Last night for my birthday I wanted to, of course, make a special dinner. I made cavatelli using ricotta and a duck egg in the dough and it was lovely. I topped it with a medley of sauteed mushrooms from Forest Mushrooms, gruyere, onion from the garden and the very first cloves of a garlic bulb from the garden. What a treat!
This is the first time I’ve grown garlic, which is planted in the fall and harvested sometime around the 4th of July. The bulbs were pricey and I spent $40 for the 43 bulbs I harvested. A savings over the $1.50/bulb at the Farmer’s Market, but still steep. However, it has been my goal ever since reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver to eat more local. When I realized that my garlic comes from China, I decided I needed to grow it. Even with 43 bulbs, some purchasing of store garlic will be necessary to get me through the year. But it’s a very good start.
You harvest garlic when the outer leaves turn brown. This is hardneck garlic, so it can’t be braided, but it can be trimmed and stored in a cool place once it has dried and hardened. The trick to harvesting it is to get it when the bulbs are at their maximum size but before the cloves start pulling apart and opening up. At that point, they don’t keep as well.
That first garlic bulb was as big as my fist, or so it seemed when I dug it up. I know I’m supposed to keep the best bulbs and plant those cloves next year, but I think I’ll probably just fork out another $40-60 for “professionally” saved bulbs from Seed Savers and a western Minnesota farm. And next year, as every year, I’ll expand the operation!