Hardneck Garlic 1st variety, Zemo, harvested.. Now Metechi and Elephant... ALL DONE

[daveomak]

Hardneck garlic grows tops that need cutting to make the head grow larger....  the tops grow, then curl and then straighten out....  

When they straighten out, the top stem starts to harden... gets woody....  the  plant is "hardening off" getting ready to set seeds in the 

flower top.. (scape)... Cutting the top off as it straightens tricks the plant into thinking the seeds ain't gonna make it and puts all it's energy

into the head (cloves).....    

Top stem and scape cut off after the stem straightens out........

1 clipped top.jpg

• daveomak
• Jul 13, 2013

  

2 clipped top.jpg

• daveomak
• Jul 13, 2013

   

                                                                                                                                         

3-4 top leaves are still have some             Not quite ready to harvest.... 

green...  time to harvest...                                   

 

2 bottom leaves dried and ready to harvest.jpg

• daveomak
• Jul 13, 2013

 

Garlic not quite ready to harvest.jpg

• daveomak
• Jul 13, 2013

Harvested Zemo variety

3 harvested.jpg

• daveomak
• Jul 13, 2013

A clove that was not planted root down

Hardneck needs to be planted vertically...

4 garlic not planted with root end down.jpg

• daveomak
• Jul 13, 2013

98 Zemo plants cleaned and ready to hang...  

6 my crop of Zemo.jpg

• daveomak
• Jul 13, 2013

Worms eye view......  

7 Worms eye view.jpg

• daveomak
• Jul 13, 2013

Hanging with fans blowing to dry...

8 Hanging to dry.jpg

• daveomak
• Jul 13, 2013

A few shallots I dug drying.....  

Shallots drying.jpg

• daveomak
• Jul 13, 2013

Only 500 or so more to dig and clean

and dry.....

                                                                         

9 Zemo Zoom.jpg

• daveomak
• Jul 13, 2013

Thanks for lookin'         

Dave

 

[s2k9k]

That's some Good Looking garlic Dave!!!

 

[oldschoolbbq]

You're welcome ,Dave. Thanks for the look.

 

[woodcutter]

You are definitely a man in the know when it comes to garlic. Very impressive!!

 

[disco]

Great looking garlic! Thanks for posting, Dave.

Disco

 

[dward51]

Looks good Dave.....

But DANG!!!!  500 more to harvest?  You trying to corner the Omak garlic market?

 

[kathrynn]

Those are just gorgeous!  Jealous!  (would love to have some)

Kat

 

[daveomak]

That's some Good Looking garlic Dave!!!

Thanks Dave....

You're welcome ,Dave. Thanks for the look.

Stan, You are welcome too..... 

You are definitely a man in the know when it comes to garlic. Very impressive!!

Thanks Todd....

Great looking garlic! Thanks for posting, Dave.

Disco

You are welcome Disco....

Looks good Dave.....

But DANG!!!!  500 more to harvest?  You trying to corner the Omak garlic market?

Thanks Dave....  If you ever had hardneck garlic, which ain't available in stores, you'd grow your own also....  Can't corner the market here..  Many hardneck garlic growers here...

Those are just gorgeous!  Jealous!  (would love to have some)

Kat

Kat, morning.... They are pretty, and you should take a whiff in the garlic shed....  smells wonderful... (to garlic lovers)...

 

[chef willie]

Nice garlic there Dave......gardening keeps us busy and outta trouble <grin>....Willie

 

[smokinhusker]

Yummy garlic! Those are great looking!

 

[rgacat]

Great job with the garlic. How did you clean your garlic? I have been growing some for a couple of years and not figured out how to get it that clean.

Ronnie G.
 

 

[daveomak]

Great job with the garlic. How did you clean your garlic? I have been growing some for a couple of years and not figured out how to get it that clean.

Ronnie G.
 

Ronnie, morning...... Peel the dried up leaves...  leave 3 green leaves to hold the head together....  removing the outer leaves also helps drying the heads.... and keeps the drying shed cleaner too....   I learned that from my friends at Filaree Farm.....   Where I bought my organic garlic to start my crop, 8 yrs ago...   I used to grow about 5,000 plants/year...   Check them out....   

Dave

                                                                          ... peeling a garlic head.........

                                                                          

Peeled garlic.jpg

• daveomak
• Jul 17, 2013

 

[rgacat]

Thanks Dave I looked at their site and book marked it for later.

Ronnie G.

 

[old bones]

Hi Dave, when I joined this forum, I looked at all your pictures and read all your posts so I could learn about smoking.  When I saw the pictures of your first Garlic, I was impressed and soon got the bug.  

  

Thanks for posting the information about your garlic.  I wasn’t sure when to dig our garlic so I was searching the internet and by luck I found your latest posting on this forum.   Long story short; I had the son stop over so the granddaughter could dig ours up today.   

Thanks to your posting, we have some real nice bulbs.   I sent about 8 pounds home with the son so they can weave and dry them.   Our house smells like a meat market..  Hope the cucumbers do good.   Can’t wait to can Pickles and make some Polish Sausage…

Questions:  

1)  I read your posting about drying,  How long do you let yours dry in front of a fan? 

2) A few weeks ago Jeff had a posting about smoked garlic.   Did you ever try to smoke some?    If so, once it’s smoked do you keep it in a jar of oil?   

 

3) Can I plant this falls crop in the same area? If not, is there anything that should avoid planting in this area?  

Thanks again,

John 

 

[daveomak]

Hi Dave, when I joined this forum, I looked at all your pictures and read all your posts so I could learn about smoking.  When I saw the pictures of your first Garlic, I was impressed and soon got the bug.  

  

Thanks for posting the information about your garlic.  I wasn’t sure when to dig our garlic so I was searching the internet and by luck I found your latest posting on this forum.   Long story short; I had the son stop over so the granddaughter could dig ours up today.   

Thanks to your posting, we have some real nice bulbs.   I sent about 8 pounds home with the son so they can weave and dry them.   Our house smells like a meat market..  Hope the cucumbers do good.   Can’t wait to can Pickles and make some Polish Sausage…

Questions:  

1)  I read your posting about drying,  How long do you let yours dry in front of a fan? 

2) A few weeks ago Jeff had a posting about smoked garlic.   Did you ever try to smoke some?    If so, once it’s smoked do you keep it in a jar of oil?   

 

3) Can I plant this falls crop in the same area? If not, is there anything that should avoid planting in this area?  

Thanks again,

John 

John, morning.....   It's been in the high 90's here.... drying time is about 2-3 weeks, in the shed, in the shade....   Cut one of the stems and it should be fairly dry...  not green and water dripping out of it.....     I have smoke it...  someone posted about smoking it, with the top of the head cut off and olive oil and salt added and it all placed in a cupcake pan...   I found it....  SQWIBS thread....

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/111525/smoked-roasted-garlic-tutorial-q-view

About replanting..... It is best to use a new section of the garden....  I do a two year rotation on the dirt...   that is best for all veggies....  keeps the bugs away....

DO NOT store garlic in oil....   It can grow botulism.....   Bride takes and roasts 40 - 50 heads at a time, squeezes out the meat and stores in freezer bags in the freezer....   I think she puts a cup or so in a bag for later use....

You can put some oil in a saute pan, put in peeled cloves and heat to 180-200.... hold for an hour or so, until the cloves are soft....  strain out the garlic and use as roasted garlic and store the oil in the refer for a week or two and use for cooking or making oil/vinegar salad dressing....  

We freeze the individual cloves, skin and all, then vacpack and store in the freezer.... they keep very well... when removed from the freezer the skin peels easy if the pointy end tip is cut off....  grate them when frozen...  add to sauces etc.... the taste is still very good...  They do get a little mushy... 

Dave

 

[daveomak]

All the hardneck hanging.... Zemo, Metechi...300+ plants....

2 hardneck hanging.jpg

• daveomak
• Jul 22, 2013

Metechi.... 

2 Metechi.jpg

• daveomak
• Jul 22, 2013

3 Metechi.jpg

• daveomak
• Jul 22, 2013

       Elephant.....   100+ plants....

2 elephant.jpg

• daveomak
• Jul 22, 2013

The garlic did very well this year....  must have been the cool dry spring......

I'm glad that harvest is done.....   

Bride says we are out of dried garlic... Sooooo... Break the heads apart,  separate the cloves.......

into the double stainless pans, shake, remove the skins from the cloves.......

Into the food processor with the thin slicing blade.....  and into the dehydrator at 110 F....

Some will be dried at 145 F for a light brown color and slightly nutty taste....

Then grind for the best ever garlic powder I have ever tasted....

Some will be frozen individually and vac packed frozen for later use..... 

Bride will roast and freeze some elephant for later use... 

Then there is the delivery to the neighbors....  they like garlic and horseradish....

Dave

 

[smoking b]

  Nice harvest Dave! 

   

 

[daveomak]

B, evening..... I'm pretty sure this is the best harvest I've had.....   All the elephant cloved, which is amazing, and the metechi is HUGE, about 30% are 3"+ heads....  I guess planting the largest cloves from the largest heads has paid off handsomely....    Now if I could figure out how to curtail the weeds, I'd be in gardening heaven.......  

Dave

 

[smoking b]

Have you tried a propane torch for the weeds?

EDIT: Maybe your rows are too close together for that...

 

[daveomak]

Have you tried a propane torch for the weeds?

EDIT: Maybe your rows are too close together for that...

That has been suggested.....     I chop hay for a mulch... and a person in the know said burn the mulch in the spring, it adds nutrients and kills the weeds.....     Well.............. if I burn the much and kill the weeds, and it kills the garlic, I'm out about $500 in garlic......  so I never tried that method....      New garlic seeding plants run about $30 / pound.....    I'm chicken to gamble like that....

My garlic is planted 7" spacing on 12" rows...    I'm thinking of cutting that down to 5" spacing on 8" rows....  more fertilizer, less weeds to pull.... I'm afraid the quality would suffer..... I've got some pretty fine garlic now....   Darned if I know what to do....     

Dave