harvest

Harvest Garlic in the Heat of Summer

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Garlic and onions in fried potatoes served with a few slices of garden fresh tomatoes makes a breakfast fit for a queen. It makes the whole house smell good, too. Potatoes and rice always seem better with a little garlic thrown in there.

We’re not talking about powdered garlic or dehydrated flakes of garlic. Only real garlic cloves will give the strong flavor and aroma that we seek.

If you like garlic as much as we do, then you really should be growing your own. It doesn’t take much effort to grow garlic and once it’s established you’ll likely have it forever.

Once the heat of summer is upon the garden garlic bulbs start maturing. They may send up a strong central stalk with a flowering head that will produce several baby garlic bulblets. The bulblets can be planted as can the cloves from the underground bulbs.

Cut off the flowering stalk before the flowers develop so that the plant’s energy will go into producing bigger garlic bulbs in the ground instead of tiny bulblets in the air.

The trick in growing garlic that will store well is to harvest it at the right time. Garlic bulbs have to mature in their second year, at least at our northern Pennsylvania location, so it’s a long-growing crop. If you do it right though, there should be no problem having garlic year round.

Watch the lower leaves of the plants as they dry and turn brown. Some plants will mature sooner than others and they may have to be pulled out first. When two or three sets of leaves have turned brown or died back, it’s time to harvest the garlic. Use a pitchfork or similar tool to pry up the garlic bulbs. Shovels tend to bruise or cut the bulbs and you don’t want that. Pulling up the plant with your hands may not work either as that often breaks off the bulb in the ground.

The garlic plant on the left was harvested at the proper time and its bulb remains intact. The plant on the right was harvested too late. Note that its leaves are all brown and dry.
The garlic plant on the left was harvested at the proper time and its bulb remains intact. The plant on the right was harvested too late. Note that its leaves are all brown and dry.

The garlic bulb on the left was harvested at the proper time for good storage while the bulb on the right was harvested too late.
The garlic bulb on the left was harvested at the proper time for good storage while the bulb on the right was harvested too late. Note that the individual cloves exposed to the air will not keep well.

Once the garlic is out of the ground knock off clumps of dirt with your hands and lay the plants in a single layer on a sheet in the shade. Don’t dry the garlic in the sun as that will be too hot and take away some of the essence of the pungent plant that we’re trying to harvest.

Garlic harvest drying in the shade.
Garlic harvest drying in the shade.

If left in the garden too long or when conditions are too wet, the outer leaves, and therefore the outer membrane-like layers that cover the garlic bulbs will disappear. For the best storing garlic we want to retain as many layers as we can for covering the garlic bulbs.

In 2012 the harvest date for our Pennsylvania garlic was the 10th of July. It’s been a very hot summer and not very wet, so that may be an early harvest date when compared to other years.

Chamomile First Harvest

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It’s the beginning of June and it’s time to harvest some chamomile as it’s grown and bloomed beautifully. Dozens of flowers held over the spicy apple scented foliage have lost their petals while dozens more hang onto them.

Chamomile in full bloom.
Chamomile in full bloom. Photo taken 13 May 2012.

Rain was plentiful this past week and that may have ruined this crop of flowers for tea. We’ll see if the flower stems upright themselves with the sun – if it comes out today here’s what I’ll do:

Cut the flower heads off with a sharp pairs of scissors and collect the cut flowers in a brown paper lunch bag. Indoors, spread the flower tops in a single layer, as much as possible, on brown paper-lined cookie sheets. It might be helpful to shake or jiggle the cookie sheets to turn the flowers for even drying.

Wax paper could be used instead of brown paper. We’ll use wax paper to cover the chamomile overnight. The next day the flowers should appear more shriveled than the previous evening. Shake them lightly and allow to sit open to the air for the day and cover again at night.

After 3-4 days the flowers won’t appreciably change appearance, so the bulk of the moisture would be evaporated at that point. To be sure that the harvest is totally dry before storing, the flowers will be dried for a week before being transferred to a large mason jar with a holey lid that allows for further drying.

The amount of time it takes to fully dry chamomile for tea will depend on your specific conditions, including the prevailing weather and condition of the herbs to dry. For instance, were the flowers still damp from the morning dew when they were harvested (they shouldn‘t be) or is your location very humid? In both cases the herbs will take longer to dry because they’re starting with more moisture.

Take note: Dry herbs with air movement. Use the shade outdoors with a breeze. Don’t dry herbs in the sun as that can bake some of the essence right out of the plant material. If indoors, use a fan to move the air gently.

How do you know it it’s dry enough? Guess! My rough estimate is like the comment above, where the appearance of the plant material doesn’t change shape or color from one day to the next. As moisture is removed from the plant the leaves and petals wilt into twisted, skinny shapes and the brightness of colors fade into muted shades.

When the colors have faded and the leaves feel dry to the touch, it’s safe to transfer the herbs to ventilated storage containers. We like to use mason jars because we always have some around the place for our canning adventures, like making elderberry jelly. The lids can be lightly closed to allow further moisture release.