Garlic is a very useful vegetable culture that helps cope with colds, strengthen health and cook delicious dishes. Grow it on their own is quite simple. Difficulties for many begin when there is a need to keep garlic at least until the beginning of spring. Often, the owners are faced with the fact that vegetable denticles begin to decay, and then completely deteriorate. In this connection, the problems concerning how to store garlic for the winter are more than relevant.
On the timing of harvest of garlic
The duration of storage of garlic largely depends on the correctness and timeliness of its collection. As you know, there are two main types of vegetables - winter and spring. The latter is stored for a long time, winter, unfortunately, rarely "lives out" until spring.
Collect the winter species as soon as the yellowing of the lower leaves of the foliage is seen. Usually these terms fall on the end of July - the beginning of August. Spring garlic is suitable for collection in mid-August, as evidenced by the yellowing of the leaves, as well as lodging of the foliage.
For normal storage of garlic, it is important to choose the right weather. Cleaning should be carried out on a warm day without precipitation.
How to store garlic for winter?
After harvesting, the heads of garlic must be dried without fail. If you have warm or hot dry weather, the heads of the vegetable can be placed on the street, but in the shade (for example, under a canopy). Another option is to place in a dry utility room. And the tops do not cut, so that the nutrients enter the denticles. After 1.5-2 weeks, the leaves can be removed, leaving a stem up to 7-10 cm long.
If we talk about how best to store garlic in winter, it is important to observe the following conditions: low temperature, no light and low humidity. To a greater extent, these requirements are met by a cellar or a cellar. If such subsidiary buildings are not at your disposal, garlic is stored in the apartment.
How to store garlic for the winter in a cellar or cellar?
Before you put garlic in the basement, make sure that the conditions necessary for storage prevail there. To eliminate mold, whitewash the walls of the cellar with lime, ventilate the room.
Garlic can be placed in wooden boxes or wicker baskets, woven bags. From time to time, containers should be checked for the presence of spoiled bulbs in order to avoid contamination located nearby.
How to store garlic in an apartment?
If you only have your own house or apartment, then the problem of where to store garlic in the winter can be quite acute. For this purpose, the kitchen, balcony, refrigerator is suitable. Most often, garlic is braided in so-called braids and suspended in the kitchen or balcony. If you do not want to do the weaving, put the bulbs in a kapron stocking and hang it.
Not a bad option for storing garlic - glass jars. At their bottom lay a layer of salt or flour 2-4 cm high, then put the garlic in it so that the heads do not touch each other. Then again put a salt layer, then repeat the styling of garlic. Thus, fill the entire jar or pan, leaving the top layer of salt. At the end, the can is tightly closed and put in a pantry .
There is another way how to store garlic for the winter - in oil. Sunflower oil is boiled, and then 15-20 drops of iodine are added to it, per liter. When the oil cools down, they are lubricated by the surface of the bulbs. Such a coating will not allow air to penetrate into the garlic, and it will not deteriorate.
Small amounts of garlic can be stored in the refrigerator. Each bulb is individually wrapped in parchment, paper or rag to prevent spoilage from increased humidity.