Hiya everyone! I'm new to the board!
So we planted about 40 or so garlic last October in Texas. All the signs are there that the garlic is ready-- bottom 3-4 layers of leaves have browned, and the plant has 'fallen' over.
However when I go to harvest one, there is no development on the garlic bulb itself. It just looks like a really really (3-4 cm in diameter stalk) large onion chive.
Does this mean it is still not ready? Or worse off, did it lose out on some nutrient?
The underdeveloped bulb is VERY garlicky smell. Would that still be usuable if worse came to worse?
Thanks for any advice!
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GarlicMaven
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- Location: Mississippi
If you have hard stem garlic, the kind that has a curly seed head, then you have to remove those curly seed heads so that the garlic creates cloves.
These seed heads are called scapes [google garlic scapes]. You can use them just like garlic in recipes. Hard neck garlic has a tendency not to clove as much as soft neck garlic.
Whether your garlic cloves or not, you can use them in recipes. I can never understand why people dry their garlic, when it is so easy just to clean the bulbs and pop them into zip lock bags in the freezer.
These seed heads are called scapes [google garlic scapes]. You can use them just like garlic in recipes. Hard neck garlic has a tendency not to clove as much as soft neck garlic.
Whether your garlic cloves or not, you can use them in recipes. I can never understand why people dry their garlic, when it is so easy just to clean the bulbs and pop them into zip lock bags in the freezer.
What were you using your garlic for?farmerlon wrote:I had always read that you should never freeze Garlic ...
I tried it once, just to see what all the fuss was about, and it was truly nasty.
It's much better to store garlic in the traditional "dry" way (not frozen) in my opinion.
In cooking things like stews, soups, casseroles, frozen garlic works well and is NOT nasty.
Of course it would not be appropriate for fresh use, but I use it in cooking all the time. My girlfriend, who is very particular about how her food tastes, prefers my frozen garlic to any other kind.
Funny, I always dry mine too. (I say always like I have been growing it for eons) This is my third year. But the previous two harvests I dried and braided the stalks. I like the way that garlic braid looks hanging in the kitchen right by my jars of dried herbs. 
I guess it's all just personal preference.
I guess it's all just personal preference.Yes, I prefer Garlic for "fresh use" (stored dry)... even when making sauces and soups, I would prefer the fresh garlic over frozen. To me, the color and texture of frozen garlic is so "off".Leolady wrote:What were you using your garlic for?farmerlon wrote:I had always read that you should never freeze Garlic ...
I tried it once, just to see what all the fuss was about, and it was truly nasty.
It's much better to store garlic in the traditional "dry" way (not frozen) in my opinion.
In cooking things like stews, soups, casseroles, frozen garlic works well and is NOT nasty.
Of course it would not be appropriate for fresh use, but I use it in cooking all the time. My girlfriend, who is very particular about how her food tastes, prefers my frozen garlic to any other kind.
Besides, Garlic stores so easily, I just don't really see the need in freezing it.
It seems that most garlic "experts" (web sites devoted to garlic) agree ...
https://www.garlic-central.com/freezing.html
But, hey, if you like it frozen, no problem... to each his own.
Ahhhhhhhh, the color and texture is not why I use frozen garlic anyway.
I use it for the flavor, which is intact. I have said previously that the texture would not be the same as fresh. And anyway, when fresh is available [right from the garden], I use fresh.
To me, a dried up bulb of garlic is not FRESH! So if I can't have a real fresh bulb of good garlic, I would prefer frozen [for cooking purposes].
I use it for the flavor, which is intact. I have said previously that the texture would not be the same as fresh. And anyway, when fresh is available [right from the garden], I use fresh.
To me, a dried up bulb of garlic is not FRESH! So if I can't have a real fresh bulb of good garlic, I would prefer frozen [for cooking purposes].
Sooo...I started this string of "Harvesting Garlic" and here is step two of my problem....
I cured what I had, which looks like more of a small white onion than garlic, and don't think I got good results. They seem to not taste good. Bitter and dried up.
My steps for curing were I hung them up in our washer/dryer room on the clothesline for about 2-3 weeks. I have done our red onions this way and they turned out great.
Was it just the warm wet winter why they turned out this way or the harvesting process?
I cured what I had, which looks like more of a small white onion than garlic, and don't think I got good results. They seem to not taste good. Bitter and dried up.
My steps for curing were I hung them up in our washer/dryer room on the clothesline for about 2-3 weeks. I have done our red onions this way and they turned out great.
Was it just the warm wet winter why they turned out this way or the harvesting process?
Personally I don't see how they got done so quick. I sow mine in oct/nov and don't harvest until the end of summer. I think you just pulled them a little too soon maybe. I know you said you were watching for the bottom section of the plants to start dying, but maybe next time you should pull on or two and see how they're doing. If they're that small again, wait longer.
Not sure why they'd taste bitter. I pull small ones all the time for early use in the kitchen, as a matter of fact I used one tonight. Always tastes garlic only smaller. Maybe there's a soil issue
Is anything else interplanted with your garlic that could be throwing off the taste? Good soil?
Not sure why they'd taste bitter. I pull small ones all the time for early use in the kitchen, as a matter of fact I used one tonight. Always tastes garlic only smaller. Maybe there's a soil issue
Is anything else interplanted with your garlic that could be throwing off the taste? Good soil?Hmm GardenRN, interesting you say that I pulled them too soon. Maybe that is the problem. It's very hard to tell when you are supposed too. Yes, I've heard that you wait until the leaves die off at the bottom, but it does sound like alot of people wait almost a year. Wow, I don't remember it taking that long last summer!
Well the good news is, I only pulled up half the crop. So I will leave in the other half and see how it goes.
And yes, the soil in there should be good. Had tomatoes in the same bed last summer. And I add compost when I have it.
Thanks for replying!
Well the good news is, I only pulled up half the crop. So I will leave in the other half and see how it goes.
And yes, the soil in there should be good. Had tomatoes in the same bed last summer. And I add compost when I have it.
Thanks for replying!
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GreenThumbsUp
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