How to store garlic so that it does not dry out 

The sharp taste and peculiar pungent smell of garlic cannot be confused with anything. They are explained by the presence of sulfur compounds that kill harmful microorganisms, and phytoncides, which enhance this property. Often, when taking medications, we do not even suspect that they are made on the basis of garlic, for example, Allohol stored in every medicine cabinet.

Do you know which vegetable contains the most sugar? The answer may surprise anyone, because it is garlic, and we do not feel sweetness solely because of the large amount of essential oils. It contains up to 27% of various polysaccharides, while for sugar beet this figure usually does not exceed 20%. Most often, we use a vegetable as a seasoning for salads, first or second courses, and it is present in our diet all year round. The question of how to store garlic for the winter is relevant for every housewife.

What determines the keeping quality of garlic

Along with root vegetables – potatoes, beets, carrots and cabbages, garlic is a vegetable with a long shelf life. This means that it can be stored under optimal conditions until a new harvest.

Choosing garlic for planting

It is necessary to distinguish between winter and spring varieties. Strictly speaking, such a division is rather arbitrary, since any garlic can be planted both in spring and before winter.

Spring varieties

They reproduce only by teeth. They do not produce seeds or air bulbs located on peduncles, since they are simply devoid of peduncles. Garlic planted in spring is better stored, and this is perhaps its main advantage over winter garlic. Otherwise, spring varieties lose, since their heads are smaller and consist of two rows of small cloves, which no housewife likes to clean.

Winter varieties

Depending on the region, planting of winter garlic starts from the end of August for the north and continues until November in the south. It is propagated by cloves and air bulbs growing on the peduncle instead of seeds. Flower arrows are broken out as early as possible, this increases the yield by 20-25% and increases the shelf life of the heads.

Growing conditions

When cultivating garlic, try not to overuse fertilizers. On alkaline, loose, well-filled with organic soils, it can not be fed at all. An excess of nitrogen fertilizers is especially undesirable, as they provoke decay and shorten the shelf life.

The plant does not like the abundance of rain and excessively hot summers. We are unable to influence the weather, but we can reduce the temperature by shading with a special net, reduce or stop watering.

Preparing for storage

Creating conditions for storing garlic begins at harvest time. You can’t just dig out the heads at your convenience and expect them to not start to dry out in the middle of winter.

When to Harvest

It is impossible to name any specific time of harvesting. It depends on many factors:

• landing time;
• climatic zone;
• weather factors;
• soils;
• area illumination.

It is impossible to store dug garlic well ahead of time. It will not benefit him and stay in the ground until the tops dry completely. Usually, yellowing of the lower leaves serve as a signal for harvesting. It is even better to leave two or three arrows for control. It is believed that you can dig out the heads after the shell on the peduncle bursts.

Vegetables stop watering 2-3 weeks before digging, which must be carried out in dry weather. For earthworks, it is better to use not a shovel, but a pitchfork.

Preparing for storage

Shake off the excess soil after digging the garlic, lay it out together with the tops in a warm, dry place. Even better, tie it in loose bundles and hang it upside down in the attic or attic. After a week and a half – two weeks, all the nutrients from the aerial part pass into the cloves, the foliage dries up completely.

Cut off the roots, remove excess husk. If you’re not going to store the garlic in a braid, trim the leaves, leaving a 2-3 cm stump. Dry it for another week in a cool, well-ventilated area.

Select for storage whole heads without damage. The rest should be used as soon as possible.

It is better to store the harvest by holding the bottom and the tip of the hemp quite a bit over the candle flame.

Storage conditions

Before we figure out how to keep garlic until spring, let’s look at the necessary conditions:

• Temperature. Winter varieties in the middle of winter are difficult to save from germination or drying out, they can be stored for the longest time at 10-12 degrees. Spring crops successfully save under room conditions or temperatures from 0 to 3 degrees Celsius.
• Humidity. Onions and garlic need to be stored at a humidity of up to 80%, which distinguishes them from other vegetables.
• Light stimulates the germination of teeth, its access should be limited.

How to properly store garlic? It is necessary to create suitable conditions, the main thing:

• prevent moisture loss so that the heads do not dry out:
• prevent sprouting of garlic cloves;
• create an environment that prevents the development of pathogens.

Ways of storage

Every housewife knows how to store garlic for the winter. Our task is to preserve the heads for as long as possible, despite the likely lack of optimal conditions, especially in a city apartment with an unglazed balcony. At least – until the New Year, even better – until a new crop grows.

Favorable storage conditions

There are many ways to store garlic in winter. Let’s talk about the most popular.

1. Loose on shelves. The heads are laid out in a layer of no more than 15 cm. Suitable for extensive storage.
2. Wooden or cardboard boxes. It differs from the previous storage method only in compact placement.

   

3. Nets or nylon stockings. Hanging on hooks bags do not take up much space. In a city apartment, such garlic will dry out quickly.
4. Braids or loose bundles. With such storage, it is not necessary to trim the tops after drying. You can’t keep such beauty at home – it will dry out, and rather quickly. Before linking garlic, think about where and under what conditions you will store it.

   

   To prevent the pigtail from falling apart, weave a strong rope or twine into it.

5. glass jars. Perhaps this is the best storage method for the conditions of a city apartment. Just put the prepared heads in a clean jar and place on the bottom shelf of the cabinet.

   

6. Plastic containers with holes. An improvement on the previous method.

   Where to store garlic is better, a biologist advises:

   How to save GARLIC. All secrets! / All about garlic storage

7. Paraffin. Melt shop candles, lower the prepared heads into the hot mass for 2-3 seconds. They can be stored in almost any conditions after drying. Thanks to paraffin, the teeth do not dry out, they are protected from waterlogging and uncomfortable temperatures.

   

8. Refrigerator. It is impossible to store garlic for a long time in such conditions, but sometimes there is simply no other way out. At least don’t put the heads in the vegetable drawer, place them on the doors instead.
9. flour.
10. in the ashes.

You can find advice to store peeled cloves in calcined sunflower oil, sometimes even with the addition of iodine. The method is certainly interesting. But this is more of a method of making fragrant oil, rather than storing garlic in winter conditions.

Unfavorable storage conditions

Often the crop dries up or sprouts before the New Year. This is due to inappropriate storage conditions, which is important to be aware of.

1. in salt. Unfortunately, this method of storage is used quite often, but without success. Salt has a wonderful property to draw moisture from the surrounding space. Putting garlic in it and waiting for it to dry out is unreasonable.

   

2. In a refrigerator. Long-term storage of heads in a refrigerator is not possible.
3. In sealed bags or cling film. On the one hand, moisture is saved, and on the other hand, escaping from vegetables, it settles on the inside of the polyethylene in the form of condensate. This leads to head rot.
4. individual cloves. Is it possible to store garlic by disassembling it into cloves? Of course not. It will dry out or germinate very quickly, depending on the humidity of the environment.

Dried garlic

How to store garlic in a tiny apartment or in the absence of suitable conditions? Some of the heads can be dried. Divide them into cloves, peel and rinse with cold water. Cut large ones into 2-3 parts, fold on a baking sheet and dry in the oven at a temperature of 60 degrees. When ready, the cloves will be fragile, but elastic. Grind them with a blender or coffee grinder, store in a closed glass jar.

When drying food, the conventional oven must be ajar. In an oven equipped with a convector, the temperature regime should be increased by 15 degrees (up to 75), and the door should be closed.

Freezing garlic

To store garlic at home, you can chop and freeze it. See how they do it:

Conclusion

As you can see, there are many ways to store garlic. It is important to choose the right one and adapt it to your conditions.