Harvesting garlic

Lotsa people plant gardens and store for for emergency use. Few people include garlic. It is one of the essential food groups I love along with olive oil, chocolate and Parmesan cheese.

Last year we tried planting a pound of garlic as an experiment. It went well so we decided to plant 6 lb this season. Planting happens in November, about the only thing happening then. And not much to do over the winter but let it germinate and grow. We covered the beds with straw. Then we waited

We had planted 6 pounds of garlic in the beds. We watered a few times when it was hot. Mid May we trimmed off the garlic scapes which made for some fun dinner additions and in mid June we harvested over 120 garlic bulbs! We cut off the tops, trimmed and washed off the dirt, and laid them out on our patio table to dry off a little.

We bundled them up and hung them from the basement rafters in cooler dry air to season. Should be ready. We hope to use some bulbs for replanting in the late fall.

As for the chocolate, I will just buy and keep in storage.