This our second year harvesting garlic at THF.  Last year we pulled all of our garlic and drove it home to our back yard.  Using our canopy and the racks Ron built we cured it right there inside our tent set up. This year we had planted more garlic and would need a larger space for curing.  For the first time since we bought our house, the cathedral ceiling our garage has, came in handy.  Ron took the three racks he built last year and we connected them into one tall drying rack.  We  hammered two strips across the width of each section.  Those we would hang the garlic from.  I dearly wish we had a fourth person around some times, just to take pictures and keep notes of the crazy things we are doing.

We started pulling garlic on July 22, planning do to one type at a time.  We had three varieties this year – German while, music and German red.   Have to keep them separate as we need to sell each type specifically.

At first we pulled  each garlic head, shook off the dirt and put them in the tub intact, with all their leaves.   It was the perfect weather for working in the field.  Not too hot, with a nice breeze to keep us cooler.   After the first hour I realized that next year we really need to have a garlic harvesting party.  More people would really make this go much faster.

Ron had already given the next process a good deal of thought.  Bundles of six garlic heads, based on similar size tied together and then up on the rack.   Luckily for us, I had already given thought to the process too.  The canopy was needed in order to keep us cool.  Turned out to be a nice set up for cleaning shiitakes too.   After the first few bundles were ready, we realized that a trip to the store was necessary.  We just didn’t have enough string in the house.  I headed off to Walmart to find something and came home with cotton twine.  Grabbed a couple of pedestal fans too.  We need them to keep the air moving.  When I got home I discovered that Ron had clipped a clothes pin to the back of my shirt before I left.  Walked all around the store with that thing showing.  Thanks, my loving husband.

Ron showed me his technique for hanging each bundle to the slat.   Typical male – it involved a series of wedgies.  I took over this job while Jo cut the string into the right length and made the needed loop and Ron wrapped the bundles.   Our garlic party of 2018 will also include this part.  Though we hope it will be easier since we plan on having a shed built on THF before then for just this purpose.   I discovered that we needed to cut all the leaves off after all.  They were just too much in the way.  I handed the job of cutting them off to Jo.

Unfortunately our day was not over yet.  We headed back out to THF to harvest the second patch.  Then we had to get them up on the rack too. This made for a long day, but we have two thirds of our garlic drying.   On Wednesday the 26th, we headed out to get the next set.  This time we cut the leaves off on site which would reduce the amount of work needed to get them up on the drying rack.  We got the filled tubs home and into the garage where they sat until the next day after work.

After work on Thursday we got started again.  This time it went faster as we already knew what we were doing.  The only change was that now I was standing on our step stool in order to reach the next rows.

Good thing I am not afraid of heights.   Even better that I bought us a new and lovely step stool just last month.  Just a couple of hours of work and we were done.  Garage really smells of garlic now.   No worries about vampires getting in any time soon.

We weren’t done yet.  We had one more patch to go.  This was a mixture of all three varieties, what had been left over from the main planting.  Again we had to keep them all separate.  Bright and early Sunday morning we headed out for one last run of harvesting.

This last bit was going on the top rails of our drying rack.  Now was the time to break out our tallest ladder.  It was a bit more difficult that we thought it would be.  The straps we were using to hold the rack in place meant we had to do some serious maneuvering around to get the ladder set up so I could use it.

I tied the last bundle onto the slat and felt the massive satisfaction of job well done.

Then Jo ruined it all by reminding me that in about three weeks we have to take this all down.