Garlic!

First, I want to thank everyone for coming back to visit the old homestead again.  It's been a busy week around here and sometimes it's hard to keep up.  Every day, I set myself an outdoor task to accomplish before (or after) my work day.  I work out of the home 3 days a week and in the home doing custom quilt work 3 days a week.  So it's not like I spend every waking minute in the garden, even though I would love to. My main task today was harvesting the garlic that has been ready for about a week. The tall spires with the pretty white spheres and the dead leaves are garlic.  I could tell they needed to be harvested because the leaves are dead.  That's the tell.  I planted a hard neck variety because they store better long term and grow better in Texas. The downfall of hard neck varieties is that I can't braid the stems and hang them from the pot rack above my stove. But I can cope.

Check out my fancy curing table

Garlic has antibiotic, antiseptic, expectorant and immune stimulating properties. It is also rich in vitamins A, B1, B2 and C and reduces cholesterol and lowers blood pressure. It may possibly protect against vampires. And it's delicious.

Once I pull it all up out of the ground, I lay it out on the patio to cure.  If there's a chance of rain, I will move them all to the front porch.  During the two week curing process, the stem and the roots stay in tact and the paper outer shell will form.  Once that happens, I snap off the stem, brush off the dirt and store the bulbs for use.  I typically just put them in a bowl on the counter in the kitchen, but they can be stored in the fridge as well.  I will keep out one or two of the best, biggest bulbs to plant in October to start the whole process all over again.  I did leave one bulb in the ground to harvest the seeds, but it's much faster to plant the bulbs

Ready to store

Fresh garlic is much more potent than older garlic, so beware.  You don't need as much to make the same impact in your recipes.

And that's what happened here today. Thanks for stopping by to see what's going on.  See you soon,

Deb