When to harvest Garlic?

Hi there,
I've read that it's time to harvest garlic when the stalks start to dry out. Well, this is my first time growing garlic and I wanted to make sure I don't mess anything up. The bulblets were planted in October, mulched with leaves and have grown well. Now the stalks are starting to dry out. Should I wait until they are completely dry? What is the best way to cure the garlic bulbs? Should i save some to plant this fall? Any and all advice is welcome, thank you for your help!
Garlic newbie,
Deb

Here's a great place to check out when to harvest and how to cure and store your garlic. The whole site is packed with good information about growing garlic.

http://www.gourmetgarlicgardens.com/growing.htm#anchor17762007

I think I waited too long to harvest mine (also my first year to grow garlic) as the bulbs had started expanding and some of the paper was missing. It's still good, though, and I'll plant some of it in the fall!

I was trying to let some of mine go to seed but I think now they have mummified...

This is timely; I've been watching my garlic and wondering! This is my first year for growing it, too. In the past I've tried planting it in the spring and that never worked, so this time I planted it in October and have nice looking stalks now. I checked out that link, Stephanie, and bookmarked it. Lots of good information. It doesn't say WHERE to cure the garlic, though.

I pull garlic once the leaves have dried, and then lay them on a blanket covered table under the porch.

I save the largest bulbs and replant them in the fall for next year.

Here's a photo of this year's crop.

I've cured mine by laying it in the GH in the where it is hot & dry. Amazing to see it remain so hot & dry and yet it and the onions will start to sprout when the time is right.

Fortunately in this climate the garlic that we don't use can be left in ground. It is a perennial vegetable for me.

Honeybee, thanks for the photo. That really helps! Podster, hmmm, I even have a greenhouse I could use! It's not too hot there?

I was careful not to leave them too long ( a couple of weeks in our heat ) as I had worried but a few were overlooked. I was surprised to find them sprouting in the fall when I was moving other plants in.

That's reassuring! To the greenhouse they shall go!

Don't have a green house and it's way too humid to put them in the garage or leave outside.... I was thinking of inside, near a dehumidifier....
Do you think that would work or is humidity really not too much of an issue?

This discussion made me get out my reference books. They would not approve of my method ~lol

Says to dig and lay them out in the sun to dry on newspaper just long enough so the dirt on them dries and can be brushed off. Then they can be braided, crated or bagged in nylon stockings or mesh. If not braiding, cut all but 1" of stem off. Curing should continue for several weeks under roof (shade) where air circulates... maybe an open porch or garage? Then move to a dry, cool, frost free and dark storage place. So the garlic I found sprouting was probably not edible although was good for replanting. I will have to rethink curing it when I dig next time.

Thanks for the update, Podster! I plan to braid mine, which is why I got softneck. IF I can figure out how to do that!

Last year I waited too long, and lost a few to rot & splitting. I've already dug mine, (last week) and they're hanging outside on a clothesline under an open lean to at the edge of the woods. (Basically a roof & poles.)

I don't think humidity is a big deal if you have enough air circulation. I space mine about 6-8 inches apart. I forget about them for about 3-4 weeks, and then snip the leaves & roots & store in wire baskets in the cool & dark basement. I just checked last year's- some hardnecks are still useable, so I must be doing something right!

There's many opinions as to how many leaves to let die. Two to three worked for me this year, and I lost only two bulbs to rot/split. But I did have about a dozen keel over early that I dug after they hit the ground. Those are in the garage since I didn't have the line up yet, and they're curing just fine.

When I dig, I knock some of the big clod of dirt off the roots, but leave the rest & hang them right away with the dirt still on using clothespins. When the time comes to store, the dirt has either fallen off, or comes off easily with a quick rub. (Whenever I've tried to take more dirt off the bulb at harvest, it dings the tender skin cover, so I leave it now. I suspect that it's like potatoes, the dirt helps the curing process, or taking it off may harm the skin.)

You may want to dig soon. (And sooner is better than later with garlic!) Good luck!

Oh, and yes, definitely save some for next season. The plan is to build up enough of a rotating stock so you don't have to buy any new bulbs unless you want to try a different variety.

I tried "Music" hardneck this time around, and boy, they are just gorgeous. Huge!

Greenhouse_gal ~ did you read somewhere that softnecks are better braiders? Soft or hard garlic usually is how you select the garlic to grow in your northern or southern zones.

Podster, I'm not sure where I got that impression, but I definitely got it somewhere! The hardnecks usually have that stiff stalk, and I don't know how you'd braid it.

IIRC from reading the link above, they actually need higher humidity to cure for the best flavor. Mine have been curing in my laundry room in an empty laundry basket! LOL

My basement would be perfect - or actually, any south Jersey summer day!

nedweenie -

You have to be gentle with your garlic. It's best not to try to pull them up by the stalk. Use a small shovel or a pitchfork to work down under the base of the roots and little bulbules. Gently remove any big dirt clods. (I like the idea of "tickling the dirt off"!) Don't bump them together because the cloves bruise easily. Bruising opens the door to rot and disease.

stephanie - my dirt is so light I can pull them up easily. If I do get a stubborn one, I use my fingers and "tickle" them out of the ground.

Yea, I like "tickling" my veggies ^_^ if they ever start "tickling" me back, I'll know I'm in trouble!

I pulled mine today - and I did pull them, not dig them, because I did it before I read this. But our soil is very sandy so they came up easily. I was disappointed at how small they were, though. I planted Italian Late Garlic from Territorial Seeds, and I was hoping for some big bulbs. Alas!

g-g My garlic was smaller this year, too. Maybe the hot weather had something to do with it.

That's a thought! I'm just looking at these little bulbs and thinking of what a pain in the neck it's gonna be to peel each clove for recipes!

g-g that's exactly what I said to myself, too! LOL

Oh well, do you use the knife trick? When I have to peel garlic I squish the bulb on my butcher block counter using the flat side of my chef's knife, and then it's easier to get the covering off. But it's still nicer if I have larger cloves!

You can freeze the cloves once they've cured. Just separate the bulb into individual cloves and pop in a freezer bag in your freezer.

g-g I use several tricks, none of which work well, including the knife blade one you mentioned.

Try putting several cloves in the michrowave and nuke them for approximately 10 seconds per clove. The peel really falls off afterwards, but the cloves are practically cooked.

The knife trick works well enough for me; I try to avoid microwaves.

The other day my thirteen-year-old granddaughter was over here with a friend, for dinner (and then I was dropping them off to see "Eclipse"..). She volunteered to make the tortellini with pesto sauce and told me to go relax, but I overheard her showing her friend the knife trick with the garlic cloves and explaining how it worked. It really tickled me!

g-g my hubby tries to avoid microwaves, too. You wonder if children are really listening, and then they go ahead and show you that they really do ^_^

The kid has a real foodie for a granma, and she likes to help out, so apparently she's absorbing it!

Why does your DH avoid microwaves? I've just read some creepy things about them....

g-g - he gets spam emails, and believes everything he reads! Every day/week it's something "new" - lately, he's been convinced by some quack that saturated fat is good for him!

You can't imagine how much money he's been conned out of over the years in one scheme after the other! At one point I took his name off our joint bank account. I could go on, and on.......

Oh, wow. I feel for you! Sounds like he's the eternal optimist!

g-g