Garlic growing, harvesting, and storage

The word is getting out.....garlic is good for you. Many people are starting to realize that not only is it tasty in cooking but it has many health benefits.

Medicinal benefits: Natural anti-biotic and bacterial, microbial, and fungal growth inhibitor. This is due to the compound allicin which is a compound that is present in the liquid contained in the garlic bulbs.  

Extensive studies have been done on allicin and they all agree that garlic can address high blood pressure, high lipoprotein levels, artherosclerosis and fat deposition in blood vessels. 

Garlic has compounds that thin the blood and effect the immune system.  It boosts the immune system by stimulating white blood cells.  It is also considered an antioxidant and minimizes free radicals in the blood.

**Warning:  Too much of a good thing can be detrimental to your health.  Make sure you research and know natural botanicals and herbs before you start taking them.  The information on these blog pages is for informational/educational purposes only.  Information is not intended to take the place of a physician or holistic health care provider.

At Raisin' Acres we grow lots of garlic.  We use it for cooking, ourselves and our animals for its health benefits.  The two main types of garlic are hard-neck and soft-neck.  We prefer to grow hard-neck varieties here because they tend to store longer and have bigger cloves.  In each variety category there are many different types.  If you are getting into growing garlic and want to have fun reading about the types of garlic, go to Filaree Garlic Farm website and have at it.  Make sure you set aside some time to read though.

We plant our cloves in October for harvest the next summer.  We cultivate a bed and amend it with barn litter and compost to prepare it for the "seeds".  Make sure if you are picking a bed site that it is not in a place that your garlic would be sitting in water for long after it rains or it will rot. We plant the cloves 5-6 inches apart and 1 inch deep.

The spring after planting we wait for the "scapes" to appear and then pick them off.  Scapes are really garlic flowers before they bloom.  Picking them allows more energy to go into the bulb, ensuring bigger cloves when the garlic is mature. 

We dig the garlic plants up when they are about half brown.  We load up the wheelbarrow, take them down to the back porch and tie them into bunches.  If you have never done this, make sure not to get the bunches too tight or they will mold. Once in bunches they are hung under the porch until cured... in our climate it takes two to three weeks.  How do you know they are cured?  They are completely dried/brown and the skins peel easily.

 

The garlic is then taken down and prepared for storage. We cut the stems and roots off and gently brush the dirt off the outside.  We take special care to keep the white paper skins intact.  This helps with storage.

 

From there the garlic comes inside and is sorted into piles.

Pile 1~ All the garlic that is damaged or has loose or missing skin that needs to be eaten immediately.

Pile 2~ All the garlic (seed) we are saving to sell/plant for next year.  These are the biggest and nicest looking bulbs.

Pile 3~The rest.  We place it in mesh bags and store under the basement stairs until we need it.


Happy reading, planting, and harvesting!