Our strange weather this spring hasn’t hampered the local garlic crop, but in order to get the best out of your garlic, you need to cure it first. Curing your garlic does two things: makes it easier to peel, but more importantly, prepares your garlic for long-term storage. If done successfully, you can enjoy it long into the new year.
Once out of the ground, mold, moisture, and direct sunlight all pose a risk to your garlic. Regardless of which type you grow, trim the roots before starting your curing to reduce the amount of dirt and moisture.
For your softneck garlic, hang it in a dark, dry and well-ventilated space. Hang the garlic so that your bulbs do not touch each other.
For hardneck garlic that is harvested in mid-July, you can hang it too but you will find better results if you lay it out on wire racking so there is as much air movement around each bulb. Some growers like to trim their hardneck down to about 12 inches or some leave the full stem on and then trim in the cleaning phase.
You can remove them from curing in about two weeks when the skins are dry. Before putting them into storage, clean off the dirtiest skins; the soil contains things that can hamper long-term storage. Store at 15 C to 18 C with average humidity.
If you want to enjoy garlic into the new year, consider the softneck cultivars. These lack the hard stem and are traditionally stored in braids, which promote long retention as the bulbs do not touch each other.
You will find the best locally grown garlic at the best prices at this year’s Coast BC Day Garlic Market at Roberts Creek Hall on Aug. 4 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
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