We have pulled this year’s garlic crop from the garden. A pantry with a winter’s supply of garlic is like a woodshed filled with firewood, a barn stacked with second crop hay, and your freezer stocked with oodles of homemade pesto ( along with everything else harvested and put into it!). Garlic is an important crop here, hardly a meal gets made without the addition of garlic. As I have said before, these well tended caches are like money in the bank. So much effort goes into growing a substantial amount of our food, it’s no wonder that we feel some comfort and delight when the larders start filling up. Also, some relief that another seasonal chore is complete. The garlic has been picked, washed, and is now hanging to cure a bit. That means I won’t be spending anymore time weeding it. A little less weeding? I’m o.k. with that!
Aug
6
2015
Fernwood Nursery & Gardens 
Less weeding and fresh garlic – now that’s a good way to start the day. 🙂
Yes very true, but honestly I did not have garlic with my oatmeal this morning…..garlic at lunch more likely! But less weeding is always good!
Yay, I’m glad you didn’t have garlic with your oatmeal….but I love it in anything savory! Such a sense of satisfaction to get that one task completed, I’m sure!
~Ann
http://www.thenorthernwestvirginiagardener.blogspot.com
No, garlic, oatmeal, maple syrup,…not a great combination! Always a great feeling to have another crop harvested and put away. Thanks for reading!
Wow! It looks really beautiful. Is the flavor of fresh much different from store bought?
Hi Marian, I think so……I love fresh garlic, it is very strong and pungent. I think like most things, as it sits, the flavor mellows some. fresh garlic is VERY garlicy! Try getting some at the farmer’s market!
So, does garlic just keep indefinitely under the right conditions? It’s beautiful!
Hi Kerry, It will keep a long time ( certain varieties being better storage varieties than others), but not forever. We can usually get our garlic to see us through the winter, kept in a dark area of the pantry ( covered with a cloth) with the temperature around 65 degrees. By spring we may see some of the garlic needing to be used ( a bit soft) and occasionally you may get some that begin to sprout. For the most part the amount we grow will get us through. We also keep out an amount for ‘seed garlic’ to replant. Can’t imagine living without garlic……it’s one of the things I’d miss terribly if we couldn’t grow it in the north! Do you use it much?