You can grow your own food. We can help.

Harvesting, Curing and Storing Garlic

source
Roger Doiron
Jun 24, 2010
Follow Me on PinterestStumble Upon
Blog type:
how-to

I put this video together to demystify the process of timing your garlic harvest and preparing your garlic bulbs for long-term storage.  Even the experts are not always in agreement on these issues, so it's easy to get confused.  If you're not ready to harvest, because you haven't yet planted your garlic, you'll be more interested in this other video which walks you through that process.  I hope you find this helpful and learn something new. 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR, Roger Doiron
Father, husband, son, brother and uncle. Garden activist, advocate, writer, speaker and photographer. Founder of KGI and certified garden geek. Growing lots of good stuff on the coast of Maine.
Author's link website
Twitter @rogerdoiron
Other posts by Roger Doiron >>

Comments

Cielce
Hi Roger, Very nice video. Lots of good information! But I was wondering, do you wash/rinse some of the soil off your garlic bulbs after digging them?
Roger Doiron
Washing garlic is a topic of debate. I find that giving my bulbs a rinse with cold water right after harvest doesn't affect long-term storage, but you'll find others who say that you shouldn't. Thanks for the feedback, Cielce!
david e kelley
These are super, instructional videos Roger. I usually just brush off most of the dirt, bundle the plants with rubber bands (about 10-12) and hang them on the porch, in the shade, for about a month, then trim the roots and stems, give them another brushing as needed and store them inside in mesh ba
Jessica Still
-- at one of our community gardens when one of the many gardeners decided it was time to harvest the green garlic! Thanks, Roger!
krisk
Hi Roger, It's my first year growing hardneck garlic, and I was wondering about when to harvest, since the tops don't fall over. Thanks for the timely information. It is really hot this week-- should I skip laying the garlic in the sun and go right to hanging it in the shade?
Roger Doiron
Hi Krisk, I'm with Ed Smith: It's time to harvest garlic in the late summer when the bottom two or three leaves have turned yellow. As for skipping the sun drying, you probably can. Just be sure that there's good airflow where you'll be hanging them.

Add comment

Log in or register to post comments

Kitchen Gardeners UNITE!

We are a nonprofit community of 24,000 people from 100 countries who are growing our own food and helping others to do the same.

Join Us!

or subscribe to our e-list:

  

Praise for KGI:

"A group that can get
things done"
-Mother Nature Network

"One of the web's best sources of gardening info"
-Washington Post 

"The meeting place of the world's gardeners"
-WorldWatch Institute

more here

 

What's Growing On:

Roger Doiron blogged: 
34,000 Acres a Day
34,000 acres of new farmland needed per day

...

Read more
Dr.Sonal asked a question: 
What can I grow with very limited space and sunshine?
Read more
ca posted a status update:
Just received my copy of What’s Wrong With My Vegetable Garden? It's very informative. I would recommend it, too, especially for a beginning gardener. It is definitely a "go to" book for common problems.
Read more
SunnyBlooms asked a question: 
How do I save rape mustard seed?
Read more
rvisser blogged: 
Rejoicing in Worms
earth worms

Yesterday, while loosening the soil in one of my raised beds, I was suddenly overwhelmed with...

Read more
abondigirl posted a status update:
Any suggestions as to how to organically deter grubs and caterpillars from the tomato plants? It is frustrating when these crawlers bore into the green tomatoes and any advice would be appreciated.
Read more
FletcherFamily shared an image.
Read more
FletcherFamily shared an image.
Read more
view all

About us:

KGI is a nonprofit community of 24,000 people who are growing some of our own food and helping others to do the same.  

Join our mailing list:

 

Connect with us:

Contact us:

Kitchen Gardeners International
3 Powderhorn Drive,
Scarborough, ME, 04074, USA
info@kgi.org
(207) 956-0606