Out with the garlic

Wonderfully pungent business harvesting the garlic, down on your knees lifting each bulb and admiring it's goodness. knocking the soil from the roots and piling them up to dry. Most of the crop have grown very well, due mostly to the size of the clove planted and the compost added now and then.

Nice sized bulbs, will plant some fat cloves now to grow some during winter, apparently this works!
:)

Put them all in a big box as it was threatening rain, I'll have to master the plaiting this year, would be good to make one big long one.

Box in the garage, about 75!

Just found a good video on  how to tell when your garlic is ready. Hard stem garlic (better for colder climates) grows a curly scope like a flower bulb, soft stem garlic like I have grown this year falls over when it's ready. I did not realize there was a difference and have been waiting for the scopes to form before picking. They have been leaning over for a week or two and should have been pulled then, apparently the cloves begin separating from the bulb and won't keep as well. Here's a youtube vid about harvest and storage

And here's a easy to follow video on plaiting the soft stem variety

The Cecile Brunner rose is flowering very well this year, it's flowers smell stronger as the flowers dry, great for some potpourri.