Have you noticed Australian garlic is back on the shelves at your greengrocers? Had you even noticed it had been missing?
Garlic is back in season and I was thrilled to receive a bulb of garlic in our recent CSA box from Purple Pear Organic Farm. I'd never imagined I could be so excited about a single bulb of garlic.
We've been doing without garlic for the past few months rather than buy the super white stuff imported from China. Food miles aside, apparently imported garlic is gamma irradiated to prevent sprouting; sprayed with Maleic Hydrazide to extend shelf life; and fumigated with the highly toxic chemical Methyl Bromide on arrival in Australia. I’d rather do without that thanks.
I treasure foods even more when I only eat them in season, though I would prefer not to go so long without eating garlic, so this year I am preserving more.
Preserving garlic
Last season I froze garlic. I separated the cloves and placed them in a container in the freezer. I didn't bother peeling the cloves. It worked perfectly. I would grab a clove when I needed and grate or chop it without even thawing. I'm planning on freezing a huge container of cloves this year so that I don't run out again.
I'm also going to trial a few other ways of preserving garlic. Veg Kitchen provides a great overview of the various ways of preserving garlic. I'm going to try both the garlic vinegar and garlic salt.
Aren't these garlic braids simply stunning? Little Eco and I popped into Purple Pear this week to chat to Kate about a project I'm helping her with (we'll reveal more soon). We were lucky enough to catch Mark cleaning and braiding the garlic.
Little Eco snapped the above picture of Mark braiding. She's captured a moment that makes me smile. I truly treasure that our family's food is grown by someone so passionate about growing local healthy organic food. Wouldn't it be magical if we all knew the person that grew our food?
Do you have any good tips for storing or preserving garlic? Are you lucky enough to be harvesting your own home grown garlic?
Edited to add: Kate and Mark recently shared a garlic braiding tutorial.
