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are still green. It isn't necessary to wait until all the leaves die and fall over like onions do or you will encounter problems to arise when later storing the bulbs. The spores of fungus disease can enter bulbs when they are left in the ground and are over ripe. It also allows the bulb wrappers (thin skin tissue) to rot away leaving the bulbs exposed with nothing left to give protection to the cloves.

The Asiatic group of Artichokes garlic need to be harvested as soon as the lower leaves start to die down, otherwise they will be over-ripe.

To make sure that you time the harvest correctly, you can dig down around a few plants to inspect the bulbs but this exercise must be done with a great deal of care not to damage the roots. When they are ready make sure that they are removed from the ground without injuring the bulbs. If your soil is loose, you can gently pull them up by their necks, otherwise use a fork to gently loosen the surrounding soil by pushing it deeper than the bulbs and lifting with care. Once lifted, handle them carefully, never bang the bulbs together to shake off the soil. Take them out of the sun, as this will dry them out too quickly.

Curing Garlic

Garlic likes to dry gradually to allow excess moisture in the roots and leaves to evaporate or withdraw into the bulb. Wait until the roots and necks are completely dried and it does not emit a typical garlic odour when cut, then that is the time to trim it. It often takes three or four weeks to get to that stage, longer for large bulbs.

Storing Garlic

Store the garlic in a dry place out of the sun but never put them into plastic bags or sealed containers. Some varieties store better and longer than others, Silverskins can be stored longest, with Artichokes second longest but Rocamboles are the shortest storing varieties. There are four factors that affect the storage; how well it was grown and cured, its variety type, temperature and humidity.

You must have noticed that the garlic you buy at the supermarket doesn't keep very long after you take it home. The reason is that they usually store it at 32F. It then stays in limbo and can do so for a few months. Once they put it on their shelves for sale, time like the rest of us catches up with it and it either deteriorates rapidly or starts to sprout. Garlic stores best at 55 - 65 F. and between 40 - 60 % humidity and it is important that there is airflow around the bulbs. Basically, any dark, cool place is fine.

Learn more about this author, Terry Blackburn.
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