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Our founder explains how to plant and pick the bulbous plant.
On Martha’s Bedford farm, there’s a right time and season to plant and harvest specific plants, vegetables, and fruits. And July is garlic-picking time.
Knowing exactly when to harvest garlic is key, Martha says in her latest blog post. Pick it too early, and the cloves will be small and underdeveloped. Wait too long, and the bulbs begin to split apart, leaving them more susceptible to decay.
She explains that the bulbs are ready to dig up when the lower leaves begin to dry and turn brown, while the upper leaves remain green and the soil is dry.
Martha’s gardeners recently harvested her entire crop, which includes the softneck variety (which produces long-lasting bulbs with many cloves around a soft center stem) and the hardneck variety (which is known for a stiff central stalk, fewer cloves, relatively short shelf life, and intriguingly complex flavors). The plants were provided by Keene Garlic, a family-owned farm in Wisconsin.
The garlic was planted last fall in October before the ground froze. When planting multiple rows of garlic, keep the rows at least one foot apart, Martha advises. It is also important to give each clove enough room to grow and develop. On the farm, the cloves were planted at least two to three inches apart. The garlic was then pushed several inches into the ground using a bulb planting dibber, and the holes and garlic cloves were covered in soil.
Garlic loves rich, fertile loam or silty loam soil. It also grows best in an area that drains well. The cloves can rot if they sit in water or mud, Martha cautions.
By mid-June, scapes had begun to appear. Garlic scapes are the flower buds of the garlic plants. They’re ready about a month before the actual bulbs. Scapes are delicious and can be used just like garlic, Martha explains. They can be cut when the center stalks are completely formed and the ends are curled. A few weeks later, the garlic leaves begin to brown.
Our founder explains that her gardeners waited for a dry day to harvest. This allows the soil to dry out, helps to prevent rot, and makes it much easier to pull the stalks and bulbs from the ground. The main harvest time is usually July through mid-August.
One of Martha’s gardeners, Matthew Orrego, used a pitchfork to gently loosen the soil between the garlic stems, being careful not to pierce any of the garlic heads. Each bulb is pulled out from the base of the leaves so that the head comes out completely. The whole garlic is called a “head,” “bulb,” or “knob.” Each small, individual segment of a garlic head is a clove.
He then prepares the garlic for curing by cutting off the bottom roots. The top of each stalk is also trimmed, and the first layer of skin is removed. Trimming the stalks makes the garlic easier to store and keeps it neat and uniform.
The garlic is not ready to eat just yet. It must dry first. Curing is the process of letting the garlic dry in preparation for long-term storage. Well-cured, well-wrapped garlic bulbs will keep six to eight months or longer. The best storage temperature for garlic is between 60 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit, with low humidity at about 60 percent. And you never want to store it in the refrigerator.
Read the original article on Martha Stewart
