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How To Store Garlic Long Term

October 4, 2017 by Maat

How To Store Garlic Long Term

Did you plant cloves of spicy-smelling garlic and now you’re wondering how to store garlic long term?

Table of Contents (Quickly Jump To Information)

  • Did you plant cloves of spicy-smelling garlic and now you’re wondering how to store garlic long term?
  • Selecting Garlic For Long Term Storage
  • Drying to Store Garlic Long Term
  • Preserve Garlic In Honey

 

Garlic is a wonderful addition to any garden, and it’s a wonderful sense of satisfaction harvest it – especially after you cure it and realize you won’t be needing to buy garlic from the grocery store anymore!

 

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The first year we planted garlic, we weren’t sure when to harvest it – it can be different for every zone and even ever microclimate.

 

So we waited months – and came up with a GREAT harvest.

 

But then came the next step – how to store garlic long term without ruining it or losing it to bugs, dust, and other pests like mice.

 

Should you remove the papery skins? What about bulbs that seem ok except for 1 or 2 spots? Could we store those, or did we need to use them right away? What happens if they’re rained on while curing them straight from the garden?

 

You might have these same questions.

 

Luckily, a lot of our worries were unfounded – we were able to cure and store garlic long term with very few issues (and it took us quite a while to work through all that garlic!)

 

If you want to store garlic long term, it’s fairly straight forward as long as you follow some simple rules.

 

how to store garlic long term #garlic

 

Selecting Garlic For Long Term Storage

After you pull up all your garlic, you’ll want to let them cure for an hour or two in the sun – be sure to do this on a sunny day. This initial cure helps them dry, prepares them, and is how to store garlic from the garden without ruining your hard-earned harvest.

 

Next, you’ll want to examine the bulbs – take note of their condition. If any garlic bulbs have damage or seem soft, use them right away. They’re not good candidates to store long term.

 

Once you’ve selected your garlic, you will want to cure them for an additional 2 weeks in a relatively cool environment – no warmer than 65 degrees. Higher temperatures can trigger mold or prompt your garlic to sprout.

 

Humidity is another consideration when trying to store garlic long term – too high and it might cause your garlic to mold or rot, and too high will cause garlic cloves to shrivel and become useless.

 

You will notice a lot of the dirt will fall away – this is a good thing. You can also brush the garlic very gently, although I’ve noticed this can damage them. If there’s excessive amounts of dirt, then you can try gently brushing it off, but if there’s just a little dirt, chances are it will fall off on its own.

 

Don’t remove any of the papery skins – this will also damage the garlic, making it unsuitable to store long term.

 

After the 2 weeks are up, you can then transfer them to mesh bags like these or braid them if they’re a soft-neck variety (hard necked garlic can’t be braided easily – keep these in a mesh bag).

 

Air circulation is very important, which is why braiding or mesh bags are ideal garlic storage containers – they allow you to store a lot of garlic in a small space without reducing the garlic’s change to “breathe.”

 

As you store your garlic, don’t let the temperature rise – this WILL prompt your garlic to sprout since it’s no longer chilled (it thinks winter is over and it needs to grow!)

 

how to store garlic long term #garlic

 

Drying to Store Garlic Long Term

If braiding or storing in mesh bags isn’t your thing or you’re lacking the space, then you can dry your garlic. This process is simple and great because it produces a shelf-stable product that won’t sprout.

 

Start by slicing peeled garlic into thin strips and then dehydrate them either in a commercial food dehydrator or by placing them on a cookie sheet and drying them in your oven at around 120 degrees for a few hours. Leave the door slightly open to allow for air circulation.

 

Once dry, store garlic long term in an airtight container and use as needed.

 

Preserve Garlic In Honey

This hack has the added benefit of being great for colds. So if you have some spare cloves or just want to try something different, then preserve and store garlic long term in honey.

 

Honey has antimicrobial properties and stored correctly, it’s nearly impossible for bacteria to grow.

 

To preserve garlic in honey, peel the cloves, then drop them into a mason jar filled with honey. As long as the cloves remain submerged, they will keep for a long time.

 

Pull them as needed, or drink the honey in tea whenever you’re sick – as the garlic stores, it will steep it’s immune boosting properties into the honey. Yum!

Filed Under: Homestead Hacks, Preserving, Sustainable Living Tagged With: garlic, honey, organic garlic, preserving

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  • We've added several new mugs and tumblers to our shop this week. I'm excited because this is a project we've had in the works for a while!
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I think the backyard chicken life should be celebrated. Chickens are such wonderful pets!
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I love taking these mugs with me to the coop (filled with hot chocolate since I can't drink coffee) and spending some quiet time with my flock before the day really begins!
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Featured: "Life Is Better On The Farm" mug. Link in profile.
  • I have a love /hate relationship with this tiny rooster. He's all of 3 inches high but loves to attack my feet. I seriously have no idea why.
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He's a rescue and I'm pretty sure the reason I got him is because, to someone not experienced with chickens, he can be scary.
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But I wear boots in my coop all the time. So, he's essentially a mosquito. It's pretty cute.
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Sometimes he wanders off and I have to catch him. He doesn't like that, and protests loudly. But he doesn't attack me. He just squaks loudly.
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But when I have a treat? He's my best friend. What a character!
  • Well we've been battling an ice storm for the past couple days (which is why you didn't hear from me yesterday). Unfortunately, on Saturday, the wind blew the door to my coop shut, so the fluffy butts had to deal with the ice and wind.
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It was so icy here that several telephone poles bent, and the electric wires were nearly on the ground (not on our farm, on a main road).
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About half my flock was wet and cold and shivering. So, everyone went into dog crates and into the cabin, where I could run a heater safely.
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The worst of the lot - my 2 cochin bantam hens - also got their feathers blown dry.
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I don't regularly blow dry my flock, but these 2 hens LOVED it! They just sat there while the hair dryer was on low heat, and enjoyed hanging out with me.
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I think they liked the warmth - they were pretty cold after all! They got plenty of WormBGone (which has warming herbs in it) and their layer feed that we blend ourselves, so they were happy!
  • I'm happy to tell you that reader Diane reports her rooster, Victor, is doing much better after an episode of mysterious blindness. .
Diane emailed me a week ago to ask advice to help Victor out. He suddenly went blind, without much explanation.
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There's a lot of reasons why any animal can go blind temporarily, and Diane did the best thing, which is consult a veterinarian. .
I'm glad to hear Victor's sight has returned, and he's back with his lovely girlfriends in their coop, just in time for Valentine's Day! ❤
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I'll be sending Victor and his girlfriends some BEE A Happy Hen to celebrate!
  • Now that the days are getting longer, it looks like I need to remove even more young roosters from the main coop. There were 3 that didn't cause any trouble over winter (very pretty ones, too), but now that spring is clearly on everyone's mind, they're bothering the hens too much.
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Most of these roosters are ones I bred - Easter Egger mixes that have pea combs and beards. They're very pretty!
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In the tornado last week, one of my temporary coops lost its life, so I'll probably use pieces of that to complete a new coop for these roosters, and give each one a couple ladies.
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I have a feeling by the end of this year, we'll be over run with lovely, bearded chickens. These guys do carry the blue egg laying gene - one's mother was Mama who laid olive colored eggs and the other's mother was Hawk who laid blue eggs).
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If paired with hens who carry the gene, their offspring might lay colored eggs as well.
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We're still getting green eggs from someone (I still haven't figured out who), and I think when the remainder of the roosters leave the coop, it'll prompt my other hens to start laying.
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And this year, I'm having Black Copper Marans hens sent to me, so pretty soon, we should have very colorful egg baskets every morning!

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