I may have already told you about our garlic crops of past years. We were always able to grow lots of garlic. Our problem came in curing it. We'd hang it from a fence under a fan, trying to dry it. The problem is that garlic is a LONG crop. By long I mean 210 to harvest. Harvest was always in the peak hot days of summer. The heat isn't that bad for garlic, but the high humidity is. I could never get it to cure or dry before it would get soft, start to smell and rot. 210 days waiting to harvest and when you finally pull it, it rots. I drew a line in the sand after that. Fortunately, we just recently discovered that you can freeze garlic cloves after harvest and store the peeled cloves in jars where they'll store until you are ready to cook with them. You simply pull the cloves out and use a grater to grate them into your pot.
So I purchased some seed garlic. We're going to give it another try! On September 30th, I planted more garlic. What a nice sight to see, the cows sitting in the shade of a live oak tree I planted from an acorn. What I really want you to see is the blue tubs in the garden. That's where I planted my Elephant Garlic. It's not really a garlic. Technically, I think, it is a leek. But it eats like a garlic. I have 12 cloves planted in each tub.
Additionally, I purchased some softneck garlic. It's best for our growing zone.
I separated each clove from the bulb, making sure to leave the protective skins or paper on the garlic. Some of it had started to sprout, so that's a good thing.
I decided to plant this in the garden in the side yard. This soil is heavily amended with composted leaves and mulch. It is higher than the surrounding ground and easily drains. I planted each clove 2 inches deep with the pointed side facing upwards and 4 inches apart. I covered them up with soil and watered them in. Now we'll just let things happen...
Come late April 2026, we'll see if we have a harvest. I hope so, but where the rubber meets the road is if we'll get it store without rotting. I think with our new freezing technique, we're one step ahead this year.
