We went to the farm a couple of times in June and had a blast at the greenery, especially at the end of June, on Midsummer, when everything had grown up, salad greens, radishes, and rhubarb.
And they ate there and brought it with them.
I’ll show you what I “stuffed into a jar,” maybe someone will find it useful.

Let's start with the tops.

I saw it at Vadim’s place once trablin a chic and simple idea, like all ingenious things, and immediately realized it with the availability of raw materials.
Just garlic arrows, ground in a blender, with the addition of vegetable oil, salt, pepper, ground coriander.
And the same goes for young garlic leaves. Grind, season - and into the refrigerator.
This green garlic paste can be kept in the refrigerator without any damage to quality and is eaten with pleasure, on bread, with meat, borscht, pasta, etc. Or just tomatoes. Tasty and healthy!)

Garlic arrows
Coarse sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Ground coriander
Sunflower or vegetable oil

First you need to prepare the garlic arrows - rinse thoroughly, cut into pieces, grind in a food processor (blender, meat grinder).
Add 1 tbsp per 1 liter of ground arrows. a spoonful of coarse sea salt, a teaspoon each of ground coriander and black pepper and 4-5 tablespoons of sunflower oil.
Place in a jar, close and keep in the refrigerator.
“Oil, salt and, in fact, garlic itself are excellent preservatives, so you don’t have to worry about spoilage if you store the paste in the refrigerator.”

These are crushed garlic leaves

The arrows make the paste more pasty or something. In the left jar there is a paste of leaves, in the right jar there is a lighter-looking paste of arrows.

And now - to the roots.
Garlic paste “from Don Pedro”, from Tinatin, I already showed it when I made it for the first time. And now I can say that it can be stored in the refrigerator for a long time, I had leftovers in the jar for almost a year, nothing happened to it, maybe it became less vigorous. And then I made a new batch. A great option to preserve garlic. For me, especially in the spring, it doesn’t last long, the cloves dry out, rot, sprout, etc., but in the form of a paste it’s just superb.

Even the very first vegetables, fruits and berries give us an excellent opportunity for home canning.

Preparations from garlic arrows and green garlic feathers

Pickled garlic arrows

An excellent addition to meat dishes, boiled potatoes and simply as a snack.

Boil the garlic arrows in salted water, drain in a colander (do not pour out the broth).

Cut the arrows into pieces of 5-10 cm and put them in prepared jars, at the bottom of which put 2-3 buds of cloves, allspice and black pepper.

Pour the broth into a saucepan, taste it and, if you need to add salt, add table vinegar to taste and boil.

Pour boiling brine into the jars and seal. You can also use jars with screw caps.

Appetizer of garlic arrows and green beans in tomato sauce

Cut the garlic arrows into pieces 5-10 cm. Also cut the green beans into pieces.

Boil together in salted water. Drain the broth, but do not pour it out.

For one 0.5 liter jar you will need 250 g of beet tops or 150-200 g of leaves without petioles, 1 teaspoon of salt, 2 teaspoons of sugar, 1 clove of garlic, a piece of horseradish, dill, 5-7 peas allspice, 10-15 black peppercorns, 1 ml of 70% vinegar.

It is advisable to preserve the stems and greens of beet tops in different ways - the petioles using triple filling, and the leaves by sterilization.

Method No. 1

Cut the washed stems. If you plan to use the stems in soup in the future, then you need to cut them smaller, and if for a snack, then longer (can be as long as the height of the jar).

In the prepared jars, put a clove of garlic, cut into slices, a small piece of horseradish, a small umbrella of dill and add peppercorns.

Fill the jars to the brim with chopped beet stems. Pour boiling water over and leave for 1-2 minutes. Pour boiling water into a saucepan.

Pour boiling water over the jars a second time and cover with lids.

Place the pan with the first water on the fire, add salt and sugar and add a little water. When the water boils, drain the jars and fill them with boiling brine (third fill). Pour vinegar into the jars (it is convenient to measure the required amount using a syringe) and seal hermetically. Wrap the jars and leave until completely cool.

Method No. 2

Chop the leaves of the beet tops, and if they are later used for stuffing, carefully fold them. First put all the spices in the jars, and then the leaves. Pour water into the jars, pour it into the pan (this is necessary to know the exact amount of water that fits in the jars). Add salt and sugar to the water and boil for about 2 minutes. Pour boiling brine into jars and cover with lids.

Place gauze on the bottom of a large wide pan, place the jars and pour boiling water so that it reaches the hangers of the jars.

Sterilize at low boil for 15-20 minutes. Pour in vinegar and roll up.

Sauces and seasonings

Apricot seasoning

This seasoning is used for sauces served with baked and fried meat, or as an independent side dish.

For 1 liter of puree you will need 100-200 g of sugar, a pinch of ground cinnamon.

Wash well-ripened fruits and pass through a meat grinder with a cone attachment to separate the skin. Pour the resulting puree into a wide vessel and boil until its volume is reduced by 1/5-1/6 of its original volume. Then for each liter of puree add 100-200 g of sugar (depending on the acidity of the fruit) and ground cinnamon.

Pour the prepared seasoning into jars, close them hermetically, place them in a vessel with hot (80 degrees) water and sterilize for 15 minutes.

You can pour the seasoning into jars while hot, fill them to the top, seal them hermetically and keep them with the lids down until the contents have cooled completely.

Tkemali

Tkemali sauce is served with shish kebab and tabaka chicken.

The main ingredients of the sauce are tkemali plum, garlic and herbs. When preparing tkemali, the spice ombalo (also known as pennyroyal) must be used - the classic tkemali sauce cannot be made without it. You can buy seasoning at the market.

Depending on which tkemali plum is used for the sauce, the sauce can be green, red or yellow.

You can prepare tkemali sauce not only from tkemali (you can’t buy it everywhere), but also from ordinary unripe plums or cherry plums.

№1
For 1 kg of plum you will need 4 teaspoons of salt, 1 small pod of red hot pepper, a head of garlic, 1 large bunch of cilantro and half a bunch of dill. If there is, half a bunch is ombalo.

Pour water over the tkemali plum and cook for 30-40 minutes. Then rub through a sieve along with the broth, discard the peel and seeds. Boil the puree until it becomes thick with sour cream, add crushed garlic, cilantro, red pepper and salt, let it boil and cool.

№2

Take the seeds out and sprinkle the fruits with salt, wait until the plum gives juice. Put on fire and let simmer for 5 minutes, add chopped pepper and cook for another 5 minutes, then add cilantro, dill and cook for about 2 minutes, add garlic and turn off the heat.

Pour the sauce into a blender and blend until it reaches the consistency of sour cream.
Add 1 tbsp. a spoonful of apple or grape vinegar. You can add more salt or seasonings to taste. Keep refrigerated.

For 1 kg of plums (seedless) you need 50 g of sugar, 20 g of salt, 6 g of garlic, 1.5 g of red hot pepper (pod or ground), 50 g of cilantro, 50 g of dill, 1/2 teaspoon of ground coriander.

Pass the plums through a meat grinder. Add salt, sugar and boil for 5 minutes. Add very finely chopped garlic, pepper, herbs and ground coriander. Boil. Remove from heat. After cooling, the sauce is ready for use.

If this sauce is being prepared for the winter, after boiling you need to pour in vinegar at the rate of ½ teaspoon of 70% vinegar per 1 liter of sauce, pour into prepared jars and roll up. Wrap well and leave until cool.

№4
Required: 1 kg of tkemali plums, 1 glass of water, 1 clove of garlic, 0.5 bunch of dill and cilantro, 1 teaspoon of ground red pepper, salt to taste.

Wash the plums, place them in a saucepan, add water and cook over low heat, stirring constantly until tender.

Then rub the plums through a colander and dilute with a decoction
Finely chop the greens and garlic, mix with the plum mass, add spices and salt and bring the sauce to a boil.

Cherry plum juice

The juice is made from green cherry plums, in which the fruits have reached their maximum size and have begun to change color from dark green to yellow-green.
Wash the fruits, put them in a saucepan and pour boiling water so that it just covers the fruits. Boil over high heat for 7-8 minutes until the skin bursts. While hot, rub through a sieve with a wooden spoon.
Bring the resulting liquid slurry to a boil and immediately pour into bottles. Seal them tightly and turn them upside down until they cool completely.

Cherry plum with garlic

Wash almost ripe cherry plums, fill them into wide-necked bottles, placing peeled large cloves of fresh garlic between the fruits in a ratio of 4 parts plums and 1 part garlic. Pour cherry plum juice (see recipe above). Add salt to the juice (1 part to 10 parts juice) and dill sprigs.

After filling the jars with the mixture, seal them hermetically and place them in a dark, cool place.

Cherry plum with tomatoes and garlic

Used as a seasoning.

Fill the jars with almost ripe cherry plum fruits, placing hard red tomatoes and garlic cloves between them in a ratio of 4 parts cherry plum, 1 part tomatoes and 1 part garlic. Add green dill. Pour cherry plum juice (see recipe above), add salt and sugar to the juice in the proportion of 15 parts juice, 2 parts salt and 3 parts sugar.
Seal the jars hermetically and store in a dark, cool place.

For gardeners and gardeners, with the arrival of summer comes an active time of pest control. Against the backdrop of effective pesticides, folk remedies are no less popular, including garlic infusion against aphids and other harmful inhabitants that spoil the harvest.

Why garlic is attractive for gardeners

Garlic, onions and a number of other plants contain phytoncides - antimicrobial substances that help prevent the appearance and spread of such dangerous plant pests as aphids and spider mites on the foliage. In addition, the active esters of garlic and onion repel other creatures harmful to the crop. The toxic substance that activates the action of garlic is dallyl sulfite. Garlic is a natural insecticide that is especially helpful against leaf-eating insects, mites and ants. The most common types that garlic helps against are:

• cabbage caterpillar;
• codling moth;
• snails;
• slime;
• thrips;
• peach glass.

In addition, garlic esters help protect the plant from fungi and bacteria.

Garlic infusion for pests is prepared in different concentrations for different types of pests. Thus, aphids can cause damage to fruit trees and shrubs by settling on their foliage, from which they draw juices, disrupting the viability of the plant. Various manipulations are carried out with solutions - plants are watered, foliage is treated, and garlic infusion is also used for spraying. It is especially important, when using garlic infusions against pests, not to harm the plant itself, so you should follow the instructions and recipe.

An infusion of garlic is prepared from all the components of this plant - leaves, arrows and even husks. To enhance the toxic effect on garden enemies, other active plant species are added to the garlic infusion.

1. You can protect plants not only by watering them with garlic infusion: If you plant garlic next to currant bushes, you can thus protect it from mite damage.
2. Experienced gardeners, before planting strawberries, tomatoes or potatoes on a plot of land, plant garlic in this area a year before.
3. Rose bushes will be protected from powdery mildew by planting garlic nearby.
4. Garlic infusion also helps against field mice. Planted in different places in the garden, it thus protects the plants from unwanted guests.
5. Almost everything that can be watered with garlic infusion grows in the garden and vegetable garden. The most vulnerable and needy species include tomatoes, spinach, radishes, cabbage, cucumbers and other species. To ensure that vegetables and fruits do not lose their ecological purity, processing and watering with garlic infusion is what is needed.

Plants should also be watered with garlic infusion to strengthen their immunity. This property is also known in the use of the plant by people.

Despite the effectiveness of garlic properties for garden crops, treating indoor plants with garlic infusion is strictly contraindicated. It should also be taken into account that the garlic infusion for plants will lose its potency if the field treated with it rains.

Treating plants with garlic infusion is a process that requires care and correct dosage. Here, as in the treatment of human diseases, the main thing is not to harm.

Recipes for infusions for spraying

For each type of pest there is a special recipe for how to prepare an infusion of garlic.

To get rid of cabbage moths, earwigs, aphids, and horned caterpillars, professional gardeners use the following garlic infusion for spraying, which is prepared in the following way:

1. Crush a large number of garlic cloves well and add vegetable oil. Let the mixture sit for 1 day.
2. Strained infusion in the amount of 2 tsp. mix with 500 ml of water, add 0.5 tsp. liquid soap. Mix.
3. Strain again.
4. Plants are also sprayed with this solution in order to prevent the appearance of brown rot, the appearance of spots on the leaves, and fungal diseases.

There is another way to make an infusion of garlic for spraying. To prepare it, garlic should be minced and water added in a 1:1 ratio. In a warm, dark room, the mixture should be infused for 7-10 days. The plants are sprayed with the prepared solution at the rate of 50 - 70 ml per 10 liter bucket of water. To ensure that the solution adheres well to the surface of the foliage, you can add a little laundry soap or washing powder to it.

An infusion of garlic leaves will help get rid of carrot flies and cucumber aphids:

1. Fill half a bucket of green leaves to the top with water.
2. Leave to stand in the sun for 2 days.
3. It is advisable to carry out the treatment not in sunny times of the day.

To avoid bacteriosis between cucumber rows, it is also recommended to plant onions and garlic. They also help prevent this disease by watering the areas between the rows with an infusion of garlic arrows according to the above recipe.

Spraying tomatoes with garlic infusion prepared according to the following recipe is necessary to get rid of late blight. This garlic infusion for spraying should be used 4-5 times per season:

1. Pass 200 g of garlic through a meat grinder, leave for several days in 1 liter of water.
2. Add the prepared infusion and 30 g of laundry soap (shavings) to 10 liters of water.
3. The spray solution is also used against cutworm caterpillars.

There is another way to prepare a garlic infusion for spraying from the husks and leaves of the plant. For this:

1. The dry components of the plant are poured into a bucket of warm water at the rate of 150 g of raw material per 10 liters of water.
2. The finished composition is filtered and fruit and berry plants are sprayed for 7 days.

Garlic peel, an infusion of which is used against spider mites, cutworms, and aphids, is also effective:

1. 500 g of garlic peels are passed through a meat grinder and 5 liters of water are poured in.
2. Strain the mixture and fill the extracts with water again. Do this several times to get 10 liters of the composition.
3. After the last stage of straining, the infusion is treated
4. plants.

Garlic infusions for flowers

Garlic infusion against pests is also used for watering flowers decorating the garden plot. Gladioli are protected from fusarium by planting 1 row of garlic between 2 rows of flowers, as well as by watering and spraying with garlic infusion.

If it is not possible to protect the flowers by simply planting garlic, you can spray the plants with an infusion of garlic prepared from 300 g of crushed plant and 5 liters of water. The infusion, strained after 2 days of aging, is used for watering flowers at the rate of 10 liters of water per 1 half-liter jar. It is strictly forbidden to water and spray in sunny, hot weather.

There is another way to infuse garlic for watering flowers:

1. Pour crushed 600 g of garlic into a bucket of hot water.
2. Boil covered over low heat for 3 hours.
3. Strain the broth and dilute it by half again with water.
4. The finished decoction should sit for at least a day.
5. Water the soil at the rate of 0.5 liters per 1 square meter.

An infusion of onion and garlic is used against pests that destroy the plant not only from above, but also in the soil:

1. Boil 50 g of onion peels and 50 g of tobacco dust in 2.5 liters of water for 2 hours.
2. The broth is infused for an hour and 50 g of ready-made garlic pulp is added.
3. Dilute the prepared composition in 5 liters of water.
4. Plants already infected with other diseases are also used against aphids. Flowers can be irrigated.

Other Ways to Use Garlic for Plots

Before planting annual flowers in the ground in the spring, it is recommended to treat the selected planting sites with ready-made garlic infusion. do this a day before planting.

In addition to the fact that you can water plants with garlic infusion, you can protect them in a simpler way - place arrows, leaves and boxes of garlic near them, and also apply protective strapping.

An infusion of garlic arrows, prepared according to the standard method at the rate of 500 g of arrows per 5 liters of water, is used to water trees when ants appear near them. Arrows are also used in another way, which is no less effective than preparing garlic infusion. It consists in making flagella from them, which are tied around the trunk at a height of 30 cm from the ground. The smell of garlic will repel the ants, and they will not attack the trees.

In addition, there is another way to prepare an infusion of garlic for watering and irrigation. It implies a way to make a concentrated infusion of garlic for long-lasting plants:

1. Grind the garlic bulbs into a paste, place it in a dark glass container and add water in a 1:1 ratio.
2. Leave in a cool room for 11 days.
3. Strain the finished infusion and store in a dark glass container, using garlic infusion against aphids and other pests, diluting 2 ml of infusion in 10 liters of water.

They also spray with garlic infusion in the form of a soap-oil concentrate, which is prepared according to the following recipe:

1. Peel 5-6 cloves of garlic, press them through a press, add 10 ml of vegetable oil and 5 ml of liquid soap.
2. Infuse the garlic in water for 3 days, strain, and add the remaining ingredients.
3. For convenience, the contents are poured into a spray bottle and used for their intended purpose. The optimal proportion for 2 liters of water is 60 ml of concentrate.

An infusion of onion and garlic is prepared separately. To do this, add garlic pulp to 2 liters of water and at the same time add onion peels to 2 liters of water. Everything is left for 3 days, then the solutions are mixed. Use formulations prepared from diluted infusions (500 ml) per bucket of water. An infusion of garlic and onions against aphids prepared in this way will help not only prevent their appearance, but also cure a plant already infected with it.

Despite its effectiveness, the prepared infusion of garlic leaves or its other components is not a drug that will have an immediate effect. Like any folk remedy, when choosing what to water with garlic infusion, owners of personal plots must be patient, since the process of treatment and prevention of plants is designed for at least weeks, or even months.

In any case, knowing how to make an infusion of garlic for spraying or watering a plant, you can be sure that thanks to this remedy, garden trees and shrubs, as well as flower plants, will not die from harmful insects and diseases.

The period of rapid flowering of greenery in our plantings continues. Many plants have produced powerful flower stalks and are producing their first flowers. Some plants are already bearing fruit. At this time, along with watering and fertilizing, it is useful to support the plantings with protective agents. It is most practical to use an infusion of garlic: it acts on many pests at once: snails, cruciferous flea beetles, mole crickets, caterpillars, partly aphids, all kinds of butterflies, even thrushes from ripening strawberries can be repelled with it.

Thus, “garlic water” can be used as a general protective agent and used prophylactically on vulnerable crops such as roses, cabbage, strawberries... Therefore, avid gardeners will find extensive plantings of garlic on their plots: bulbs for food, tops for food. for a protective infusion. In the spring, it’s a pity to pull out garlic for spraying, but from the end of June, when the bulbs have already appeared and can be used for food, beware of the pest! Garlic tops do not go into compost, but into protective infusions. In the garden there will always be something to water them: after all, shouldn’t some area be kept away from mole crickets? The smell of garlic disappears in a couple of days, so there is no need to worry about the taste of the fruit after dousing it with infusion.

The infusion is prepared extremely simply: you need to chop a bunch of stems and leaves (with heads of inflorescences) with pruning shears and pour the cuttings into a bucket of water so that the plant juice goes into the water. The strength of the infusion depends on the amount of raw materials: just fill it with slices / buckets and fill it to the top with water. The tops may not steep for long the first time: in case of urgent need - 1 hour, but in general 6 hours is enough or overnight. Then we drain the water and fill the slices with water for a second infusion, now for a long, daily infusion.

The resulting bucket of infusion (both from the first and second drain) can be diluted with water by half to charge two watering cans and water more plants. Against snails, aphids and other leaf enemies of our pets, it is enough to quickly pour rain on the bush from a watering can, so one watering can can cover a large area (with a quick continuous sweep, you can pour about 10 linear meters). To scare away mole crickets or mice, you will have to wet the soil at least 5 cm; this will require a larger volume of product. But moist soil will retain the smell of garlic longer.

As always, when using herbal infusions, the effect will be stronger if the spill is repeated after a few hours or every other day.

If there is not enough garlic, then we use it not for dousing, but for wiping the shoots. Aphids attack only the very ends of the shoots, so we need to treat not such large surfaces. We take a mug with a strong garlic infusion and go into the garden: dip our fingers and wipe the tips of the shoots of currants, roses, young apple trees and other crops vulnerable to aphids, and at the same time crush the aphids that have settled there.

Signs of head maturation

Garlic ripens very evenly. Signs of maturation are:

• yellowing of the lower leaves;
• drying of the outer films and their acquisition of a color characteristic of the variety;
• easy separation of cloves;
• straightening of arrows, previously rolled into rings, in shooting varieties;
• cracking of boxes with bulbs;
• tops lodging.

These signs are an indicator of technical maturity, when the processes of bulb formation are not yet completed and end after harvesting.

Cracking of the heads (physiological maturity) indicates that the cloves are ready to germinate and the crop needs to be harvested urgently. But this is not always a sign of maturity. Often even unripe heads crack when planting garlic after potatoes.

Garlic harvesting time

Harvesting time depends on the method of growing the crop.

The cleaning time is affected by weather conditions. In cold, damp summers, harvest ripening is delayed by 5-10 days.
Garlic cannot be harvested too early, as it will not store well. When harvested late, the heads fall apart into individual cloves. The optimal time comes when the arrows straighten and the inflorescence box begins to open. If there are no arrows, then they focus on the tops: when they fall down, they begin harvesting.

The ripening time of garlic heads can be increased or decreased using various agricultural practices.

Pre-harvest activities to improve crop quality

2 weeks before technical maturity, the arrows straighten, the garlic stops growing, and the bulbs begin to fill. At this time, the leaves are crushed or tied in a knot to enhance the outflow of nutrients from the stems and leaves to the heads. In this case, the ripening period increases by 10-14 days. If the summer is very rainy, then this technique is not used, since long-term exposure of the heads to wet soil leads to them being affected by fungal diseases.

When the inflorescences begin to straighten, the soil from the bulbs is raked halfway so that there is air access to the cloves. It is especially necessary to do this in wet weather. If this is not done, then due to the increased moisture content in the soil, the penetration of air to the roots becomes difficult. The cloves begin to experience oxygen starvation and die as a result. This phenomenon is called soaking. Raking the soil promotes normal respiration of the bulbs and accelerates their formation by 3-5 days.

When to remove garlic from the garden, drying garlic

When the tops fall down and begin to dry, the plants are dug up. You cannot delay harvesting, since mature garlic germinates easily. You can't harvest garlic after it rains. It is unacceptable to pull plants out of the ground, as this can damage the bulb. The dug up heads are left in the air for 5-6 hours so that they ventilate and dry. At night, the harvest is stored in the barn.

Garlic is dried along with the tops for 12-15 days in sheds or attics, laying it out in 1-2 layers. In sunny, dry weather, the boxes are taken out into the open air.

Plants dry very well and quickly in a greenhouse, where there are ideal drying conditions. The boxes with the harvest are placed in a greenhouse and left for 8-10 days. The plants are turned over from time to time so that the lower heads are on top. The greenhouse is left open even at night. Properly dried garlic has an elastic stem that bends well, but does not break.

Plants with arrows are left on the beds for 7-10 days after harvesting the main crop. When the flower stalks begin to turn yellow, they are cut, tied into bunches and dried in the shade for 20-25 days. During this time, the bulbs will fill up, become much larger and acquire a color corresponding to the variety.

Preparation for storage

At the end of drying, the bulbs are cleared of soil, the roots and stems are cut off and stored.

Clearing the ground consists in removing 1-2 layers of integumentary scales. You should not remove more layers, as they protect the head of garlic from excess moisture evaporation during storage. If you remove too many scales, then after 1-2 months the cloves will begin to dry out.

Root pruning. The roots are cut at a distance of 2-5 mm from the bottom, and the remaining ends are singed. This prevents the cloves from sprouting during storage and the heads being damaged by barn pests. The roots of the seed material are not burned.

Tops trimming. Dry tops are cut off, leaving a neck of 2-3 cm. If the garlic is stored in braids, then 30-40 cm of the stem are left, if in bunches - then 15-20 cm.

Peduncles with aerial bulbs are tied into bunches and stored separately.

General rules for storing garlic

Ideally dry bulbs are stored for storage. They are stored in a dark place at a temperature of 3 to 22°C and a humidity of no more than 70% in places where there is no strong air circulation.

Methods for preserving crops in a private house and in a city apartment are different. Garlic is best stored at low positive temperatures (3-6°C) in a cellar or attic where conditions are close to optimal.

In apartments, the crop is preserved well at 18-22°C in a closed space without drafts. Bulbs should not be stored in rooms with high humidity (kitchens, bathrooms) or in places where the air temperature is above 22°C (near radiators, on cabinets, mezzanines). The most suitable place is the bottom shelves of cabinets in the hallway or pantry, where the temperature and humidity are not too high.

It will not be possible to store garlic in the refrigerator even if you want to, since the humidity there is very high. The heads quickly become damp and rot or mold. The maximum shelf life of garlic in the refrigerator is 7-10 days.

Cracked heads will last no more than a month. Since the cloves are not protected by a common integumentary scale, the process of respiration and evaporation is very intense, and they dry out quickly. They must be used first.

The shelf life of winter garlic is 6-8 months (depending on the variety), spring garlic - 8-10 months. During this period, the bulbs are immersed in a state of natural biological dormancy. At the end of the dormant period, metabolic processes in the cloves intensify, preparing for the beginning of the growing season. Therefore, the greatest difficulties arise in the second half of the crop’s shelf life. At this time, the heads are stored either at a temperature of 0-2°C (garlic germinates at +3°C), or at +20°C and above (if the temperature is too high, the germination of the cloves slows down).

How to store garlic

There are several ways to preserve garlic:

• in braids, wreaths, buns;
• in nets and baskets;
• in linen bags;
• in boxes, boxes;
• in banks.

It is good to store garlic in braids, bundles, baskets, nets if you have a barn, attic or at least a dry basement. Storage in jars is suitable for apartments. Other storage methods are suitable for both a private house and an apartment.

Storing garlic in braids.

This is the most common way to preserve garlic. Braids take up little space, and it is easier to control the occurrence of spoilage with this storage method.
When storing in braids after drying, leave 30-40 cm of tops. To weave a braid, you need a strong thin rope, twine or flexible wire.

Braiding technique.

Take 3 heads and tie them at the base with a rope. This results in four ends: three stems and a rope, which, when weaving, must always be intertwined with one of the stems.
Make the initial binding.
Then, after each weave, a new head is added to the braid.

The braids should not be very long, otherwise they will break under their own weight. You can braid garlic like a wreath, twisting the stem around the neck of the previous head. Store braids and wreaths in sheds at a temperature of 3-6°C or in an apartment closet (at 18-22°C). But in an apartment, garlic braided into braids does not last long. To prevent braids and wreaths from falling apart, the heads are not pulled out along with the tops, but cut off, then the stem remains inside and the braid does not fall apart.

You can simply tie the heads into a bunch of 15-20 pieces and hang them in the barn or attic. You cannot hang braids in the kitchen for long-term storage.

Storage in baskets and nets

The bulbs are laid in 3-4 layers; if there is high humidity in the storage room, then they are sprinkled with onion peels. The baskets are placed in a dark place, the nets are hung on the wall. The crop is preserved better in baskets than in nets.

Storage in linen bags

Garlic is placed in bags made of natural fabrics and sprinkled with salt to protect it from moisture. The bags are placed on pallets or the bottom shelves of boxes close to each other.

Storage in boxes and boxes

Boxes and crates should have holes to allow for slight air circulation. The garlic is laid out in 3-4 layers; in rooms with high humidity, each layer is sprinkled with salt. The top layer of the heads is covered with 1-2 cm of salt. Salt absorbs excess moisture and prevents the heads from rotting and molding.

Storing garlic in a jar with salt.

Storing garlic in jars

Unpeeled garlic is placed in glass jars. Small onions are placed whole, large ones are divided into cloves. The jar is closed with thick paper or a perforated nylon lid. This is the best way to preserve garlic in a city apartment.

Storing bulbs

If the seeds are sowed in the spring, then the dried arrows with bolls are tied into bunches and stored in a barn at 2-4 °C. In the apartment they can be stored on an insulated balcony. Place gauze bags over the inflorescence to prevent the bulbs from falling off. 2 months before planting, aerial bulbs are separated from the peduncle, cleaned of impurities and stored in bulk at a temperature of 12-15°C.

Additional means used for storing garlic

In addition to the above, there are other ways to preserve crops, but they are used relatively rarely due to their labor intensity.

Storage method	Description	Advantages	Flaws
In cling film	The head is wrapped tightly in cling film. The rest of the stem is left open, through which the bulb breathes	Prevents the cloves from drying out.	Closer to spring, when breathing intensifies, rot may appear
In paraffin	The head is lowered into melted hot paraffin, then the excess liquid is allowed to drain, dried and put into boxes.	The film formed on the surface prevents the evaporation of moisture, the cloves do not dry out and remain fresh and juicy until spring. This method reliably protects the head from fungal diseases.	The method is very labor intensive
In flour	Lay the garlic in layers, sprinkling each layer with flour.	Flour absorbs excess moisture.	Very expensive storage method
In the ash	The bulbs are laid in layers, sprinkled with ash. The top layer of heads is completely covered	Ash reliably protects from excess moisture and does not impede the normal breathing of the bulbs	Not every person would risk covering garlic with ash.

The main goal with any storage method is to preserve the juiciness and freshness of the cloves for as long as possible and to prevent damage to the harvest.

Possible problems when storing garlic

Main problems encountered during storage:

• molding and rotting of heads;
• drying of the cloves;
• color change;
• germination;
• damage by barn pests (root and flour mites).

Mold and rotting of the crop occurs due to increased air humidity. It is necessary to sort, remove damaged bulbs, dry the rest for 5-6 days near a radiator or on mezzanines and put them in a dry room. If the air humidity is high, then sprinkle the remaining garlic with salt.

Drying garlic cloves. In winter varieties, natural drying occurs towards the end of the storage period. It can be slowed down for several weeks by wrapping the heads in cling film. If the garlic begins to dry long before the end of the period, then the reason is too dry air. The heads can be placed in the refrigerator for several days, where the respiration processes slow down. But you don't need to keep them there for too long, otherwise they will become damp and rot. To prevent further drying, the bulbs are treated with paraffin or wrapped in cling film.

Changing the color of the teeth at the base turns yellow, indicating damage by a stem nematode. In summer, the pest lays eggs in the bottom of plants and the soil around them. Garlic infected with nematode eggs does not store well. They sort it out, separate the diseased heads from the healthy ones and burn them. All seed material, even if no pest damage is detected in it, must be treated with an insecticide, then dried and continued to be stored under the same conditions.

Germination. The cloves that begin to sprout are cleaned and filled with vegetable oil. In this form they can be stored for a very long time. You can cauterize the bottom with fire, but if the process has already begun, then it cannot be stopped. Sprouted cloves lose their firmness and elasticity and are unsuitable for consumption.

Damage by barn pests is extremely rare. Garlic is mainly affected by root and flour mites. Pests penetrate the clove through the bottom and feed on its juices. The bottom gradually becomes rotten and falls off. If there is a risk of infection, sprinkle the garlic with powdered chalk during storage. If infection is detected during storage, the heads are placed in an oven preheated to 100°C for 1-1.5 minutes. After this, the bulbs are sorted, those affected by mites are selected and burned.

There are several ways to preserve garlic. This way you can avoid significant problems and determine which storage method is best.