Harvesting, Curing & Storing Garlic

How to lift, dry and store your garlic so it lasts right through to next season

Garlic is one of the most rewarding crops you can grow. Plant a few cloves in the autumn, largely leave them to it over winter, and by summer you've got a crop that, stored well, can keep your kitchen going for the best part of a year. It's no surprise that Gerry, our resident garlic and onion nut, gives it more space on the allotment than almost anything else!

But growing a great bulb is only half the job. Lift it too early and the cloves are small and won't keep. Leave it too late and the bulbs split open and start to rot. Rush the drying, or store it somewhere warm and damp, and you'll be throwing away soft, sprouting bulbs by Christmas. This guide focuses on the part that often gets overlooked: when to harvest, how to cure, how to store, and which garlic to eat first, so every bulb you grow gets used.

Scientific Name

Allium sativum, and Allium ampeloprasum for elephant garlic

How long your garlic stores depends mostly on which type you grow:

• Hardneck garlic: produces a stiff central flower stalk (a "scape"). Fewer, larger cloves that are easy to peel, often with a richer, more complex flavour. Hardnecks are usually ready first but have a shorter storage life.
• Softneck garlic: no stiff stalk, so the soft, leafy necks can be plaited. More cloves per bulb and generally the best keepers. If you want garlic through to spring, softnecks are the ones to grow.
• Elephant garlic: strictly speaking closer to a leek than true garlic. Huge, mild cloves that store well when cured properly.

Our Garlic Range

Every garlic we sell has been chosen because it performs well in our cooler, wetter UK climate.

Before Harvest: Scapes & Watering

A little care in late spring makes a big difference to the size and keeping quality of your bulbs.

• Remove the scapes. From around May to June, hardneck varieties (and elephant garlic) send up a flower stalk. Snap or cut it off once it starts to curl. Left on, the plant puts its energy into the flower rather than the bulb, and you'll end up with smaller heads.
• Don't waste them! Scapes are delicious. Chop them into stir-fries, grill them whole, or blitz them into a garlic scape pesto.
• Softnecks can surprise you. In a stressful season, softneck varieties will occasionally throw up a scape too. Treat it the same way.
• Ease off the watering. Garlic needs steady moisture while the bulbs are swelling, but stop watering around 2–3 weeks before harvest. Drier soil helps the bulbs firm up and makes curing much easier.

When to Harvest Garlic in the UK

Timing is everything with garlic. In the UK, autumn-planted garlic is usually ready from late June through to early August, depending on the variety, your region and the season. Hardnecks tend to come first, with softnecks following a few weeks later. Spring-planted garlic, such as Maddock Wight, will usually be ready from late July into August.

Signs of readiness

• Watch the leaves. Garlic is ready when the lower leaves start to yellow and 3–5 of the bottom leaves have turned brown, while the top 5–6 leaves are still green.
• Why the green leaves matter. Each leaf forms one of the papery wrappers around the bulb. Leave it too late and there are too few wrappers left, so the bulb splits open, the cloves separate and it won't store.
• Lift a test bulb. If you're not sure, dig one up. The cloves should fill the skin and the bulb should feel firm. If it's still a single round "onion", give it another week or two.
• Don't wait for the whole plant to die back. This is one of the most common mistakes we see. By the time all the foliage has gone brown, the bulbs are often past their best for storing.

How to lift your garlic

• Choose a dry day, ideally after a few dry days in a row.
• Loosen, don't pull. Slide a garden fork into the soil 10–15 cm away from the row and gently lever up the bulbs. Pulling them by the stems can snap the neck or tear the bulb.
• Handle with care. Garlic bruises more easily than you'd think, and a bruised bulb won't store. Don't throw or drop them into the barrow.
• Brush, don't wash. Gently rub off loose soil with your hands. Don't wash the bulbs or split them into cloves, and leave the roots and leaves on for now.

Curing Garlic

Curing is simply a partial drying process, but it's the single most important step for long-term storage. It dries the neck, seals the bulb and turns the outer skins papery, which protects the cloves from rot.

• Find a warm, dry, airy, shaded spot. A shed, garage, carport, covered porch or spare room all work well. Gentle, steady airflow is the key.
• Keep it out of strong sun. A greenhouse or polytunnel in July can reach temperatures that will scorch and cook the bulbs. A few hours on the plot on a breezy, dry day is fine, but bring them in overnight and before any rain.
• Hang or spread them out. Tie small bundles of 6–10 plants and hang them up, or lay them in a single layer on racks, crates or chicken wire so air can circulate all around.
• Be patient. Curing usually takes 2–3 weeks, and longer in a cool, damp British summer. Elephant garlic, with its larger bulbs, may need up to 4 weeks.
• Avoid fans pointed directly at them. Gentle air movement is good, but a strong draught dries the outside too quickly.

How to tell your garlic is cured

• The neck just above the bulb is completely dry and tight, with no moisture when you squeeze it.
• The outer skins are dry and papery.
• The roots are dry and brittle.
• If in doubt, cut through the neck of one bulb. It should be dry right through, with no green or wet layers.

Cleaning up

• Trim the roots back to around 1 cm.
• For hardnecks, and any softnecks you don't plan to plait, cut the stems back to 2.5–5 cm above the bulb.
• Rub off one layer of dirty outer skin if you like, but don't strip too many, as every layer helps protect the bulb.

Please note: in wet summers garlic rust (orange spots on the leaves) is common in the UK. It rarely affects the bulbs themselves, but affected crops are often smaller and may not store as well. Cure them as normal and plan to use them first.

Plaiting & Bundling

Plaiting isn't just for show. Hanging garlic up keeps the air moving around every bulb, and it's a lovely way to store the harvest.

• Softnecks: plait while the leaves are still slightly supple, roughly partway through curing. If they've gone too crisp, wrap them in a damp towel for an hour first. Start with three bulbs, plait the leaves together, then keep adding a new bulb into the plait as you go. Tie off with string and make a loop to hang it up.
• Hardnecks: the stiff stalks can't be plaited. Tie several heads together by their stems and hang the bundle, or trim them and store loose.
• Elephant garlic: best trimmed and stored loose in a single layer.

Recommended Storage Conditions

Garlic likes it cool, dry, dark and airy.

• Temperature: around 7–13°C is ideal. An unheated spare room, cool pantry, porch or dry garage is perfect.
• Humidity: fairly dry, around 50–60%. Damp conditions lead to mould and rot.
• Airflow: store in plaits, bundles, net bags, slatted crates or open baskets. Never in sealed plastic bags or tubs.
• Not in the fridge. Garlic stored at fridge temperatures thinks winter has come and gone, and it will start to sprout.
• Not on a warm kitchen shelf long term. Keep a bulb or two in the kitchen for day-to-day cooking, but store the bulk of the crop somewhere cooler.
• Check regularly. Once a month, have a feel of your garlic. Anything soft, mouldy or sprouting should be used straight away or composted.

When to Eat Which Garlic

Just like squash, the trick is to eat the shortest keepers first and save the best keepers until last. As a rule of thumb, eat your hardnecks first and save your softnecks for spring.

Timings are a general guide based on well-cured garlic stored at 7–13°C. Every season and every home is different, so keep checking your bulbs.

Your Garlic Eating Calendar

• May – June: hardneck scapes and "green" or "wet" garlic lifted early for fresh use.
• July – December: Red Duke and Carcassonne Wight, along with any bulbs that are damaged, split or showing rust.
• January – March: Mikulov Wight, Elephant Garlic and Vallelado.
• March – May: Maddock Wight, Picardy Wight and Solent Wight. With luck, the last of your Solent Wight will see you right through to the new harvest!

Saving Your Own Planting Garlic

One of the joys of growing garlic is that each year's harvest can provide next year's planting stock.

• Pick the best. Set aside your biggest, firmest and healthiest bulbs at harvest. Big cloves grow big bulbs.
• Keep them whole. Store planting bulbs whole in a cool, dry, airy place at 10–16°C. Only split them into cloves a day or two before planting, as separated cloves dry out quickly.
• Plant on time. Most varieties go in from October to December. Spring types like Maddock Wight go in from January to March.
• Never save from diseased crops. If you've had white rot, don't save the bulbs, and don't grow any alliums in that bed for many years.
• Rotate your beds. Leave at least 3–4 years before growing garlic, onions or leeks on the same ground.
• Don't be tempted by supermarket garlic. It's often grown for warmer climates, may carry disease, and results will be disappointing at best.

Common Storage Problems

• Sprouting: a green shoot appearing through the tip means the bulb is waking up. It's still perfectly edible, but use it soon. Remove the green shoot if you find it bitter.
• Soft or mouldy bulbs: usually caused by poor curing, bruising at harvest or damp storage. Remove affected bulbs immediately before it spreads.
• Shrivelled or hollow cloves: the garlic has been stored too warm and dry, or is simply coming to the end of its natural storage life.
• Split bulbs: a sign of harvesting too late. They won't store well, so use them first.

Preserving Garlic

Got more garlic than you can use before it starts to turn? Here are a few ways we make sure nothing goes to waste:

• Freezing: peel the cloves and freeze them whole in a bag, or blitz with a little oil into a purée and freeze in ice cube trays for handy portions.
• Drying: slice thinly and dry in a dehydrator or a very low oven, then store as flakes or grind into your own garlic powder.
• Pickling: pickled cloves make a brilliant addition to a cheese board.
• Roasting: roast whole bulbs until soft and sweet, then squeeze out the cloves and freeze.
• A word of caution: never store raw garlic in oil at room temperature, as it carries a risk of botulism. Keep homemade garlic oil in the fridge and use it within a few days, or freeze it.

With the right timing at harvest, a few weeks of patient curing, and a cool, airy spot to store it, your garlic can keep you going almost all the way round to the next harvest. There's nothing quite like reaching for your own home-grown garlic in the middle of spring!

Have a question about growing or storing garlic? Feel free to drop us a line, we're always happy to help!