Storing garlic – Red Toch

Allium sativum ‘Red Toch’
1) left stored in the refrigerator
2) right stored in the scullery, 16-18C

Garlic Red Toch has a superior taste, but is reputed to store short time. I asked Randi and Svend from Danish Seed Savers on their experience over a few years. They were so kind to do an experiment and have send the following report:

“ ‘status’ on storing RED TOCH

1) I took some cloves on the 20th. september 2010 and stored them in a plastic bag in the refrigerator at 5 degrees C.
Control on the 7 th january 2011, cloves has set roots and begun to sprout.

2) I took some cloves on the 20th. september 2010 and stored it in an open glass jar at 16-18 degrees C in our scullery.
Control on the 7 th january 2011, cloves are still juicy, can not tell the difference from other garlic cultivars.

Note that the refrigerator is not the correct place to store garlic – too much humidity. ”

In the middle of March I was given the experimental cloves, and took the above photo. The two cloves stored warm were delicious to eat, the two stored in the fridge was not interesting in this state.

Home-grown garlic keeps well on the kitchen table, but bad in the refrigerator.
It also seems that Red Toch keeps quite well into March and maybe longer.

And a big thank you to Randi and Svend for their fine study !

 

Yacon Crown

Yacon (Smallanthus sonchifolius) root with crown in march

Previous posts on yacon

Last winter I stored the yacon crowns separated from the tubers. The last I ate in short time – raw yacon taste great. Unfortunately the crowns didn’t live through the winter but shrivelled away. Fortunately I have learned from this experience!

In the autumn Kirsten was dear enough to give me two plants when she harvested her yacons. This winter I have stored them like I store my Dahlias, and they look healthy. Basicly I followed same procedure as last year. Stored the roots (crowns and tubers) in the larder, covering them with a plastic bag around christmas, when the had dryed a little, to slow down any further drying. Only difference from last year is, that now the crowns are attached to the tubers. Today the tubers looks dry and wrinkled, but the crowns are juicy and tender – very promising!

Today I planted some of the crowns in pots on the ground in the greenhouse, covered with several layers of bubbleplast, to keep them from freezing. I’m curious to learn if it’s better to pot them up now, or to store them an other month in the larder before setting in the ground (Like I do with Dahlias).