Garlic is beloved in the kitchen as a flavor intensive in a wide range of dishes.
With a delightfully pungent taste and fantastic aroma, regular consumption of the stinking rose also has numerous health benefits.
Plus, cultivating your own is easy. And it’s wonderful to have your own supply of heritage bulbs in your winter storage cupboard.
We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission.
But, being underground bulbs, there can be some understandable confusion about exactly when they’re ready to harvest. Without x-ray vision, you can’t tell when they’ve reached that perfect stage of plump maturity!
Dig them up too early and you have small bulbs, barely more than a clove. But wait too long, and the bulbs can split and separate in the ground.
So, how do you know when they’re ready to be dug up?
The answer is in the leaves.
That’s right. To reap your crop at the optimal time, you must become adept at reading the leaves, because the correct ratio of brown to green leaves is the best way to predict when ripe bulbs need to be lifted.
To hone your fortune-telling skills, let’s dig in and learn all about the best time to harvest garlic bulbs!
These are the topics we’ll cover:
Know Your VarietiesGarlic, Allium sativum, belongs to the Allium genus, a large group with numerous species that include chives, leeks, onions, scallions, and shallots.
For the home garden, there are two subspecies to know about, which contain all 10 of the culinary types.
HardneckHardnecks, A. sativumvar.ophioscorodon– also known as ophio, stiffneck, or topneck varieties – include the Asiatic, Creole, Glazed Purple Stripe, Marble Purple Stripe, Porcelain, Purple Stripe,
Read more on gardenerspath.com