Garlic, dehydrate vs Freezing which is best?

[Gary350]

The leaves are drying out and turning brown, I think that means it is time to harvest the plants. NO garlic bulbs at all, 50 plants that all look like LEEKS. I sliced and dices one garlic plant it was good in Chinese stir fry. I don't think we can eat 50 plants today or this week so I need to consider dehydrating them or freezing them. Any suggestions?

[TZ -OH6]

It looks like it needs more time in the ground to me. The tips of all my leaves burn back about half way some times before the leaves actually die back. I sometimes wait until there are only 3-4-5 top leaves that are not dead all the way down to the stem. That leaves a wrapper 3-4-5 layers thick over the bulb still alive and intact to dry once the plant is pulled. Pulling the plants any later than (all leaves dead for example) that just means less of a wrapper on the bunch, not bad garlic.


If the garlic actually 'fails' you can usually expect to get a single round clove at the bottom.


As for freezing garlic cloves. I didn't care for the results. I don't know what to do for green onion-like garlic other than leave it in the ground.

[jal_ut]

Is that clump in the first picture your 50 plants?

If so, curious what you planted?

To get to your question: I would prefer to cut them up and dry them.

Now a word about garlic culture. If you want large bulbs, you plant large cloves in the fall and harvest the following summer when the leaves turn brown. Space the plants 6 inches.

[imafan26]

How did you plant your garlic? They look like leeks but they still look like they were planted too close together.

[Gary350]

I am guessing there might be 50 plants so I went and looked. The irrigation circle is 31" diameter. The garlics are about 4" apart in most places 5" in a few places. I planted these from grocery store garlic that I grew in TN last year. TN bulbs grew to about grocery store size garlic. I picked out several large cloves and planted them. I had a few garlic cloves given to me by a oriental lady I'm not sure what type garlic they are. The few I planted in August were all grocery store garlic. All the rest planted in November are grocery store garlic an a few garlics given to me. Picture was taken a month ago plants are not looking this nice anymore leaves are turning brown and drying up temperature is in the 90s this week. I pulled a garlic yesterday for a pot of beans I was surprised to find a 2" onion bulb identical to a small onion, no cloves just an onion. It sliced and dices just like a small onion but smelled like garlic it is very good in the beans. I sliced the whole plant right up to the leaves and put it all in the beans. Maybe the plants will be fine just to leave them in the soil for now. I'm still not sure why garlic turned into large Leek type onions with onion bulbs and no garlic cloves. I was planning to dehydrate one plant today just to see how it turns out.

The tiny 3" diameter palm tree in the center died a week of 21 degree winter weather killed it now I need to replace it with something. I might put a pecan tree in each of the 2 irrigation circles. The other palm tree is dead and the ever green tree needs to go. If we can't eat it we don't want it.

[jal_ut]

It seems that a small garlic clove planted will often make a round instead of a bulb with divided cloves. Perhaps this is also a result of the plants being a bit too crowded? To get the nice big multi-segmented bulbs, you need to plant the very largest cloves in the fall and space the plants 6 to 8 inches and fertilize well. They will likely send up a scape, but you can clip that and have it in your salad. Let the plants grow until the leaves turn brown.

I think you should let some of these you are growing grow for a while yet. They don't look done to me. Thin them a little if you want some to eat now. Enjoy!

[hendi_alex]

For the past two seasons, we have diced/minced garlic cloves, placed them in ice tray cells, and covered with olive oil. Once frozen, we place the cubes in a freezer bag. When treated this way, good quality is maintained from one season to the next.

[applestar]

My dad puts peeled garlic cloves in a jar (I'm thinking about 1/2 full) then fills to the top with soy sauce. Ready to use after a month. Good on grilled meats, eggplant, and any other garlicky soy sauce flavored recipes. Garlic turns Carmel colored at first and eventually black and are good for various uses in different stages of "pickling" as well.

[valley]

I've dried them, put them in olive oil also in vinegar. Each way works out well.