What an EPIC Garlic Harvest! 

My favorite way to use garlic is roasting it. Do you have recommendations for varieties that produce the best, most flavorful roasted garlic?

I rinsed mine off after harvest last year and hung it to dry inside my garage - very hot and dry. It didn't adversely affect it. I also roasted 90% of it in the paper whole and then froze the whole roasted garlic. Still using it a year later and it's fantastic.

Thank you!!! I cringed when he washed and trimmed

I never wash it, I let it cure for a couple weeks, on a screen in my garage. Then I clean them up.

I think his garlic was ready by looking at the leaves and scapes, you can harvest the garlic about a week or two after scapes show up but if you wait longer your garlic won't grow bigger instead the cloves might split. His spring garlic bulbs are small and that's normal. I had some garlic cloves in the fridge for two months then planted them in March, harvested two weeks ago, the bulbs are smaller than my fall garlic. Some of his fall garlic is small but I'm wondering if it was because of the smoky/cloudy sky where he lives, it does affect the growth of plants. But definitely his garlic was ready to pull out. You can wash your garlic, just need to make sure they dry properly afterwards. I've seen ppl washing their garlic, one Ytuber (@MidwestGardener) did this. I had 55 garlic plants on a bed, pulled them out a month ago not knowing it would rain that nigh, and all day next day, and I left the garlic on the bed to dry... So the rain washed all the garlic. On next two days I let them dry in the sun, third day I cut the roots and stems like what Luke did, except I left the stems on longer about 5 inches, and let them dry in the sun for a few more hours. After that they they've been on a rack in the house for curing. We'll see how they turn out but so far so good. Just thought maybe I could share this with you. Happy gardening. Cheers!

Good words my friend. Stop watering a couple weeks before harvest, no wash or trim either end. I hang them in bundles of 5 or 6 depending on size, and let them dry in a warm shaded spot. I use my covered front porch. I can get up to 12 months on some varieties. And contrary to what Luke says, softnecks store longer than hardnecks since they in general have thicker clove wrappers.

Thank you both for adding these comments. I was beginning to question what I have been doing with my harvested garlic. I’ve been growing it for 4 years now and each year so far has been better than the previous year. Thanks again for the information from experience, I appreciate it.

I have a question. Could you please tell me if it ok to leave until it is entirely dry or should I be harvesting one at a time when the bottom 4 leaves are dried out? Mine are at different stages and I want to harvest one time. Thank you for your knowledge and willingness to share!

@@tamit2392 Harvest when 4-6 semi-green leaves remain, but you can dig around the bulb to see if cloves are well formed. Each leaf represents a layer of wrapper on the bulb so if you wait until all are dry the garlic won't cure and keep well. Each type and variety dies back at a different rate, as well as has more or less leaves.

I was wondering about this also.

Same here.

Absolutely right, don't wash or trim and softnecks store longest on average. Some hardnecks will store long but they are more the exception.

3} Don't trim off stalks or roots until garlic has sufficiently dried/cured.

Same here

Noob here--just planted Costco (from Gilroy, CA) garlic in October and recently harvested around 5 lbs from 4X4 ft plot, most bulbs 2.5X larger than seed bulbs. Apparently hard neck. (farther N. Commifornia, low inland, zone 9a) Thanks for tips. Examples in vid are *tiny,* dunno how those can be called 'epic', looks like epic fail to ME. 😄

The way you do it is the same way I've always cured my own garlic.

What varieties do you plant?

actually that's the right way to do it.

Most gardeners also don’t wash the garlic, they leave it dirty until it’s cured as well. This method is making me nervous…

@@Markephillips77 Agreed! Adding water may breed mold.

Yup, and they were saying that soft neck store longer....

Ummm, never heard of washing and especially not cutting off roots and stems until dried. I believe keeping it intact has something to do with flavor. It’s up to you. Lol, my husband didn’t know last year and he cut the root end off like cleaning an onion to eat😂😂. Good thing is was a small crop.

I’ve cut stems and roots in the past and never had an issue with long term storage. I’ve also washed right after harvesting without issue, but I only washed if the sun was out and the bulbs could be dried that day. My only contention with the video was suggesting to water before harvesting. Dry soil brushed off so easily, and would negate the need to wash. I’m totally thumbs down on that suggestion. If your soil is that hard, use a trowel to loosen the soil and assist pulling it up.

I noticed that, too! I am grateful for both the MI and Epic gardening channels and have learned so much from both of you. I buy my seeds and fertilizer from you and love the Epic pots to start them in. "That said"- that sly little shade you threw made me giggle loud enough that both my kids were curious what was so funny.😂

North Alabama zone 7B. We hang the garlic in bunches until no green in stalks and then cut stalks and roots. We never rinse the garlic off prior to curing.

Both will work great. I said with potatoes and onions to not wash them off, and that holds true. With garlic either or is fine. I just prefer if they are really muddy to wash the dirt off.

@@MIgardener thank you! I was really confused.

@@MIgardener are you sure? You didnt actually answer their question regarding past experience. Also you got hardneck and softneck backwards when you were talking about longevity/shelf life. Should you really keep this video up?

Good thinking. If you have enough you could always pull just one to use for cooking now, and see how they're doing. It pays not to be too impatient though unless around harvest time it's going to be tons of rain, then they're not going to be happy and productive.

SAME - I’m in Michigan, same vicinity as Luke - we’ve had a lot of rain, I want to let things dry out, also you’re supposed to wait until 50% of the leaves have yellowed/browned and I’m not there yet - waiting! Also, not washing or trimming until 2-3 weeks after harvest - and even then, no water!

My garlic was super early this year too in NJ outside of Manhattan. Raspberries ripened a little earlier than usual too. I usually get my first raspberry harvest on Fathers day, this year I began harvesting a week or two earlier.

THANK YOU!!

Southern Ontario here. This is my first year growing garlic, and they're pretty much ready to harvest. I planted on Halloween

@@barefootinthegarden Just north of Newmarket here. I planted in early November, as an experiment. First time, as well! Turned out VERY promising! I'll still wait a couple of weeks before digging the bulbs, but the scapes were delicious!

I'm in Oshawa Ontario. This is my second year growing garlic and mine shots be ready to harvest in about 2 weeks. Luke's didn't look as brown (not many dead leaves) as I think it should be. I had a fantastic first year's harvest last year and used all my own garlic to plant for this year. I'm excited to see how they've grown!

Also, my garlic lasted all the way to June!!

@@kathywest7380 I think Luke mentioned that he was harvesting early. Mine have only one brown leaf at the base, and I think another couple of weeks will allow the bulbs to grow a little more. Happy gardening!

I'm also in MI and planted shallots along with the garlic last October. Nice harvest on both in early July.

What do you mean by one solid loop, then pick? Are you referring to the scapes?

He has older videos on what is called "core gardening" they bury straw bales in the middle to hold water longer

Correct. The drier you can get and keep the paper wraps, the longer they will keep. We just used our last bulb from last year 3 weeks ago. 10 months in storage.

Strong flavored garlic will last longer than the mild garlic by far.

I still have some of my 2022 harvest. It’s more about the variety than being a professional garlic grower or storing it under optimal conditions.

Lucky you! The last batch of garlic I got had mold on it. I planted what I could save then ended up with an allium virus in my garden. Lost almost 200 heads of garlic.

I wait till dry weather to harvest my garlic and I definitely don't wash it or cut the stems or the roots until they are cured and dry.

@@mickilicyes5399 that's what we do too. This was so different.

😂 that guys a lunatic. Full on bigot. You’re talking about Doug I guess? I can’t imagine Luke’s affiliated.

⁠​⁠@@TedioreZane😂lunatic😂 you’re not wrong 🌈 ❤ ✌️

Of course! Add them in salads or use in soups and stews. The green parts, not the yellowed ones.

You can only braid the soft neck. I cure mine by pulling them from the garden tying butchers twin around bunches and hand them in a shady spot. I don’t cut anything off them until they cured for about a month. Then brush off the dried dirt cut the tops off two inches from the bulb and trim the roots. Never wash your garlic in water like he did.

Depends on variety. Soft neck you can braid. Hard neck the neck is too stiff so you just cut it when it’s dried.

I'm up in Noth east Wisconsin and didn't mulch, well I did with dried leaves, and a week later Luke had a video on why not to use leaves so I took it all off, and mine is doing good.

@@nancyedgar8639 why not use leaves?

Frank West, chopped up leaves are okay, like running your mower over them first, but whole leaves get wet and weighted down and can block the garlic from growing through and block air from reaching the garlic. I tried to find the video of his that talked about it but there are a lot of videos on garlic.

That's what I thought too. Shots fired.

​@@fudroysmith7948lol garden gangstas

lolllll😂😂

I haven’t seen it. This was definitely ironic but I am sure he has had great harvests where we have had stuff fall short. That’s gardening for you :)

THANK YOU!

Dig them out. Don’t pull it.

Same weather conditions here in NY. If you’re concerned about rot or disease issues, I would go ahead and pull them.

Funny that you mention that. I haven’t seen his video yet. I can assure you he is a very talented gardener and we don’t like to re-use old titles so we just mix things up. Totally circumstantial but funny. No bad blood here. Kevin is a great guy.

According to other commenters on here, you shouldn't.