Freshly picked garlic starting to dry on table outside in shade

I dug out the garlic I got from our local Farmers Market and planted last fall yesterday. They say the best garlic comes from local growers, so I’m sure it will be good. It is the hardneck type but I’m not sure which variety-I just remember  it was purple. I planted in mid November of last year, so it’s been 9 months of waiting to harvest.

Hardneck garlic scape

It produced a scape in June on each plant as shown in the picture to the left, which is a curly flower pod that you cut off so all the energy goes into the bulbs developing below the soil. I read after you cut off the scape, you should give them a good watering, then cut off the water to them and wait around 20 days to harden them off.

Almost all hardneck garlic have between  7-8  leaves and when the bottom 3 die back but the top leaves are still green then it is ready to dig out. My leaves died back totally because it’s been so hot here. Be sure you use a tool that can dig deep enough to loosen the soil around each bulb and get under the bulb and lift it out being careful not to pierce it.

After you dig it out, you need to CURE the garlic which takes about 3 weeks. For the first week, lay out all the garlic bulbs (leaving all its leaves on) outside in a warm DRY spot on top of a table or shelf but OUT OF THE SUN with good aeration for a week. On week 2, cut off the leaves to about 4-5 inches above the bulb, trim off roots closer to the bulb, rub off the dirt gently on the bulb and put back on your shelf or table to cure another week. On week 3, trim off the remainder of the leaves down to the bulb and cut off the roots close to the bulb and take them inside to finish curing.  After that third week ends, store them in a cool, dry place in your house. I like to put them into one of my old onion bags that I bought from the grocery store (the ones made of netting) and put in a cool place in the house-for me my pantry. I can’t wait to try some!