When to start eating fresh garlic

[xellos99]

I planted 300 garlic in early Nov 2018 ( 5 per 11 litre pot )

It is wayyyyyyyyyy too much ( I thought many would die )

Now the 290 or so that are still alive are bulbing up.

I would say less than a Golf ball size but wont be long before they are that size I guess and I read they end up a good size bulb all being well.

Anyhow I figure ALOT will go to waste if I wait for them to reach full size.
Sure I can dry them out but there are only so many you can get through before even dry ones go bad.

So I was wondering if I can simply start picking them now and just use them fresh straight from the garden ?

Im not even sure if they have divided into cloves, how they will taste or anything really. It is my first year growing Garlic ever.

[bower]

I think you mentioned elsewhere you are growing Thermidrome? That is a softneck, so they are mature sooner than hardnecks anyway. Also they are great keepers, which means you will have garlic for a long time (maybe a year?) if you cure them properly.


That being said, there's nothing to stop you from eating some immature garlic if you have more than you're going to need for a year besides your seed stock for replanting.


Fresh uncured garlic is very juicy and not as strong tasting as a properly cured bulb. But it is totally good to eat all the same, if you won't miss the fully grown one.
Incidentally I am growing some Thermidrome from bulbils which Svalli sent to me. The plants are very vigorous and I think they will do well here too.

[xellos99]

Originally Posted by bower

I think you mentioned elsewhere you are growing Thermidrome? That is a softneck, so they are mature sooner than hardnecks anyway. Also they are great keepers, which means you will have garlic for a long time (maybe a year?) if you cure them properly.


That being said, there's nothing to stop you from eating some immature garlic if you have more than you're going to need for a year besides your seed stock for replanting.


Fresh uncured garlic is very juicy and not as strong tasting as a properly cured bulb. But it is totally good to eat all the same, if you won't miss the fully grown one.
Incidentally I am growing some Thermidrome from bulbils which Svalli sent to me. The plants are very vigorous and I think they will do well here too.

Yes Thermidrome. I have never grown any other Garlic but I am over the moon with this variety so far and if they taste good and store well I will grow them every year.

[zipcode]

Thermidrome and the other ones derived from Drôme garlic is one of the more productive garlics, shelf life is not fantastic I would say, but good. Taste is standard, good for cooking, ok for fresh eating.
One can eat the garlic pretty much anytime, starting when immature, before the cloves are formed, eaten whole like a spring onion. Then when the skins on the cloves are starting to form, it' not really suitable for eating, but afterwards when the cloves are big enough it's again good (like normal garlic, not the whole plant). While it's still not fully grown it will be more watery and milder (much milder), but it usually has a superior flavour to cured garlic.

[xellos99]

Originally Posted by zipcode

Thermidrome and the other ones derived from Drôme garlic is one of the more productive garlics, shelf life is not fantastic I would say, but good. Taste is standard, good for cooking, ok for fresh eating.
One can eat the garlic pretty much anytime, starting when immature, before the cloves are formed, eaten whole like a spring onion. Then when the skins on the cloves are starting to form, it' not really suitable for eating, but afterwards when the cloves are big enough it's again good (like normal garlic, not the whole plant). While it's still not fully grown it will be more watery and milder (much milder), but it usually has a superior flavour to cured garlic.

When you say skins starting to form, I think my ones are at that stage now maybe.

I have been inspecting one of them every couple of days and when I move the soil with my finders I can see an extremely thin layer over the bulb that rips very easily. I would describe it as a skin but im not sure. I really need to research more about Garlic

[Nan_PA_6b]

I planted Kettle River softneck garlic outside late last fall. How do I know when to harvest them?

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Nan_PA_6b

I planted Kettle River softneck garlic outside late last fall. How do I know when to harvest them?

Right before they start to put out extra leaves along the main set that has been growing.
When that starts to happen the cloves are starting to separate.
Each one of those extra side leaf things is the separated clove growing.
I learned this the hard way.
Clear as mud I'm sure but just trying to help.

[bower]

Originally Posted by Nan_PA_6b

I planted Kettle River softneck garlic outside late last fall. How do I know when to harvest them?

Most people go by the drying down of the leaves. When there are three or four green leaves left, that is a good sign they are ready to harvest. Each green leaf represents a layer of wrapper that is still intact. The dry leaves represent wrappers that are degrading or degraded. So you want to harvest while there are some good wrappers left for storage purposes. The bulb should also be at maximum size by then with a good layer of wrappers intact. You can leave them longer, but in the end they won't have any wrappers on em, so storage life will be short.

[zipcode]

Originally Posted by Worth1

Right before they start to put out extra leaves along the main set that has been growing.
When that starts to happen the cloves are starting to separate.
Each one of those extra side leaf things is the separated clove growing.
I learned this the hard way.
Clear as mud I'm sure but just trying to help.

Not sure that's supposed to happen. Individual cloves will not start sprouting until they have had a 'dormancy period', unless some unusual conditions have pushed them to.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by zipcode

Not sure that's supposed to happen. Individual cloves will not start sprouting until they have had a 'dormancy period', unless some unusual conditions have pushed them to.

It does in Texas with it's crackpot weather.
Sometimes onions bloom the first year too.

[xellos99]

I think I will just leave them fully develop, just pick out one of the runts to try.

For some reason about 10 of them have stayed pencil thin but bizarrely are forming bulbs with pride

[Worth1]

Just busted my first clove from this years humble garlic harvest of two volunteer plants.
Blended it with 1/2 small onion, nutmeg, fresh ground black pepper, EVO and salt.'
The taste and smell is amazing.
It then went into a ground chuck patty with bread crumbs for supper.

[svalli]

I got quite many volunteers growing from garlic left in ground from last year. I transplanted them and my plan is to use them as fresh garlic since these are mixed varieties and will not grow any big bulbs. I really would like to making the cream of garlic from this website https://cnz.to/ingredients-fine-food...to-do-with-it/

[JRinPA]

In France, they have a knack for thinking themselves very clever in all things...and telling everyone else about it!


I can't read any further after that opening. I want to, but my principles won't allow it! I've read far too much Bernard Cornwell!