Does Music garlic always grow so beautifully and deep green for any of you? It seems to be much taller and much more lush looking than any other garlic I’ve ever grown. It’s waist high!
12 Likes
The porcelain types are always nice big plants like that. Looking good!
4 Likes
My Western Rose softneck looks anemic by comparison.
2 Likes
thats the greenest garlic tops I’ve ever seen!
3 Likes
Mine aren’t knee high. I grow three varieties including music and they are all the same size. Let us know how large the bulbs are when you pick them.
1 Like
I have some Music, some German (both porcelains) and then an undetermined brown and Persian star, which look to be fairly similar.
Difference in clove size is ridiculous, and the diff in plants coming up so far is also ridiculous, which probably reflects the porcelains having like 4-10x the clove “mass” per clove to support the new growth
2 Likes
When did you plant?
I planted around Halloween, and they were emerging by late January.
I think they were here too, Madison WI Z5a.
Was actually a bit worried for them
I’ve grown Music for years and yes they are big plants and big bulbs. My only complaint is they only store till Feb.
1 Like
i freeze and dry some that way we will still have garlic if we run out of stored.
3 Likes
I would like your methods of freezing and drying music, pls.
Overtime I have found musik and northern white to perform/survive the best in southern Wisconsin. Every year I replant the largest cloves from the best bulbs so hopefully I’m slowly selecting ones that grow the largest. The varieties have been mixed up with each other over the years but they store well for me. I still have 4 bulbs from last year.
At harvest last year
8 Likes
peel and put garlic in a solid tupperware and freeze. to dry slice your garlic then put in the oven on low heat until cracker dry. grind in a food processor and you have your own garlic powder. or leave in slices to use in recipes.
5 Likes
I saved one bulb that I"m hoping it will last another month. I want to try a late May planting as an experiment. Storage temperature has been 55 to 65 degrees. From what I read ideal storage is 30 to 32 F. 40s is the worst. Humidity will also have an effect.
Music is the BOMB. I have grown a handful of other varieties, but I always come back to Music as my favorite. My mom has grown it for many years in Oregon and the ones I grow descended from a head she sent me a few years back.
I love Music because the plants are so robust and big - it makes you feel good about growing them and they can compete a little better with the odd weed that is in the bed. Then the bulbs are big and beautiful after harvest. At time of use, the big cloves are easy to peel and they have good flavor.
People say storage quality is not great, but I have eater year old Music that is still ok. The last couple months in the year are definitely marginal and you lose some to drying out or rotting, but I feel like it can be tenable to use for the whole year if you grow a certain amount more than you need for cooking. Ours never lasts longer than 6-8 months until we have eaten it all usually anyhow.
One sort of annoying thing about Music is that since most heads have only 4-5 cloves, you end up having to hold back a fair bit of your harvest for seed.
7 Likes
One additional storage method is to peel a mess of cloves and process in a food processor to the equivalent of whatever garlic dice you favor, using a tablespoon, pack it firmly, flatten the top, and spoon out (cut some of those portions in half and quarters for times you don’t need a T spoon or more) onto a baking sheet lined with wax or parchment paper. Freeze for a couple of hours before transferring to a freezer bag.
This is more work on the front end, but pulling out your desired amount of garlic when you need it without having to prep it for the pot is very worth the effort. The frozen garlic lasts many months if you prep it well for storage.
6 Likes
I’ve done it both whole and minced. its nice to have the minced but a lot easier to freeze whole peeled in tupperware. i take out what i need. nuke for 15sec. smash and chop.
2 Likes
I’m glad to see these descriptions for freezing garlic. I’ll definitely do some of that this year to keep some of the stored garlic viable for use past how it stores for me in the house.
2 Likes
Another good way is to separate the cloves, but leave the skin on the individual cloves. Then, pan roast then in a cast iron skillet or other heavy pan on the stove. Let them cool, then put them in bags in the freezer. You’ll have a nice stockpile of easy-to-peel, preroasted garlic.
2 Likes
how long do you roast them for?
1 Like