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market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] Storing Garlic

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  • From: "Dave or Kathy Campbell" <dkcampbell AT southslope.net>
  • To: <Unschooler AT lrec.org>, "'Market Farming'" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Storing Garlic
  • Date: Wed, 24 Feb 2010 10:04:37 -0600

I constructed garlic curing racks very like the ones you describe--frames
holding 16' hog panels. In my case, the racks are 4 panels high, separated
by 18", the bottom one up 12" from the floor (so the whole rack is ~7 ft
high). I put plastic chicken fencing rolls on top the hog panels so the
garlic can't fall thru and then just lay the fresh-dug plants on there. So
the plants are not hung in bunches, but lay side by side along the racks
ventilated by air above and below. I put 2 rows of plants on each panel,
bulbs in & tops out, and can access each rack from either side. I do need a
step stool to work with the top rack. I keep all the barn doors open to
have a draft thru there, but don't otherwise use any special blower for
ventilation. Takes about 6 weeks to cure; I trim the tops leaving the bulbs
to further cure as soon as the stems are TOTALLY dry so as to make room for
the rest of the harvest. People driving by say they can smell my garlic
from the road!
I have 10 such racks, each 16 ft long by 4 shelves high, to handle my garlic
crop of ~14,000 bulbs each year. I also use the racks to dry potatoes,
shallots, and onions. The racks were not cheap to build, but now I have
them they can be used indefinitely. Just before harvest I clean each rack
thoroughly and dunk each roll of chicken fencing in bleach water to
sterilize.
Works for me!
==Dave Campbell / Tiffin IA / Zone 5a

-----Original Message-----
From: market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Leslie Moyer
Sent: Tuesday, February 23, 2010 11:11 PM
To: Market Farming
Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Storing Garlic

The guy I bought my seed garlic from had a nice, though simple, setup
for curing his garlic. He had an overhead trellis (but not a very tall
one--about 5 1/2' tall) built in his pole barn. Two of the structural
members of his barn walls served as two of the side "walls" of his
trellis and then he positioned two additional posts out toward the
center of the barn. Then he finished out the frame of the trellis with
additional 2x4s to frame out the sides of the "ceiling" of the trellis.
Then he just used lattice or maybe even a section of hog panel fencing
to make his trellis "roof". There may have been some support pieces to
hold up the trellis roof. He then used the top of the trellis to tie
his garlic bunches to. He had a high velocity fan running in the barn
to assist with air circulation. The barn had some small windows, too.

--Leslie / Oklahoma




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