We harvested our garlic July 17-26, and now it is curing in our drying barn. We used the method of cleaning where we strip a leaf from the garlic stem to clean the bulb. Last year we experimented with another method of cleaning that moved a majority of the work to after the curing, but that seemed like a lot more work, so this year we went back to the method we used in previous years.
We hang the garlic with the long stalks intact, and once it is dry we will take it down and cut off the stalks. After we cut the garlic stalks, we will weigh and bundle the garlic in bags for sale.
We are meticulous to plant, harvest, cure, and bundle the garlic separately in the varieties. More on the varieties coming soon!
We collect a lot of detailed data on our garlic: which varieties were planted in each row, how many cloves were planted, how many bulbs were harvested, the size of the bulbs within a variety and between varieties, dates of growth and harvest, average number of cloves, etc. We analyze and use this data to help us predict our planting and harvesting dates, determine which varieties we want to keep and which we don’t want to grow any more, and many other decisions and activities.
We are excited about this year’s harvest and can’t wait to open up our online store! We plan to open up sales on September 7, so mark your calendars. I will post some information about the varieties we will sell this year and the bundles we will have available. Coming soon!
Old Fashioned Probiotics! 
Cleaning the garlic by hand – all 12,000 bulbs!