My first garlic journey is almost complete. Over the weekend I harvested my garlic, 17 heads from 17 little cloves. Back in October I tucked these guys into a bed of heavily composted containers. Last month I harvested their curly scapes, and now it's time to cure these beauties.
After gently unearthing each head, I brushed off some of the dirt, and carefully fished the leaves into a stainless steel rack. The garlic cures best in a shaded, dry, breezy location. Many use a shed, garage or basement. But I prefer to keep these smelly bulbs outside. The rack of garlic is under my deck, directly under my table and umbrella...so far all dry. If a big storm rolls through I'll consider moving them. But it looks like they'll be outside curing for 2 weeks before I trim the leaves and roots for storage.
This has been a great gardening adventure and I cannot wait for another autumn planting of garlic. I guess that means I need to save some cloves for October!