garlic is a very healthy and tasty vegetable , can be cultivated very easily in the garden, as explained in the cultivation guide. It is part of the Liliaceae family and the bulb, which grows underground, is harvested from the plant. The ” bulb of garlic “It’s a set of the teeth each can be replanted to generate new plants, or used in cooking for consumption.
In recipes, garlic is used very often as a condiment: its pronounced flavor is characteristic and if it is eaten raw it risks returning to the breath, a characteristic for which it is often feared. Although difficult to digest, it remains very healthy, with beneficial effects especially on blood pressure .
The amount of garlic to include in each recipe is moderate: only a few cloves are enough to give flavor, so enough bulbs can be grown in a few square meters of garden to satisfy the family’s annual consumption, provided that keep the garlic heads well. For them to last a long time and to be able to keep them without rotting or sprouting, let’s see what are the very simple precautions to take into account, in particular see what is the ideal place to keep this vegetable.
Contents [Ocultar]
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how long does garlic last
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Storage begins at harvest
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dry heads
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Where and how to store bulbs
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Store to replant
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Ways to store garlic longer
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Contents
how long does garlic last
In general, in a family garden, there is only one harvest of garlic per year. in a period that varies according to the climate and the time of planting, since cloves can be planted from autumn to early spring.
The bulbs are usually harvested during the summer period . Garlic is one of the most durable products in the garden, in the pantry or in the basement that we can keep it for months , sometimes even until the next year’s new harvest. This long life of vegetables is linked to certain precautions: the drying of the heads is important, as well as the temperature and the humidity of the place where they are stored.
Not all varieties of garlic lend themselves to a long service life: the classic white garlic lasts a long time, while the precious pink garlic and red garlic they degrade faster.
Storage starts from collection
If you really want to preserve garlic, you have to harvest it at the right time: the cloves removed from the ground too early retain a lot of water and are not suitable for long-term storage. The bulbs are harvested when the plant dries up, so just look at the aerial part of the vegetable to decide whether to harvest or wait.
Another important precaution is to choose a day with favorable weather to carry out the harvesting work: remember that the nails are underground, do not take them when the ground is muddy and very humid. Fortunately, in summer, one or two days of sunshine are usually enough to dry out the soil.
After harvesting, we carefully clean the garlic head from the soil, protecting the cloves from any microorganisms present in the soil.
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dry heads
Once collected and cleaned, the heads of garlic must be dried: to preserve them, it is important that they lose more water before being stored. In this sense, according to the peasant tradition, the bulbs are linked together in braids or crowns , very beautiful and decorative. These are the ones we also see in folklore and movies related to vampires.
The resulting braids, even single heads, should be hung in a ventilated and dry place, where they can be left for at least a week. Farmhouse porches are often perfect places for this type of drying.
Where and how to store bulbs
The correct temperature is 8/10 degrees . A good place can be the basement , if it is not too humid, or outdoor furniture during the winter season. If we have no other alternative, we must keep the garlic in the pantry, even if the temperature inside the house is a bit high and therefore not ideal.
If you don’t hang your head Plastic boxes kept high, so air flows everywhere and you have the most recirculation.
Garlic bulbs keep well if are kept whole They should not be peeled or shelled.
Keep to replant
Garlic cloves can also be saved as propagation material, that is, to be replanted and to start a new crop of this vegetable the following year.
The preservation method is the same as for garlic preserved for consumption, below you can read our guide on how to plant the cloves in the ground, where you will find all the indications of periods, distances and method of planting .
Ways to store garlic longer
If the 6/8 months of conservation of white garlic is not enough, or when growing shorter varieties, you can use other treatment methods , which allow us to keep the vegetable longer. the three possibilities we have are: freeze, completely dry or pickle the cloves in oil.
For Freeze all you need is a freezer, the advice is to freeze the slices already peeled and maybe even mashed – it will be much easier to use them in the kitchen when needed.
Drying can be done in a ventilated oven at the minimum permitted temperature, with the door open. Better quality results are obtained if a dryer is available . To completely dry the garlic, we must thinly slice the cloves to speed up the process.
garlic in oil It is a tasty alternative, we have talked about it among the Orto Da Coltivare recipes, you can read the recipe for cloves in oil to know how to prepare it safely. Preservation is very easy to prepare, it is important to use vinegar to avoid botulism and sterilization of jars.