It’s the time of year when pantry shelves, freezers and attics begin to fill up with the harvest. Our attic eaves are starting to collect a whole array of wonderful things including braids of this year’s Nootka Rose garlic crop. This heirloom silverskin softneck variety originated on Washington State’s San Juan Islands and is late maturing and rust resistant. I have been growing Nootka Rose for quite a few years now, and with large, delicious cloves that are easy to peel and fantastic storage ability, it’s my favorite.
We had a very good crop of some sizeable garlic this year, and had our work cut out for us getting it braided and hung up to dry.
Our project generated some interest around the homestead, and it wasn’t long before we had helpers.
Sundance decided her talents were best utilized in a supervisory capacity.
The braiding is fairly simple, and it’s a good way to store more garlic in less space and get good air flow around the bulbs to keep them dry.
Friends have commented when walking by our garlic patch that we are growing an awful lot of garlic. I say to that, you can never have too much garlic. From pesto to pickles, and pretty much just about everything we cook, garlic is involved. We just used our last garlic from the previous year in the first big batch of freezer pesto, and some of this year’s bulbs will be used to plant next year’s crop in the fall. It’s all a part of the circle of garlic. It’s a beautiful thing.
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