Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Garlic Braids

With all that big garlic I decided that I should come up with a different way to store it. I have always like garlic braids, so I tried that.

An hour later, I just bundled the whole batch together, tied it and called it good enough!

Don't let anyone fool you, braiding is hard!


But I am tenacious, so I figure I just needed to see how it was done. I visited a bunch of websites with garlic braiding instructions:

BRAIDING GARLIC by Donna Metcalfe

Ok, huh? I don't get it.


How to Braid Garlic by Bloomingfield Farm

A little better, but still, after "illus. C" I am lost.


Garlic Braiding by gardenerd1

This was the most instructive illustration/video that I found. It was the only thing I found that made me feel "I can do that."


I ended up using the beginning braiding from Bloomingfields Farm, with the wind-around technique, and the general braiding from the Gardenerd video, "always down the middle", to take another crack at braiding with my most recent harvest (which my son was so nice to clean up purdy for me).

I knew I could do it! With this braid I didn't pay too much attention to order of bulb placement. I just made sure that the new bulb's stem went down the middle and put the bulb where I thought it would fit.
But I have a long way to go before I have braids as fantastic as the people at
Blue Moon Farm.

In all that research, I did find this great sight from Wisconsin: We Grow Garlic. Who the heck knew that there were so many different varieties of garlic?!
Especially growing in Wisconsin!

8 comments:

Curbstone Valley Farm said...

My first attempt at garlic braiding was a resounding disaster. I'd love to be able to do it well though, and am determined to try again!

Diana LaMarre said...

Oh, I love garlic braids, but I have never tried to braid one. It's amazing what you can find on YouTube!

I think your garlic looks very nice.

Sylvana said...

Curbstone Valley, trying to keep track of all that is intimidating, which is why I just concentrated on the stems, not really the bulbs. They tend to find their place as long as you are placing them somewhere they will sit tight in the formation.

When I do my next one, I will try to pay more attention to the bulbs now that I have the hang of braiding the stems. Also, I will be trimming away some of the leaves from the stems to make the stems thinner toward the top.

Zoey, I love YouTube! I already subscribe to some channels, and it is something that our whole family can sit down and do together. It's like a game and TV all in one. We'll start out with one suggestion and see where we end up. Sometimes we are all laughing so hard we are crying :D

meemsnyc said...

Garlic braids are definitely cool!

dining tables said...

This is new to me. I never thought that garlic can be a piece of art. I also watched it in YouTube. It is not that hard to do. I will try that and I hope I can do it perfectly.

Sylvana said...

Meemsnyc, love them.

Diningtables, it takes a little bit to get the hang of it, but once you get the rhythm it goes fast.

Faith said...

Today, was the day I was going to braid my bounty of garlic...and just like you..it is hard....I will perservere though. Like you I have also visited the utube version
tutorial..I start out with her and then get confused and frustrated. I will try again tomarrow. I can braid, so I can't figure out where I am getting confused, maybe because it is not cut/dry and there are loose stems hanging all over. Glad you stuck w/it..it gives me encouragment. Have a great day.

Sylvana said...

Faith, I have some more garlic waiting to be harvested in the garden and I will be trying again. I might practice with some twine first to figure out what I am going to do, but even my first accomplished will function well even if it doesn't look perfect ;)

I definitely recommend letting the stems dry thoroughly or they will shrink after braiding and be loose (mine did that a little as I had only half dried them).