Storing Onions and Garlic

Now that we're almost in September, it's time to store away the onions and garlic which have been drying.  The garlic was hung in the shade at the end of the woodshed, and the onions were in trays in the potting shed.  Before they can be stored, they need cleaning and trimming.

Onions ready to trim

After rubbing away any dirt (never wash them!) I use an old pair of scissors to trim the roots and clip off the dried tops.

Cut off the roots with a pair of old scissors

Trim the stem about an inch away from the bulb

This year's onions are stupendous!  One basket full of prepared onions filled the 2 drawers I set aside for them in the vegetable bin.  The rest of the onions went into a shallow wooden crate which will be stored in a room set aside for wine storage in our big crawlspace.

Onions ready to be stored in the crawlspace

The garlic is treated similarly.

Garlic waiting for processing

Since I grow rocambole-type garlic - or hard neck garlic - I use clippers to cut the stalks and trim the roots after rubbing away the old dirty skin.

Use clippers to trim the garlic bulbs

The garlic is stored in an open paper bag in a closet which is on an outside wall of the house.

Store in a paper bag

I can see now that I haven't grown nearly enough garlic.  I've saved the largest bulbs for planting in September and I'll also be trying 3 new varieties from Salt Spring Seeds so hopefully I won't have to skimp on garlic next year!