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| Our garlic will be curing in the garage for a couple of weeks. |
We're thrilled to celebrate a major milestone in our garden: seven years of growing our own purple garlic!
This year's journey began last October when we planted our garlic cloves, and after a long wait, we finally harvested them about a week ago.
Garlic has the longest growing season of anything in our garden, but it's also the crop that lasts the longest in storage.
In fact, last year's stash lasted until recently, making it a staple in our pantry.
Just as we ran out of last year's bulbs, the scapes on this year's crop were ready to be harvested.
Scapes are milder than the cloves are, but still pack a delicious garlic flavour. We chop them into small pieces, store them in a 500ml canning jar in the freezer, and use them as needed – which is often!
The scapes bridged the gap between last year's harvest and this year's, and now we have beautiful, purple-streaked bulbs to replenish our stocks.
Currently, they're curing in our garage on chicken wire, out of direct sunlight, and will be ready for long-term storage in a couple of weeks.
The largest bulbs will be reserved for planting next year's crop as autumn approaches, continuing the cycle.
Growing our own garlic has been a total success story, and we're excited to see what the future holds for our garden.
In fact, last year's stash lasted until recently, making it a staple in our pantry.
Just as we ran out of last year's bulbs, the scapes on this year's crop were ready to be harvested.
Scapes are milder than the cloves are, but still pack a delicious garlic flavour. We chop them into small pieces, store them in a 500ml canning jar in the freezer, and use them as needed – which is often!
The scapes bridged the gap between last year's harvest and this year's, and now we have beautiful, purple-streaked bulbs to replenish our stocks.
Currently, they're curing in our garage on chicken wire, out of direct sunlight, and will be ready for long-term storage in a couple of weeks.
The largest bulbs will be reserved for planting next year's crop as autumn approaches, continuing the cycle.
Growing our own garlic has been a total success story, and we're excited to see what the future holds for our garden.
Happy gardening!
About Purple Garlic
''Purple garlic, also known as “creole garlic,” is a type of garlic that has a purple hue to its outer skin and sometimes even the cloves themselves. It is believed to have originated in Central Asia and has been cultivated for thousands of years. This type of garlic tends to have a slightly milder flavor compared to white garlic, making it a great option for those who find the taste of traditional garlic to be too intense.''
It's hard to grow food in my post stamp sized shadowy city graden, but I never give up trying. Had some bell peppers and green beens so far this year. Never tried garlic, but will do! But does white garlic work as well?
ReplyDeleteExcellent. Everyone should do what they can with what they've got, As far as I know while garlic will work as well. Garlic is very easy to grow, and will work in a container. Try it and see what happens.
Delete- Gregg
Garlic is next on my list! It's so fun to see yours. I love the watercolor you shared in the main page. Just gorgeous. Peace, Erin
ReplyDeleteGo for it - garlic is easy to grow, and like all garden vegetables, is so much tastier and fresher than what is on the shelves at the big box grocers. We are working toward getting off a reliance on the Big Food complex.
DeleteAlso, so satisfying, and so much fun to grow yourself.
- Gregg