Last weekend, I dug up one of my German Extra Hardy hardneck garlic to include in our gift basket of veggies. I was glad to see that it was coming along nicely.
Not quite there yet, I'm guess it needs at least a couple of more weeks in the garden. A few leaf tips are just beginning to turn yellow. At this point, I've stopped watering. Hopefully, we will all get a good garlic harvest this year.
I still haven't decided where to cure my garlic yet. The attic is too hot, the garage is not vented very well and the basement is too damp and cool. With the weather turning hot quickly these days, I'm guessing the covered porch might be the best place. Where are you curing your garlic?
Whoa, that's a big tall garlic!
ReplyDeleteI cure my garlic in the covered patio.
Is Garlic always that tall cos if so mine is a failure! I was thinking of hanging it up in the potting shed to cure.
ReplyDeleteI pull all of my garlic on July 1 and cure on the covered porch. I think we all have the same shade/ventilation concerns!
ReplyDeleteI have been known to tie and hang my garlic in the shade of a big tree from one of the limbs.
ReplyDeleteLots of air flow and cooler. I have never had a problem with birds or other critters or creepy crawlies bothering it.. it is GARLIC afterall, and they really dont like the smell.
Wow Thomas, my garlic never gets that tall! I do get really nice size heads though. I lay my garlic on baking rakes on the covered porch for about a week or so. Then I try to braid it a little (difficult because it is hardneck) tie and hang it on the porch. When it is done. I hang it in the basement covered with brown paper bags. It lasts for the year.
ReplyDeleteYour little guy is a cutie :)
My hardnecks are much taller than the supermarket softnecks, which look pretty wimpy at this point. I hope the extra tallness doesn't deminish the size of the bulb!
ReplyDeleteThat garlic is tall, and the size of the bulb is also nice. I have pulled one of mine (accidentally) the other day. I had to open it. There were no cloves yet. It was one big bulb without cloves. I think that I will have to wait fall to harvest it.
ReplyDeleteI don’t know yet where I will be curing it.
WOW! That's amazing. I wish mine got to that size. I hang mine in the basement which is nice and cool, but not much circulation like you say. You can tell they're not curing properly for long term storage, but I'm almost done with them anyway. Next year I need to grow much, much, much more!!!
ReplyDeleteGoodness, it's HUGE ! Didn't know garlic got so big. Haven't grown it yet. It's beautiful !
ReplyDeleteJonathan is like your own personal measuring/yardstick! Great to see him again, he's so darn cute!
ReplyDeleteI need a darling garlic helper like you have! Harvesting would e much more fun that way. :D
ReplyDeleteMy elephant garlic is starting to dry down on the external leaves and the regular garlic is showing signs it would like to also but is not as obvious about it yet. I probably have a couple more weeks before I will seriously think about the garlic pull and drying process. When I do though, I tend to lay them out on the deck on the back side that is shaded by the house and let them do the first drying out there. If it is raining or damp out though, I immediately take them to the covered concrete floored breezeway between our garage and house. It has full ventilation, but is not in direct sun. I do the same thing for the onions when I am curing them as well.
I adore that photo! I can't decide if the garlic seems really tall because it is held by a child or if you have a tall child holding an even taller garlic.
ReplyDeleteI have not grown garlic yet, next year maybe. I have no idea where I would cure it though, the only covered area outside would be our front porch...
Wow, that garlic looks amazing! I had no idea it could grow that tall. Garlic is definitely on my list of things to plant and grow next season.
ReplyDeleteI just started following your blog, and wanted to say that your pictures are so clear and crisp looking. Do you use a special lens?
Sweet Jesus, Thomas, save your son from that giant predator!!!! He'll be eaten alive!!!!1
ReplyDeleteJonathan is such a cutie. Oh, and the garlic is impressive too. :)
ReplyDeleteI laid my garlic out on a table in the shade of the oak tree next to my garden. After a week or so I bundled them together (sort of a cheaters braid) and hung them on a wall on the north side of the house where they don't get hit by the sun. Later I'll hang them in a storage closet that doesn't get too warm or too cold.
Impressive, that is some monster garlic. Curing on a shaded porch seems to be the answer because you don't want to complicate things. After curing, you should, for an optimum garlic tasting, sample your fresh garlic varieties using a garlicboss garlic spreader because you're a garlic connoisseur.
ReplyDeleteSuch a cute kids and what BIG GARLIC you have!!! WOW!! I grew garlic for the first time. Someone gave me elephant garlic but when I harvested them I had nice size bulbs but they were all a single clove!! Not sure why!!
ReplyDeletehttp://connect-dots-garden.blogspot.com/2010/06/garlic-mysteries.html
thyme2garden - Thanks! No, I don't use any special lens. I have your basic run of the mill Nikon D60 camera.
ReplyDeleteWell in past years I've cured it in the garage. It made the whole garage smell just wonderful. I'm not sure about this year. I'm hoping to find enough space to hang it in the bike shed. I could imagine my husband getting upset if I dried it in the kitchen. I wouldn't have to worry about vampires though.
ReplyDeleteMy softnecks are nearly as tall as Jonathan's clove.
ReplyDeleteMine were dug today, and are split up between the shed and the house.
Covered patio:
ReplyDeletehttp://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Di5FEUV8sqI/SkEFJDH23DI/AAAAAAAACJA/xLgSQCZkL64/s1600-h/2009-06-22+Garlic.jpg
Well, at first I laid my garlic on the concrete at the covered end of the driveway but the husband didn't like that. Then I hung them on a line in the on the front porch but the kids were into them. So now they're braided and hanging on a hook in my kitchen. Next year I think I'll put them on the back porch, I couldn't this year because there were birds nesting. Talk about a mess!
ReplyDeleteWow, that garlic is so tall!
ReplyDeleteThomas, I have an old screen door over two sawhorses in the shed. It gets a little too hot in there, but It is better than the basement with a dehumidifier running 24/7 (and less expensive) If I had an open covered porch I would choose that. Looks like it will be mighty fine garlic when it is ready. I am already harvesting a few varieties that are showing the classic 4-6 dead leaves. If you err on the side of harvesting early, you are rewarded with longer storage. Too late, better bulb size.
ReplyDeleteWe cure our garlic under a covered area under the elevated sunroom and screened-in porch. Here's a link to the set-up:
ReplyDeletehttp://foodgardenkitchen.wordpress.com/2010/06/06/weekly-garden-update-june-56/
This was our first year growing garlic and it worked very well.
Wow, that's impressive. Little guy is adorable too!
ReplyDeleteThat is one monster garlic :-) A nice memorable family photo.
ReplyDelete