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  • From: Bobbett <bobbett AT windstream.net>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] storing garlic
  • Date: Tue, 23 Feb 2010 15:29:33 -0500

Marty Kraft wrote:

How do you cure garlic?
I cure mine by hanging it in small bunches in the hot (but airy) tobacco barn on our farm. I do it for at least 3 wks before I check the stems to see if they're still moist. Once the stems are dry, then I begin cleaning & sorting the garlic. Elephant garlic can take up to 6 wks to cure properly due to its size.

I keep mine stored in the barn until temps start to get chilly, then I bring it indoors and keep it in baskets in an unheated room where I keep the windows open all winter.
How long should it hold?

Softneck garlic should go for 6-12 months (generally)--as long as it's wrapped well and was harvested on time and not too late. Hardneck garlic stores for less time. Mine, come around December, start to get growth inside so that when you cut it open (for cooking) you have to remove the little green shoot that's growing inside.

Elephant garlic can store for up to 18 mos.

Mine from last summer is mostly rotten by now.

Yes, that's normal. They tend to dry out. I *believe* optimal storage temps are 35-50 with good humidity.
This yr, for some reason, 90% of my hardneck garlic is still firm and not too dried out as of this date. Almost all the cloves do have that little green shoot growing inside, but none is visibly sprouting or growing like onions will do in storage (yet).

My elephant garlic had put out and 1/8" roots on the cloves when I planted them a few days ago. This is the first yr I've ever seen that.

Bobbett, KY/zone 6





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