garlic

[red]

dug one yesterday - still a tad green - just worried about them bolting... anyone else harvesting garlic? when would you expect to?

[Odsox]

About now is the time to harvest garlic ... when the tops go yellow and fall over.

I absolutely love "wet" garlic, the fresh cloves straight out of the garden still a bit green. Try making a white sauce with a whole head of garlic and pour it over new potatoes. It's a totally different taste .. a much milder creamier taste than the stuff you buy. Another very good reason to grow your own.

[Turf cutter man]

Green or wet garlic is a very different taste. Another way to enjoy them is to leave about 4 inches of stalk on drizzle olive oil over them and cook for 45 mins at 200.

then eat and enjoy. You can pretty much eat it all. very sweet and creamy..mmmmm

If garlic tends to try and go to flower pinch the flower head off.

[red]

we like green garlic. I sliced it up green bits an all, and fried it with a venison steak mushrooms red wine and cream..

[ianw]

I pulled one of mine up last night just to see what it looked like. It was about the size of a small shallot. It looked like one as well but the intense garlic smell was unlike any garlic smell I have experienced. In a good way that is.

I sliced it up (inside was more like an onion than a garlic) fried it in butter with coriander (also from the garden) and add the mix to some jersey royals (From T***o)

My nearly first garden meal :)

[JR]

My Garlic planted in early Nov is about ready, dug some last weekend and it has a fairly small bulb but formed. The stuff planted in Feb I would expect to dig in Sept/Oct.

[JR]

On the subject last night we were discussing weither to lift it all on not.

The outer leaves are all yellow but the middle stalk is still green on all of it, time says it should be ready but I dont want to pick too early.

Might take out half and then leave the rest for a few weeks or should I wait for it to die back a bit more. What do you guys think?

[Odsox]

You can leave it in the ground for as long as you like, no harm will come to it (for a few months anyway)
Start using it and enjoy the unique taste of wet garlic.

[Turf cutter man]

leave it in the ground for as long as you can...but with the taste of green garlic that won't be long!!!

[Michelle]

I wish I'd realised they could be left! I thought too much of the protective skin would dry and fall off? I just pulled all mine up as we were going away, even though they could have done with a bit longer

Some pics of my garlic http://tinyurl.com/3vylnj

Does anyone know how long they take to dry? As a short term solution I've got them in my mini greenhouse on wire shelves with the door open, do they need to be actually hung up indoors?

[Odsox]

A small greenhouse is ideal for drying off many things garlic, onions and squash all need ripening with heat to make them store better. If there's nothing growing in your mini greenhouse you could even leave the door closed and let the temperature go up in the 30's C.
A week of sunny weather should ripen your garlic nicely ... 2 or 3 weeks is fine for onions and squash,

[Michelle]

I'm a bit worried about leaving the door shut...it gets a bit steamy and get covered in condensation in the sun - might this cause the garlic to rot?

[Odsox]

I would leave it open during the day then.
You must have recently watered in there ... I assumed that if you had no plants it would be bone dry by now.

[Michelle]

Actually, it hasn't been shut up since it was rammed full of plants... I'm sure you're right. Will zip it up as soon as i get home! Thanks for your help

[Lady Willow]

It depends on soil type and how much rain you get as to how long you can safely leave them in the ground. Some of mine are already starting to rot, so I'm taking the lot up tomorrow (and there are a LOT!)