Fresh garlic scapes added to your meal makes it more delectable. In addition to flavour, you can enjoy dinner and get healthier. Garlic’s medicinal properties help to treat high blood pressure, common cold, and high cholesterol. Garlic’s history of healthy eating dates back to thousands of years. It is even cited in the Bible [11:15] and in Midsummer Night’s Dream [by Shakespeare]. The odour is so strong that you will need to chew some fresh parsley after eating garlic.
Garlic types
Garlic belongs to Allium Sativum species. It is related to onions, chives, leeks, and shallots. The two main varieties of garlic are hardneck and softneck. Some unusual varieties available at the grocery stores are Transylvanian, Nootka Rose, Georgian Fire, and Persian Star garlic.
How to grow garlic?
Garlic can be grown in pots or indoors or anywhere. Growing garlic is easy. Each clove planted will grow in bulb of garlic. Gourmets enjoy growing different kinds of garlic the whole year to enjoy different flavours and spice levels.
When and how to harvest garlic?
Garlic bulbs develop under the soil, so it is hard to know when the genuine time for harvesting is.
You will see little doodles, which will turn into flowers if permitted to grow. As you wish the garlic bulb to hold its energy and not spend it in growing flowers cut the scapes. They can used like chives in giving scrambled eggs gentle garlic flavour.
Keep eyes on leaves because after cutting the scapes, you will find bottom leaves turning brown in 2 to 3 weeks. Stop watering and in the next week garlic is ready for harvest. Garlic roots are strong and penetrated deeply in soil, so use fork or shovel to reach down and lift bulbs gently.
Large clumps of soil have to be shaken off. In a shaded space allow the bulbs to sit on a drying rack, which sits few inches above ground allowing air to circulate. You can cut half of the stem but leave roots and outer wrapper intact. After curing trim roots and stems using pruners, before storing.
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