Re: Hi From the RuralRoutes

by RuralBeard on 19th January 2012, 4:39 am

Mike wrote:Well Peny and I are on a rural route here. Which is why our post office is Charlemont even though we live in Buckland (Charlemont handles the rural routes for several towns that only deliver mail "in the village").

I don't grow as much garlic, maybe 500 heads, but we don't sell any (do give some garlic ties as presents and those are usually 18 heads). We don't have much trouble keeping garlic ftom harvest to harvest. What varieties are you growing that you have to freeze the remnant by May? Or how are you keeping it? (ours hangs in large ties of 36 or in mesh onion bags).

We grow several varieties - all softneck - well, we did try one hardneck (its OK but we prefer soft). We have Continental, 'Maritime Molly', Tibetan, Music and a few others. They store well in our mud room or wood shed. Around May they might start to sprout and when the first signs of sprouting occur, that's when we blanch the cloves, peel them and freeze them. Works well and with a modest loss in taste - overall, most respectable. By the time pickling season rolls around, we have jars of frozen garlic cloves to use! Of course, we eat the scapes! Nothing goes to waist - er - waste here! YUM!

by mr_sfstk8d on 19th January 2012, 3:04 pm

Had a good laugh at the small town postal service. When I was a very young boy, I'd sent a letter to Grandma. It was simply addressed: Grandma Goodwin, Girard, IL. Even put a proper stamp on and all of that. Parents didn't have a clue until Grandma called asking what it was I'd written in the letter, poor handwriting at 6 years old, you know, lol.

by RuralBeard on 19th January 2012, 3:38 pm

Dandelion wrote:Hi RB - glad you could join us!

Why thanks for the welcome!

by RuralBeard on 19th January 2012, 3:52 pm

mr_sfstk8d wrote:Had a good laugh at the small town postal service. When I was a very young boy, I'd sent a letter to Grandma. It was simply addressed: Grandma Goodwin, Girard, IL. Even put a proper stamp on and all of that. Parents didn't have a clue until Grandma called asking what it was I'd written in the letter, poor handwriting at 6 years old, you know, lol.

...and I bet you a cookie, the letter was delivered in a matter of a couple of days. Amazing, with all the codes and such today, that letters can take a week or more to get to their destination - domestic and/or otherwise!

by Mike on 21st January 2012, 10:27 pm

RuralBeard wrote:

We grow several varieties - all softneck - well, we did try one hardneck (its OK but we prefer soft). We have Continental, 'Maritime Molly', Tibetan, Music and a few others. They store well in our mud room or wood shed. Around May they might start to sprout and when the first signs of sprouting occur, that's when we blanch the cloves, peel them and freeze them. Works well and with a modest loss in taste - overall, most respectable. By the time pickling season rolls around, we have jars of frozen garlic cloves to use! Of course, we eat the scapes! Nothing goes to waist - er - waste here! YUM!

I'm confused --- don't recognize "Maritime Molly" or "Tibetan" but "Music" is a "continental porcelin" and I'm betting "Continental" is too (that is, hard necks with very small bulbils as oppsed to rocambole types which have fewer but much larger bulbils on the scapes).

Storage -- I'm betting that the temperature out in the mud room or wood shed gets real cold in the winter and then warms up in the spring. You are letting them "know" that the season has come to sprout. Try storing at a significanty higher and more uniform temeprature. The important part is the more uniform. We hang them in a fairly cool room where they are never getting colder than 10C or warmer than 20C.