Storing winter garlic 

Saving garlic for the winter is not an easy task, but it is quite doable if you follow some rules. This product is one of the most valuable on our table. Garlic is used as a delicious seasoning for dishes and as an antiviral agent. It has a beneficial effect on the circulatory system, and only the laziest did not talk about taste. Let’s talk about how to store winter garlic. This is a whole science!

Types of garlic

In summer, there are a lot of garlic on the shelves of markets and shops. It is fresh and juicy. But it is difficult to find it in winter. As a rule, its quality also suffers. It comes across dry, hard and not so juicy. The first secret lies in which garlic to choose to save for the winter. So, all garlic can be divided into two types:

• spring;
• winter.

Spring is harvested in summer or early autumn. He doesn’t shoot. As soon as the foliage withers, you can start harvesting. It will not be as much as when harvesting winter garlic. It will be difficult for an inexperienced gardener to determine whether winter garlic or spring garlic, since the first one may or may not release an arrow. One way or another, to keep garlic until spring, you need to choose the right variety.

The following winter varieties are well stored:

• Sochi 56;
• Yelenovsky;
• Sofievsky;
• Gulliver.

If these varieties are not on sale, you can pay attention to others. Information on the label is always indicated. Spring garlic is much smaller than winter garlic, while the latter has a false stem in the middle, by which it is easy to identify.

Harvesting

The second rule when storing this product for the winter is proper cleaning. You can not overdo the heads in the ground. The ideal time to harvest a crop planted in winter is the month of July. Collection of spring – produced in August. If the garlic extracted from the ground is already easily divided into cloves, it can be considered overripe. It is not subject to long-term storage.

On the eve of harvesting, you can not water the soil, it is best to work in absolutely dry weather. If it hasn’t rained for a long time, it’s very good.

 For work you will need:

• gloves;
• forks.

To understand how to properly clean a spicy vegetable, you just need to use our tips. First you need to dig 1-2 heads and inspect them. The husk should be soft, not dry, easy to separate. If so, then harvesting the winter vegetable can begin. They dig it out not with a shovel, but with a pitchfork, which will keep the heads intact. As they are harvested, they are shaken off excess soil and removed to dry.

Garlic takes about 5 days to dry. If the weather is clear, you can leave it right in the garden. If it rains, it is stored in a dry room. Leaves do not need to be removed.

After 5 days after drying, the harvested garlic can be taken up again. The next step is pruning. To do this, you need a sharp short knife. The stems are cut off from the heads (you can leave about 10 centimeters in length, depending on the chosen storage method) and roots, leaving no more than 3 millimeters. Now you can sort before putting it away for storage. Small heads are sent to small ones, and large ones to large ones.

Now we know how to clean and prepare a vegetable for storage.

Ways to Preserve Garlic

Harvesting and storing garlic is time consuming, but what a treat it would be to use your own juicy garlic in the winter! How to keep it fresh, because we all know that this vegetable dries out quickly and becomes unusable?

You can use any of the methods suggested in our article. Remember that a damaged bulb will deteriorate during storage and damage neighboring bulbs, so save only high-quality specimens.

Method number 1 In the cellar

For the happy owners of spacious pantries, cellars and basements, all storage methods come down to the simplest: leave the bulbs for storage in a cool room. Previously, they can be woven into a pigtail of stems, collected in bundles, packed in special baskets, nets or boxes. Garlic is often stored suspended in clusters from the ceiling. Everyone chooses for himself, as he likes. The main thing here is to create certain conditions.

• Food temperature — 2-4 degrees;
• Mandatory conditions – occasionally ventilate the room.

These storage conditions are suitable only for winter garlic and are not suitable for spring garlic. For those who do not have a cellar, you can use other storage methods. 

Method number 2 In banks

Residents of apartments have to keep vegetables warm, because in winter the temperature in garages may not be suitable for storage. Let’s talk about how to properly store bulbs in ordinary apartments. Here it is very important to occupy a minimum of space and do everything so that the garlic remains as juicy and spicy as in summer.

Only small jars are required for proper storage. They are sterilized first. Dried heads are placed in clean sterilized jars and sprinkled with coarse salt. The top layer of salt up to the lid should be the densest. Salt acts as a preservative and even in spring this garlic will be juicy. If during storage the salty layer becomes moistened, the whole process will need to be done again.

Method number 3 In linen bags

At low humidity in the apartment, it is allowed to store the bulbs in linen bags. Previously, onion peels are placed in them, or they proceed as follows:

1. Prepare a cool saline solution.
2. The heads are placed in it, and then exposed to dry.
3. Once the bulbs are completely dry, you can put them in a bag.

Method number 4 In oil

The heads are divided into cloves and placed in clean jars. After that, fill them with any vegetable oil. This method is well suited for storing small batches of garlic. Oil acts as a barrier against external destructive factors.

The shelf life of winter garlic for any of the selected months is about 5 months. It’s pretty good.

Garlic storage. Video

We present to the attention of readers a small but detailed video on how to store garlic in the winter and how to properly clean it.

Potential storage problems

Taking out garlic one winter day, you can find it spoiled. Not everyone knows why this happens. There are quite a few reasons. Let’s consider just a few of them.

1. The crop was infected during cultivation. So, for example, infection with a nematode can destroy the entire crop. Before placing the bulbs in storage, they must be carefully sorted out.
2. The bulbs were frozen. In this case, mold will form on them during storage, which will inevitably lead to infection of the entire batch.
3. High humidity. This reason is the most common. That is why winter garlic is not stored in the refrigerator for a long time.
4. Neighborhood with heat sources. Heating in winter dries the air. Garlic cloves in such conditions rapidly lose moisture, dry out and lose their nutritional qualities. Such a product can be ground in a coffee grinder to a powder and added to the dish as a flavoring seasoning. Useful properties, alas, you will not return to him.

In addition, during storage, it is often possible to notice that the roots have begun to grow back. This must not be allowed. Before placing the bulbs in a specific place for this, you need to singe the roots. So do many gardeners. This is especially true for residents of the south, where the air temperature even in winter can be positive.

If the roots have already sprouted, you can put the peeled cloves in oil and save them in this way.

If spring garlic is stored well, then winter garlic is not so easy to store. It is large, has a bright taste, but it will take some ingenuity to keep it the same in winter. Store the bulbs in any of the ways suggested today. They will be juicy, and the bright taste and useful qualities will be preserved!