YOU SHOULD CONSIDER YOURSELF RICH if you have a garlic plot to harvest right now. This most flavorful, easy-to-grow member of the Allium family is planted in fall and harvested in high summer. Master Gardener Nancy Scott, an enthusiastic cultivator of all things vegetable, sent us this report on harvesting the pungent cloves.
“This year’s theme at the Vegetable Demonstration Garden at the Parker School in North Greenbush was alliums. Master gardener volunteers from Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County planted garlic and ornamental alliums last fall. The garlic bulbs were broken into cloves and planted pointy side up into the prepared beds about 1-2 inches deep and about 6 inches apart. This allowed the roots to form before the cold weather set in. Once the warm weather arrived in the spring, the plants sent up their leaves.
Hardneck garlic is a daylight sensitive plant, so when the days began to get shorter again after the end of June, the loss of light signaled to the plant that it was time to mature. As a result, it was time to start harvesting in late July. Some people like to wait until the leaves are all brown on the plant. This could bring the harvest into August and at that point, the papery coating on the bulb can begin to break down. The garlic will still taste fine, but there’s more of a chance of the bulb breaking apart. It also means some of the garlic will rot and not store as well. Read more…