Garlic...Can't Live With It..Can't Live Without It!

OK I love garlic..........always have and always will. I planted too much in the fall.... there will be enough garlic to last everyone in our town into 2012.

ALMOST OVERNIGHT IT DECIDED TO START GROWING LIKE A WEED....I kid you not...after all the whining I have been doing ( none of which you can all hear;o), it heard me... the red cabbage and the leaf lettuce, took a stretch too.
I have no clue how they were able to survive the winter.

Look at the color!

Now I found a great page today, that will really help me to decipher the garlic code:

TLC COOKING
Harvesting Garlic

It's time to harvest your garlic when the green tops dry out and turn yellow-brown. This is typically about three to four months into the growing season -- late summer or early fall. Some gardeners prefer to harvest their garlic on the longest day of the year -- the summer solstice in June.

Harvest too early, and you get small bulbs. Harvest too late, and the bulbs may split. This indicates that they have already started their next growing season and diminishes their culinary quality.

Before you harvest all your plants, carefully dig up one bulb and examine it. Check its size, and count the layers of papery skin. If the bulb seems well formed, the cloves are plump, and there are about three layers of papery covering, harvest your crop.

If there are four or more layers, let the plants grow a bit longer. When you're ready to harvest, use a small garden trowel to loosen the soil around each bulb. Then dig up the entire plant and shake off loose soil.

Some gardeners save part of their crop for planting again. Others believe that doing so heightens the risk of disease and results in smaller bulbs the next year. Because you can easily buy garlic to plant at a garden center, there may not be a need to save any cloves, unless you cultivate unusual varieties.

After the harvest, your garlic can last for months -- just don't pack it in plastic.
Here we have a little recipe for the garlic........mmmmm.........one of my favorites:

Angel Hair Pasta with Garlic Shrimp and Broccoli

........and I happen to have a wee bit of broccoli growing out there...yup left over from the Fall :o)...Who woulda thunk????

Don't forget to get the healthy macaroni.....

......and if you can find it, really frezh.........

Bon Apetit!