I got emails from some of my friends asking me what is the right time to harvest garlic and what is the right way to store wash, cure and store garlic once harvested. Some of my friends were confused about "Should I dry it first or wash it first" and "Where do I cure them?" and "Do I need to dry garlic in the sun before curing them?"
Well, in this blog post, I will be explaining what the right process is, which will keep your garlic flavorful as well as last the entire season.
Q1: When do you harvest garlic?
A1: Garlic can be harvested when the leaves have become brown or yellow in color. Depending on the type of garlic you are growing, this could be 3-6 months after planting the bulb. Elephant garlic matures in 2 months.
Q2: What next?
A2: After harvesting the garlic, wash the bulbs. Remove all dirt and debris and dry them in the sun for about 30 minutes. DO NOT leave them out too long or they lose their flavor.
Q3: Its nice and dry, but still soggy on the outside, now what?
A3: The next step is to cure it. Chop off the tops and the hairy roots and keep them in a well ventilated area like your garage. Cure garlic for about 2 weeks. After they have been cured, your garlic will last the whole season, till you get your next crop!
Here is a very nice video explaining all of these steps:
Hope you enjoyed this and your comments are welcome!