Of the three varieties of garlic we harvested, the Phillips was the first to dry and be ready for trimming. We broke a bulb apart to check for any signs of disease, and found clean, unblemished cloves within.
Once the stems, roots and leaves were trimmed off, the bulbs were ready to be placed in storage.
The core of the stem is completely white, a sign of dryness. The Music and German Extra-Hardy, two larger varieties, still show green in their cores, and need more time drying before they’re ready to be stored.
Diary of a Tomato 
your garlic harvest looks great. I am going to have to try that Music this year; everyone is raving about it!
The Music especially comes into its own when roasted whole!
Your garlic is just beautiful! I’ve been thinking also of trying Music and yours is helping to convince me of it.
It’s a hardneck variety and needs colder conditions, so they should do fine in your CT garden.
Such perfect garlic, I’m still using my crop from last year but in all honesty its on its last legs, time to start on the green stuff I have in the garden perhaps.
We grew so much last year that we had the same thing happen to us, storage garlic still on hand when fresh ones were coming up in the garden. I always have to remind myself not to miss the chance to use it while still green, such a treat.
I have been quite happy with Music. Grew it two years in a row now and they have been the best producer each year. They do take a while to properly dry down but once done store well. Flavor has been excellent on them too.
They are satisfying to grow, aren’t they? And yes, a little more challenging to dry, especially when the weather’s been as humid as it’s been this summer…
Absolutely gorgeous.
One of our favorite things to grow!
Blah blah blah – sure show off that perfect garlic. Rub it in…. *sigh* It looks fantastic! (Congrats!) I’ll go sulk some more. My next round of garlic is in the fridge. Hopefull that this year I’ll harvest more than just green garlic! :-D
That’s the great thing about gardening, there’s always next year!
great advice – I was never quite sure how to do this. Yours looks so pretty.
Glad it was helpful, I thought those that aren’t familiar with the process would like to see it. Though we leave the stalks a little longer purely for aesthetic reasons…
Such perfect specimens! Were they ALL like that or were there any that you had to hide from the camera? My crop had a few plants that were definitely a bit sub-standard, but I wish they had all been like yours.
We had such problems with mites and mold last year, so we were extremely concerned for this year’s harvest and were quite relieved to see it turn out so well. This Phillips variety has taken us more than several years to build up to this point, and we’re happy to see it finally be more robust. There are always a couple of heads that are funky; those don’t make it to the drying stage and we cook with them as fresh garlic.
Your garlic is so perfect looking, I’m envious. I didn’t grow any this year because I was rebuilding my garden beds, but I wouldn’t have anyway because the garlic rust was so bad last year that I decided to take a year or two off in hopes of lessening the problem. I hope you never get rust in your garlic, it is so nasty.
Garlic rust sounds terrible! It seems garlic rust is may be problem mainly out West where you are, though we certainly have our own host of disease to look out for.
Oh, how beautiful! Sigh: maybe next year I’ll find a good gardening space!
It’ll prove it’s worth, we assure you!
A beautiful harvest this year, your garlic looks great. We really struggled with our garlic this year our yield was small and we had quite a lot of rot in ours. So I guess there is always next year!!
Thanks, we were lucky that the weather conditions leading up to harvesting really were perfect. Our biggest concern now is getting them properly dried and stored…
Very impressive! I spaced out and forgot to order garlic this year. My mistake!
It’s so bountiful there in the Bay Area, I imagine you can source garlic for seed directly from someone at the farmers’ market. just make sure it’s from someone reputable…
very nice harvest of garlic! That will make alot of yummy dishes in winter.
They’re as much a pleasure to cook with as to grow!
Thank you for reminding me! I want to try growing garlic this year and I think it must be about time to order. That’s such a pretty variety you’ve grown. I’ll take a look and see if I can find them.
Wooh, can never imagine myself having such a bountiful garlic harvest…. lovely…
Looks Great