Content
Storing garlic is not very troublesome, but it does require some knowledge. Let's talk about how to trim garlic for storage and how to store it later. In winter, you will be pleased with the juiciness of the vegetable and its excellent taste.
Types of garlic
To learn how to trim garlic correctly, you need to understand that there are different types of garlic. In addition to the standard division by variety, there is a difference by type:
- spring summer;
- winter.
They differ from each other in appearance. Winter garlic is planted in the winter, and in the spring, with the onset of warmth, its growth begins with renewed vigor. This vegetable tolerates frost easily. Spring varieties are planted in the spring, and the bulbs are harvested in August. It is often stored in cold weather for use as food.
In addition to these differences, there are also external ones: varieties of spring vegetables have thin soft peel and leaves, but do not have a thick arrow-stem. This feature is characteristic only of winter bolting garlic. The arrow stretches from the very roots and passes through the bulb. We present a table of differences between one type and another.
Table
Index | Summer garlic | Winter garlic |
Appearance | without a trunk, with a large number of teeth, the teeth are arranged in a spiral | all the cloves are the same size and are gathered around the trunk |
Landing time | 2nd, 3rd decade of April | September October |
Harvesting | end of August | July |
Frost resistance | not lower than +3 degrees | soil temperature can be down to -20 degrees |
Shooting | does not shoot, except for the Gulliver variety | all varieties have an arrow |
Harvest storage | at a temperature of +18 degrees | at a temperature not higher than +4 degrees |
In addition, winter garlic is larger and produces more yield. Before how to store garlic, it is necessary to properly harvest and prune.
Harvest
Bulb harvesting begins when the weather is warm and dry. You cannot start harvesting immediately after rain. It is best to dig up the garlic using a fork rather than a shovel, as this will cause less damage. It is important to maintain the integrity of the heads.
Damaged bulbs cannot be stored. Having dug up the garlic, hold it by the greens and shake off the soil. After this, the garlic must be dried for five days. To do this, spread newspapers or cardboard and lay out the bulbs. Before this, the foliage is not trimmed. Rain and high humidity are dangerous for bulbs. If the sky outside the windows is gloomy, it is better to dry the garlic indoors. A large amount of garlic is dried in attics, sheds, loggias, and so on.
Garlic trimming
To store the heads, you need to choose the right method in accordance with the type of vegetable. Spring garlic can be stored well both in cold and warm conditions; winter varieties are stored only in a cellar or unheated barn.
Pruning of bulbs is carried out both in relation to the roots and in relation to the tops. Anyone who has ever grown this crop on their own knows that the roots of garlic are very long and strong.
Incorrectly pruned bulbs may germinate during storage. This is especially true for warm storage.It is important for everyone not only to preserve the harvest until winter, but also to ensure that the vegetable does not lose its taste and aroma.
Trim the roots before drying the garlic. You can leave no more than five millimeters from the bottom. After drying and before storing the crop, we burn the remaining roots. You can use a regular candle for this.
There is no need to cut off the tops right away. After drying, you need to decide exactly how the vegetable will be stored:
- in braids;
- in bundles;
- in the refrigerator, in a jar, in boxes.
Garlic tops are very long. Even when stored in braids, up to 30-40 centimeters are left, and the rest is cut off. Then the dried vegetable is woven into braids from the tops and stored in this way. The braids are simply hung in barns, cellars or on glass loggias.
If the crop is to be stored in bunches, then you need to cut off the dry tops, leaving no more than 20 centimeters. These methods of preparing for the winter are suitable for happy owners of barns and cellars. Braids and buns prepared in the summer are perfectly stored when tied up.
In all other cases, you can leave only a short neck of 3 centimeters. Make sure this neck is dry.
It can be stored in the following ways:
- in wooden boxes with sawdust;
- in a large container with salt or flour;
- in cardboard boxes in a dry place;
- in nets for vegetables.
The main thing to remember is that this vegetable is afraid of moisture. Make sure the bulbs are thoroughly dry before storing them. You also need to remove any damaged heads. They may show mold or signs of infection with a specific disease.
If the bulbs are stored in flour, sawdust or salt, you need to check from time to time whether moisture has been absorbed into the dry product.In this case, the cut heads are simply taken out, shaken off and sprinkled with dry matter again. Throughout the winter, this process is repeated 2-3 times.
Other storage methods
Trimmed garlic retains all the beneficial substances; in addition, it will not waste energy on germination. But not everyone has the opportunity to store garlic in bunches or boxes. For those who live in apartments, it is possible to save only a small part of a large harvest. Nevertheless, there are a number of ways to preserve this tasty and healthy product in such conditions.
The first method is storage in vegetable oil. To do this, peel the garlic into slices. Now the cloves need to be placed in a clean sterilized jar and filled with oil so that it covers them completely. The oil will prevent the growth of bacteria. This method is very good.
The second method is to grind the product in a blender and make a fragrant paste out of it. You can pour it into a clean, sterilized jar, add a layer of coarse salt on top and close it. The bank is better Keep refrigerated until winter.
The third way is to store the heads in a linen bag. But if you just put them there, they will very quickly lose moisture and dry out. There will be no benefit from such garlic. To keep this garlic fresh for at least three months, you need to resort to a little trick. Dissolve coarse sea salt in hot water. Per liter of water 3 tablespoons. Now we dip each head, holding it by the neck. This garlic needs to be dried and then safely placed in a bag.
Reader Experience
Our readers also have experience trimming garlic.
Conclusion
Trimming garlic is a very simple matter and practically not troublesome. Even a beginner can handle it.
