This year I miss timed my garlic harvest and the mature crop was hit with rain. The bulbs were fine but the tops had disintegrated which meant I could not plait and hang them as I usually do.
There is something about leaving the dried tops on the bulbs and hanging them, that allows the bulb to store longer.
The alternative storage solution I used was to pop then into old orange bags and hang them in a cool dark spot.
I also thought I would try freezing the peeled cloves and making garlic oil as another means of storage.
Now peeling a whole lots of garlic cloves doesn’t sound like fun but if you soak them in warm water for a few hours the husk will just rub off leaving a clean clove.
Once I had about a dozen bulbs separated and the cloves clean, I simply dried them and put them into a dry plastic container and popped them in the freezer.
To use them I will just pull out the number of cloves I need allow them to thaw and then use as normal.
Garlic cloves and oil ready to blend.
I also wanted to try garlic oil, I had read a number of articles on the convenience and ease of use of this product.
Again I cleaned up a couple of bulbs of garlic into clean cloves popped them into a blender with twice the amount of oil as cloves and blended until there were still small chunks of garlic mixed evenly though out the oil.
This I then decanted this mix into small plastic containers and froze.
Garlic products ready for the freezer
Due to the oil content, the garlic oil will never freeze very hard so it can be removed from the freezer and within the a few minutes I am able to scoop out the required amount to use.
This has proved very useful for my favourite garlic prawns, vegetable stir fries and many pasta dishes which call for garlic chopped and fried off in oil.
It fact this product could be used where ever you would use oil and garlic together.
Next year, I will try and get my crop harvested at the right time! I will also be using both these two new storage methods as they take very little preparation time but gives you a product that is ready to use and very convenient when you are trying to get a meal ready in a short time.
For more information on starting your productive backyard, check out the website.
If you have questions about your garlic crop or preserving your harvest, you can always ask me questions via my Facebook Page, Pinterest or Instagram!
As always, Happy Gardening!
Kathy
