#garlic how to
Explore tagged Tumblr posts
Text
Growing Garlic 101
It's summertime and that means it's about time to order garlic! Garlic is one of the easiest vegetables I have ever grown, although it takes a while from planting until harvest. Most of that time is hands off, so garlic is something I would recommend to grow if you're new to planting and want something easy (or just want lots of yummy garlic)
What to know before starting
Before getting further, I just want to say that I am in hardiness zone 6b (near zone 7) in the US, so that is my growing experience (what is a/my hardiness zone?). To my knowledge and research, garlic can be grown in a wide variety of climates, including very hot and very cold ones. This post is going to be oriented around US geography and terminology because that's what i know
The first thing to know about garlic is that it is typically planted in the fall, but not harvested until the following summer. Why is it planted so early? Garlic goes through a process called vernalization, which means that it needs a cold period before in order to grow to its fullest potential. In garlic, vernalization is what causes the bulb to split into cloves (rather than just having one big chunk of garlic). The first year I grew garlic, I didn't know that it had to be planted so early so I planted in January. It did pretty good and I was happy with it! Some heads didn't have cloves and some did, so even if you get to it late you'll likely still have something yummy to eat by the end of it!
The next year I grew garlic, I planted it out towards the end of October and I had an amazing harvest! The bulbs were bigger and all had divided into cloves. All this to say, you'll have better garlic if you plant in the fall but if you forget or don't know and get to it late it'll be okay!
Step 1: Picking your garlic varieties
This is such a fun step!!! You can find all sorts of different varieties of seed garlic online, with different colors, tastes, and growing habits. My first year I started with seed garlic I found at lowes; the type I found was your generic grocery bought garlic, which for the most part is a softneck variety called California Early (or California Late).
Softneck vs. Hardneck
You should pick softneck or hardneck depending on the climate you are growing in. Softneck varieties do better in warmer climates while hardnecks are more cold hardy. In my zone 6b, I can grow both hardneck and softneck varieties because I am in the middle of the temperature range for hardiness zones. If you are in zones 1-5, hardneck varieties are recommended for your area while zones 8-12 softnecks grow better. If you are in the middle zones 6-7, you should be able to choose either variety and end up okay :)
Hardneck features
Hardneck garlic differs from softneck most obviously in that it will form a hard flower stem, often called a scape:
These are delicious and should be harvested before the flower opens, when they start to curl. They can be chopped up and used like other vegetables (they're also great in pesto I've heard). I roughly chopped mine this year and put them in a bag in my freezer so I can take them out and add as needed. They have a mild garlic flavor, more herby than the bulbs, and can be used in greater quantity without an overpowering garlic taste
Other differences in hardneck varieties is that they have larger (but fewer) cloves and the cloves peel easier.
Softneck features
Softnecks don't have the hard stalks and also keep good for much longer than hardnecks, so their stems and leaves are better for forming garlic braids:
Because of their superior ability to store well, softneck varieties are the type of garlic most commonly sold in grocery stores. There are much fewer varieties of softneck garlic than hardneck (only a couple dozen vs hundreds of varieties of softneck). There are more cloves in softneck garlics but the cloves are smaller and harder to peel.
Where to order seed garlic
Here are some good places I've found to order seed garlic:
Hudson Valley Seed Company
Johnny's Seeds
Urban Farmer (my favorite, I ordered here last year)
You can also just buy garlic from local farmers/hardware stores! They'll likely have varieties well suited to grow in your area.
Step 2: Planting
After you receive your garlic, keep it whole in the bulbs until time to plant. The general rule is to plant 6-8 weeks before your typical first frost date (where is that for me?), but I found that its okay to do it later than that, especially since climate change is messing with the dates. For reference, my average last frost date is October 11th but I didn't plant last year until October 22. Typically they are planted around September-November, the warmer your climate the later you plant.
Before planting, I recommend adding an inch or two of compost to the top of the soil. This will give them nutrients for the year ahead :)
If you are planting late or have pretty mild winters, one trick is to keep the garlic heads in the fridge (not freezer) for a month or two before planting. This will simulate vernalization and will help them to form cloves and bigger heads!
It is good to plant in a fairly sunny area. Mine has partial shade but they do great there!
When you are ready to plant, separate the bulbs into cloves. Try to keep as much as the papery skin on your cloves as possible as it helps to protect them in the ground, but don't beat yourself up about it. I plant mine roughly four inches apart, shoving them about two inches down with them upright (the hairy root end is the bottom and they taper to a point at the top):
After they're all planted, water pretty deep and mulch about an inch or two deep. This will help protect them from hard freezes in the upcoming winter. You can use whatever you have access to, I recommend things that will decompose so they add nutrients to the soil. I raked up fallen leaves from my yard last year and used those
Step 3: Wait
Now relax! The garlic won't be ready for a long time, so just let it do its thing. I don't really ever water mine because I get pretty consistent rainfall, but you can water periodically if you are in a dry climate. It is good to water before particularly hard freezes, it helps the bulbs have what they need to survive.
You might see the greens popping up if you have warm sprees in the late fall/winter. It is fine to ignore these, they will likely die back when it gets cold again but they will still come right back in the spring. You'll want to remove any heavy mulch in the spring when they start growing (my leaves had mostly decomposed so I didn't need to do this)
Step 4: Harvest time
I water mine occasionally as they are growing in the spring or summer, but for the most part I don't bother. I have fairly regular rain and garlic seems very resilient to water differences.
Your garlic will be ready sometime in May-August, depending on what varieties, when you planted, and your climate.
When it is getting close to harvest, it is natural for the leaves to start dying back a bit, especially with softneck varieties. You'll see the garlic scapes form on hardneck varieties, and will need to cut these off once they begin curling, before they flower:
For softneck garlic, harvest when about half of the leaves have yellowed and died off, starting with the bottom leaves. The tops may start to flop over when ready.
For hardneck, the appearance of scapes means they'll be ready in about 4-8 weeks. The leaves will die off as well, but not near as much as softneck varieties in my experience.
Do not water for a week before harvesting. You want your garlic to dry out some before harvesting :D
Since my garlic is in a raised bed, I have fairly loose soil. Therefore, I can just pull the neck of the garlic right above the ground to harvest my garlic. If you have more compacted soil, it would be best to dig around the clove some before you harvest so that it comes out whole and unbroken.
Congrats!!! Your garlic is ready!!
Step 5: Eating and preserving
At this point, your garlic is all out of the ground and ready to be eaten. If you have more garlic than you can eat within the next couple months, you'll need to preserve it. There's a lot of ways to preserve it, but I'll go over a couple I have done.
Idea 1: cloves in a vinegar
This one is primarily how I preserved my garlic last year and I'll be doing it again this year. It is very simple: just peel your garlic, place in clean jars, pour over hot boiling vinegar, seal, let cool, and store in the fridge! Make sure the cloves of garlic are completely submerged in the vinegar or you risk foodborne illnesses. The garlic has enzymes that prevent the cloves from absorbing the vinegar, and the vinegar prevents any bacteria from growing and causing the garlic to spoil. The cloves don't taste like vinegar and can be chopped and added to dishes as needed!
Idea 2: cure whole heads
This is best done with softneck garlic as they store better for longer than hardneck.
This is essentially letting them dry so they keep longer. After harvesting, keep the heads as is with dirt and leaves still attached (brush off any big dirt clumps but don't scrub them clean). Place the heads somewhere flat, warm, well ventilated, and shaded from too much direct sunlight (can get some indirect sunlight). This can be in a garage, on palattes, hanging somewhere, in a shed, whatever you have that seems best. I did mine on my front porch just laying on the concrete.
Leave them alone to dry for at least two weeks, then store as desired! You can trim the leaves and roots off and clean with a brush if desired, or leave the leaves and dirt and roots and store. I trimmed the roots off, left the leaves, braided them together, and hung in my kitchen:
(here is a video about braiding garlic) (note: it can only be done with softnecks)
Idea 3: make garlic confit
This is such a yummy way to use up garlic. Peel your cloves, add to a saucepan, cover in desired liquid oil, and cook on low until the cloves are soft and smushable. Store in the fridge after letting cool and eat within a week :)
Idea 5: Roasted garlic
Here is a recipe
And that's about it! Enjoy your garlic :D
@yourfriendfrogs
#gardening#garden#gardeners on tumblr#gardenblr#gardencore#food#garlic#garlic 101#garlic guide#garlic tutorial#garlic how to#how to grow garlic#making this my pinned post for now because I’m proud of this lil guide I made#I need to figure out how to add a read more sorry anyone who hates the long scrolling#edit: figured it out
43 notes
·
View notes
Text
insane to me that i can type digital symbols into a digital text box and it causes Real Actual Chemical Reactions to occur in the brains of Real Actual People.
that's so concerning. i should not have this power. i want you all to be doing okay. i want to pluck you off the forest floor and tuck you into my little mushroom collecting bakset and carry u home
#and saute you lightly in butter and minced garlic obviously#w/ a dash of soy sauce or wostershire bc that's how u get the umami fyi
2K notes
·
View notes
Text
:D
#i did the lazy rendering idk how to feel about that#maybe with more detailed lineart?#bsd#bungou stray dogs#bsd fanart#bsd garlic#bungo stray dogs fanart#fanart#bsd nikolai#my art#nikolai gogol#bsd sigma#siglai#who knew i'd ever draw them lol#sigma is sad#sigbun ♡
579 notes
·
View notes
Text
Reporting bots in the asexual tag is quickly turning into my favourite hobby
It's actually kinda nice of those bots to deliver a wide variety of content. Tiddies, nutrition supplements, travel, some arabic texts. I even had a crypto post just now!
And if you're not a bot, but wrongly use the tag on a post that has nothing to do with asexuality at all, you just get caught in the crossfire. Sorry not sorry.
#asexual#the bots won't win#this should get a wikipedia article or something#the great asexual vs bot war#practice run for denmark#yes i am fluent in sarcasm#garlic bread for the reporters#how to keep your asexual happy
454 notes
·
View notes
Text
A little doodle for Valentine’s Day! I promise I’m cooking up some more substantial art for this blog, irl obligations are just kicking my ass atm. I hope to have something out soon though!
#stardew valley#sdv harvey#harvey sdv#uhhhhh#idk how to tag this#stardew valley oc#the chickens are named Paprika and Garlic btw#my art
475 notes
·
View notes
Text
"...Hello? Ma! I told you not to call me today, I'm making a movie!" -Wario, Mario Power Tennis
The most important lesson from Ma that Wario took to heart was the endless pursuit of cold, hard cash. Unfortunately, the one lesson she could never teach him was the importance of hard work to get it. It wasn't for lack of trying; Wario's Ma is the hardest worker this side of the Mushroom Kingdom. Raising Baby Wario was a herculean enough task on its own, but ever the enterprising spirit, she had also set out to grow one of the most profitable crops: garlic.
Her backyard business quickly expanded into a veritable garlic empire. Wario's mother toiled away tirelessly each day from sunrise to sunset to grow and harvest as much garlic as she could possibly achieve. Much of Wario's current strength and endurance can be attributed to helping his mom on the farm as a child, although the teeth-pulling task of getting him to actually work was almost as difficult as preventing him from eating all the garlic straight out of the ground. Wario's nose for instant gratification has always been a thorn in his mother's side, but try as she might to instill a solid work ethic into the boy, her "get-rich-slow" schemes could never appeal to him. Still, Wario enjoyed his surprisingly agrarian upbringing. Along with garlic, his mother also raised chickens for eggs, inspiring in Wario a lifelong soft spot for poultry. (He also had a pet hamster named Fluffy, who sadly passed away in 1986.)
Today, Wario is still on good terms with his mother despite their physical distance, and frequent phone calls keep her updated on all of Wario's business successes. Of course, being Wario, he heavily embellishes the amount of work he actually does at his company. If she only knew...
#wario#mario oc#(technically...?)#something I couldn't gracefully fit into my spiel is that she is also where he gets his affinity for country music from.#also my timeline here is that wario spent his early childhood on this farm in the mushroom kingdom (where he met mario) and moved to#diamond city as a teen (where he met jimmy t‚ was taught how to drive by dribble and spitz‚ etc)#idk why they move though i havent figured that out yet. But they go back to the mushroom kingdom area at some point#wario‚ now all grown up‚ kicks off all his sml and wario land shenaniganery after several failed attempts to yoink mario's castle#and later goes back to diamond city while wario's mom continues to thrive on her garlic empire#and thus warioware is born. You know the rest#art#moms n dads#wario's mother
568 notes
·
View notes
Text
My fyolai submission for a mutual's DTIYS on twt :D✨✨
#bungo gay dogs#bsd fanart#bsd nikolai#nikolai gogol#bsd fyodor#fyodor dostoevsky#fyolai#mhjrhahaha wings. how do people draw them#almost fell off my chair tryna draw them#congrats on 1k btw Garlic :]#dtiys stuff
282 notes
·
View notes
Text
These miniature food earrings will be available in my shop on Thursday, August 22nd at 4pm EST!
#which pair would you choose?#i don't actually like shrimp but i love how the shrimp/lemon combo earrings came out#miniature food#miniature food jewelry#food tw#mini food jewelry#novelty jewelry#shrimp#pasta lover#garlic bread#bread lover#polymer clay#handmade
185 notes
·
View notes
Text
I may not know as much about literally any smp aimsey has been in as literally anyone (very new here and i don't have the attention span for livestreams) but trust me when I say I'm very insane about their characters and the things she posts on tumblr. I may not know the lore, but I know he puts a lot into it and it's fucking epic
238 notes
·
View notes
Text
Garlic powder strikes again.
#/unamused#i thought ''oh i'm hungry i should grab a snack. how about some of these crackers and some cheese?'' forgetting that both#had garlic involved and now my mouth burns and it IS my fault but Really?#max says things tag
85 notes
·
View notes
Text
#196#hungryposting#cool food tricks to prank your friends with#how will you make your italian food now without the requisite amount of garlic?
678 notes
·
View notes
Text
For all my fellow AroAces out there ^^
#asexual#aromantic#lgbtq community#lgbtq#aroace#wallpaper#would you like some garlic bread on the side?#or how about a *QUASO*#i am so sorry for these tags i have no fucking idea what im writing rn#too sleep deprived to focus#enjoy ^^
146 notes
·
View notes
Note
i hate garlic and i would rather die than even look at it
vampire ass ask
375 notes
·
View notes
Text
Nikolai ._ .
#no idea how tumblr works so i censored his ass my bad#originally i just wanted to practice anatomy so it's a bit rough but ehh#i wAnNa TrY dRAwiNg oTHeR chARactERs#...#bsd#bungou stray dogs#bsd fanart#bsd nikolai#bsd garlic#bungo stray dogs fanart#fanart#nikolai gogol#my art#bsd nikolai gogol#nikolai bsd#nikolai fanart#bungo sd
719 notes
·
View notes
Text
I feel like the book of bill did the same thing to billford shippers that listening to malevolent part 40 did to me
#that being realizing how gay these horrible old men are#garlic breath#malevolent#arkayne#i love.....#toxic yaoi#anyways#book of bill#gravity falls#i still need to read it LOLLLL#i had a gravity falls spin lol but i havent caught up with the happenings in the fandom
74 notes
·
View notes
Text
Y'all realize garlic bread started as an asexual symbol first right? The whole start of it was in reference to "garlic bread is better than sex" idk where the idea came about that it started as an aromantic symbol with "bad garlic breath saving you from kissing"???
Not saying garlic bread can't be a shared symbol but it's super weird to hear ppl claiming it was an aro only symbol and completely ignoring the roots it has as a symbol in the ace community??
#text#i say this as an aroace who has been in both communities#and didnt hear anything about garlic bread as an aro only symbol until recently#like i heard it being in ace and aroace circles#but just aro? it being just an aro symbol??? thats news to me and i've been in the community for so e time now#like aros can also use it as a symbol but to ignore the ace symbol origins seems kinda fucked 2 me#yall cant claim an ace symbol and then erase its ace roots that not how that works#ace#asexual#aro#aromantic#aroace#tbh i dont believe ppl mean malice its probably ppl being misinformed#but still it is bugging me to see an ace symbol erased as an ace symbol so readily amongst other aspecs
137 notes
·
View notes