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The pungent taste and peculiar pungent smell of garlic cannot be confused with anything. They are explained by the presence of sulfur compounds that kill harmful microorganisms, and phytoncides, which enhance this property. Often, when taking medications, we do not even suspect that they are made on the basis of garlic, for example, Allohol stored in every first-aid kit.
Do you know which vegetable contains the most sugar? The answer may surprise anyone, because this is garlic, and we do not feel sweets solely because of the large amount of essential oils. It contains up to 27% of various polysaccharides, while for sugar beets this figure usually does not exceed 20%. Most often, we use a vegetable as a seasoning for salads, first or second courses, and it is present in our diet all year round. The question is how store garlic for the winter, relevant for every housewife.
What determines the keeping quality of garlic
Along with root vegetables - potatoes, beets, carrots and cabbage, garlic is a vegetable with a long shelf life. This means that, under optimal conditions, it can be stored until the next harvest.
Choosing garlic for planting
A distinction should be made between winter crops and spring varieties. Strictly speaking, such a division is rather arbitrary, since any garlic can be planted both in spring and before winter.
Spring varieties
They reproduce only by denticles. They do not give either seeds or air bulbs located on the peduncles, since they are simply devoid of peduncles. Garlic planted in spring is better stored, and this is perhaps its main advantage over winter. Otherwise, the spring varieties lose, since their heads are smaller and consist of two rows of small teeth, which no mistress likes to clean.
Winter varieties
Depending on the region, planting of winter garlic begins at the end of August in the north and continues until November in the south. It is propagated by cloves and air bulbs growing on a peduncle instead of seeds. Flower arrows break out as early as possible, this increases the yield by 20-25% and increases the shelf life of the heads.
Growing conditions
When cultivating garlic, try not to overuse fertilizers. On alkaline, loose, well-filled with organic matter soils, you can not feed it at all. An excess of nitrogen fertilizers is especially undesirable, since they provoke rotting and shorten the shelf life.
The plant does not like the abundance of rain and excessively hot summers. We are not able to influence the weather, but we can reduce the temperature by shading with a special mesh, we can reduce or stop watering.
Storage preparation
Creation of conditions for storage of garlic starts at harvest time. You can't just dig up the heads at a convenient time for you and expect them not to dry out in the middle of winter.
When to harvest
It is impossible to name a specific harvest time. It depends on many factors:
- landing dates;
- climatic zone;
- weather factors;
- soils;
- illumination of the site.
Before the time, the dug garlic cannot be stored well. It will not benefit him and stay in the ground until the tops are completely dry. Usually yellowed lower leaves serve as a signal for harvesting. Better yet, leave two or three arrows for control.It is believed that you can dig out the heads after the shell on the peduncle bursts.
Vegetables are stopped from watering 2-3 weeks before digging, which is necessarily carried out in dry weather. For earthwork, it is better to use a pitchfork instead of a shovel.
Storage preparation
After digging up the garlic, shake off excess soil, spread it together with the tops in a warm, dry place. Better yet, tie it in loose bunches and hang it with its heads up in the attic or in the attic. After one and a half to two weeks, all nutrients from the aerial part pass into cloves, the foliage dries out completely.
Cut off the roots, remove excess husk. Unless you intend to store the garlic in a braid, cut tops, keeping a stump 2-3 cm long. Dry it for another week in a cool room with good ventilation.
Collect whole heads without damage for storage. The rest should be used as soon as possible.
It is better to store the crop by holding the bottom and the tip of the hemp quite a bit over the candle flame.
Storage conditions
Before we figure out how to preserve garlic until spring, let's consider the necessary conditions:
- Temperature. Winter varieties are difficult to save from germination or drying out even in the middle of winter; they can be stored for the longest time at 10-12 degrees. Spring crops successfully save under room conditions or temperatures from 0 to 3 heat.
- Humidity. Onions and garlic need to be stored at up to 80% moisture, which sets them apart from other vegetables.
- Light stimulates the germination of teeth, its access should be limited.
How to store garlic correctly? It is necessary to create suitable conditions, the main thing is:
- prevent moisture loss so that the heads do not dry out:
- prevent the germination of cloves of garlic;
- create an environment that prevents the development of pathogens.
Storage methods
Every housewife knows how to preserve garlic for the winter. Our task is to save heads as long as possible, despite the likely lack of optimal conditions, especially in urban apartment with an unglazed balcony. At least - until the New Year, even better - until a new crop grows.
Favorable storage conditions
There are many ways to store garlic in winter. Let's talk about the most popular ones.
- Scattered on the shelves... The heads are laid out in a layer no more than 15 cm. Suitable for large storage areas.
- Wooden or cardboard boxes... It differs from the previous storage method only in compact placement.
- Mesh or nylon stockings... The bags suspended on hooks do not take up much space. In a city apartment, such garlic will dry out quickly.
- Braids or loose tufts... With this storage, you do not need to trim the tops after drying. It is impossible to keep such beauty at home - it will dry out, and rather quickly. Before tying garlic, think about where and in what conditions you will store it.
To prevent the pigtail from falling apart, weave a strong rope or twine into it. - Glass jars... Perhaps this is the best storage method for the conditions of a city apartment. Simply put the prepared heads in a clean jar and place them on the bottom shelf of the cabinet.
- Plastic containers with holes... Improvement of the previous method.
Where to store garlic is better, the biologist advises:
- Paraffin... Melt the store candles, dip the prepared heads into the hot mass for 2-3 seconds. They can be stored in almost any condition after drying. Thanks to paraffin, the teeth do not dry out and are protected from waterlogging and uncomfortable temperatures.
- Fridge... It is impossible to store garlic for a long time in such conditions, but sometimes there is simply no other way out. At least do not put the heads in the vegetable drawer, it is better to place them on the doors.
- In flour.
- In ash.
You can find advice to store peeled cloves in roasted sunflower oil, sometimes even with the addition of iodine. The method is, of course, interesting. But this is more a method of making aromatic oil, rather than storing garlic in winter conditions.
Unfavorable storage conditions
Often the crop dries up or germinates before the New Year. This is due to unsuitable storage conditions, which are important to be aware of.
- In salt... Unfortunately, this storage method is used quite often, but unsuccessfully. Salt has a remarkable ability to draw moisture out of its surroundings. Putting garlic in it and waiting for it not to dry is unreasonable.
- In the fridge... Long-term storage of heads in a refrigerator is impossible.
- In sealed bags or cling film... On the one hand, moisture is saved, and on the other, being released from vegetables, it settles on the inside of the polyethylene in the form of condensation. This leads to rotting of the heads.
- Separate teeth... Can garlic be stored by disassembling it into wedges? Of course not. It will dry out or germinate very quickly, depending on the humidity of the environment.
Dried garlic
How to store garlic in a tiny apartment or in the absence of suitable conditions? Some of the heads can be dried. Divide them into cloves, peel and rinse with cold water. Cut the large ones into 2-3 pieces, put them on a baking sheet and dry in the oven at 60 degrees. When ready, the teeth will be brittle but elastic. Grind them with a blender or coffee grinder, store in a sealed glass jar.
When drying food, a conventional oven should be open ajar. In an oven equipped with a convector, the temperature regime must be increased by 15 degrees (up to 75), and the door must be closed.
Freezing garlic
To store garlic at home, you can chop and freeze it. See how they do it:
Conclusion
As you can see, there are many ways to store garlic. It is important to choose it correctly and adapt it to your conditions.
