

  • Climate Check: If you live in a humid area, consider laying the garlic on mesh screens to promote better airflow and prevent mold growth.

  • Temperature Talk: Ideally, aim for a curing temperature between 60-80°F (15-27°C) for the best results.

  • The Sensory Test: Once cured, a gentle squeeze of the bulb shouldn't yield any give. If it feels soft, it might need a bit more curing time.


Cleaning consists of trimming the leaves and roots and removing the dirty outer wrappers. If the roots are crispy dry the roots and dirt will come off with a couple of rubs with a glove. Another trick is to rub the roots on a foam sanding block, used to sand drywall. If the roots are not crispy dry, use kitchen scissors or shears to trim them with snips. Trim the tops, leaving an inch or so of the stem intact, being careful not to cut the skins protecting the individual cloves.

We leave about an inch and a half of the stem on hardnecks which make cracking or popping a clove easy. The papery wrapping protects the garlic and keeps it fresh. Remove just the dirtiest outer layers of wrappers, and place the clean bulbs in mesh bags or horticulture boxes, and label.



 

Jere Folgert is the owner of GroEat Garlic Farm in Bozeman, Montana. GroEat Farm is a small, sustainable family farm located in the beautiful Hyalite Foothills, in the shadows of the Gallatin Mountain Range.  The hardneck varieties that they grow on their farm flourish, due to the combination of the cold winters, temperate summers, moist spring, and the dynamic alluvial soils, washed down from the Gallatin Range.







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