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Are you curious about unripened garlic ? Or , did you reap your garlic early but are n’t certain how to apply or store it ? Come learn all about it !

Green ail , also known as saltation ail or untested Allium sativum , is delectablyflavorful , versatile , supply ship , and even easier to prepare than regular ail . This clause will explore 6 awful ways to use or continue it – including idea and recipes for fresh preparation , freeze , pickling and more .

Rows of peeled green garlic shown from above

Note : This mail was originally publish in June 2019 .

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A large blue bowl and a small white bowl each full of immature bulbs, some have their green stem still attached while others only contain the bulb alone.

What is Green Garlic?

Contrary to popular notion , fleeceable garlic is n’t some alien miscellany of ail . Rather , unripe garlic is simplyimmature garlicor even garlic that was harvest ahead of time in the leaping . Both the white bulb and the green stalk are edible .

Most often , green garlic is the solvent of farmersthinningtheir primary garlic crop – and making good use of those thinning by deal it . Other time , it’sintentionallygrown and harvested early as a rise in popularity has created a demand for it as a worthy crop of its own .

If yougrow your own garlic , there may be times you have to glean it early ( even if you did n’t want to ) – resulting in green ail that ca n’t be stored long term . However , it ’s gracious to be capable to pull up a few heads early to utilise in formula as needed too !

The inner segments of an immature bulb with sections of clove delineated from each other.

Green Garlic Storage and Shelf Life

Garlic is typically planted in the crepuscle , go abeyant over winter , resumes growth the next spring , and then is glean in summer once it reaches full maturity date . By then , the large garlic heads have developed individual cloves with protective papery peel , which enable it to last for many calendar month in dry storage post - harvest .

On the other hand , spring garlic is smaller , more untoughened , and has n’t take shape tightly - wrapped cloves yet . Because of this , green garliclacks the long condition storage potentialof its mature counterpart . alternatively , it must be used fresh or be preservedwithin a weekor two of harvesting . We do a little of both !

What does green garlic taste like?

untested immature garlic is usually moremild and fresh - taste than matured ail . It offers a verdant onion or scallion - like flavor visibility ( but still has notable garlicky attributes ) . However , the longer it is allow to grow and modernise , the more classic sharp and fertile garlic flavor will shine through . Many of our larger green bulbs savor just like mature ail !

Where to Get Green Garlic

The best place to buy green garlic is at your localfarmer ’s market in the spring , or perchance from a small local food market store . I personally have n’t seen it available at large chain grocery write up . Have you ?

Or , you cangrow your own ! See our complete guide onhow to imbed and arise garlichere . While we typically like to allow our Allium sativum reach full maturity , we ’ve had to glean garlic untimely for a identification number reason over the geezerhood : due to disease likegarlic rust fungus , because we were move , or to make outer space in a garden seam for another crop .

How to Prepare Green Garlic for Cooking

Because there are no papery parts , and no need to peel individual cloves , train unripe garlic can be much more quick and well-fixed than matured garlic ! The accurate readying need depends on how mature it was at the meter of harvest , and how you ’re going to use it .

7 Ways to Use Green Garlic

1) Eat It Fresh

The bulb and bid chaff of unripe garlic can beused in the place of regular garlic , onions , leeks , green onion , or shallots in any recipe – raw or cook ! This include sautéed with vegetables or stir fry , added to soups , sauces , alimentary paste , egg dish , and more . We love to use our young spring garlic inhomemade fire cider , withroasted artichokes , loose garden tzatziki , andour pet pesto recipetoo .

Also view save the leafy greens or baffling stalking in the deep freezer with other veggie scraps to later makehomemadevegetablebroth . Or , add up them toinfuse flavorinto soup , rice , or beans while cooking , and then remove them before serving – like you ’d apply bay leave of absence .

It ’s best to stack away fresh green ail in the refrigerator , and use it within one to two weeks after harvest . Otherwise , see idea to continue it to extend the storage fourth dimension below .

A wicker basket full of bunches of green garlic, a tag is inserted into the basket that reads “green garlic, $3.50/bunch”.

2) Green Garlic Powder

Making homemade garlic pulverisation is my favourite way to uphold green garlic – or any ail for that matter ! It is easy to do , can be used with a variety of meals , and neatly condense a mess of garlic into a pocket-size hard volume . You could also commingle garlic pulverization with other spices to make your own seasoning blend . When done rightfulness , garlic pulverisation stay safe hive away at way temperature for wellover a class .

Learnhow to make garlic powderin our step - by - step guide . In summary : thinly slit the garlic ( or chop it up in a solid food CPU ) and dry out totally in afood dehydrator . Next , drudge into a all right powder using aVitamix , coffee submarine , food mainframe , or similar . Store in an strain - tight container .

3) Fermented

Or if you prefer a more tangy , zesty , fix - same fermented Allium sativum , habituate a canonic lactofermentation table salt brine recipe likethis one .

4) Roasted

Roasted green Allium sativum is just as gooey and toothsome as regular roasted Allium sativum . I love to spread it on crustyhomemade sourdough bread , on its own or with other sandwich fixings . It ’s also awesome in hummus , sauces , soups , and more !

cubic decimetre like to roast garlic in a large glass baking genus Pan ( instead of the classic tin foil method ) . After peel aside any tougher outer layers , reduce the garlic bulbs in one-half , drizzle with olive oil , thrash about to coating , and pitter-patter with salt and pepper . Roast on 400Fin the oven until it is golden brown and soft .

Thetime will varydepending on the age and size of your green garlic . For our larger , more mature bulbs , we see that roasting them for 20 minutes cover fall out by 10 more minutes reveal work well . twitch or thresh about the pieces over once during bake to evenly roast both side of meat .

A hand is pulling away tough outer layers of the harvest bulbs and stems. A cutting board below contains more of the bulbs along with some that have been cut into pieces.

When done , you may enjoy it now , refrigerate for up to 5 Clarence Shepard Day Jr. , or freeze it for previous use – explained next .

5) Freezing Green Garlic

Freezing is a super quick and well-fixed means to keep garlic . It can be as simple as freeze whole unsanded bulbs , cut into pieces , or roasted and then frozen . We also wish to soften Allium sativum to freeze in ice square block tray with olive oil colour , like ourfrozen St. Basil regular hexahedron .

No matter how you prefer to freeze greenish garlic , salt away it in an air - tightfreezer container with a lidthat will effectively reduce aviation middleman , which is important to forestall deep freezer burn !

To use large chunk of frozen bounce garlic , you’re able to allow it defrost at room temperature before prepping ( it will get quite balmy ) or just fret it rooted . glacial soften ail can be bring to dishes as - is , since it will very quickly deice .

A food dehydrator with stainless steel trays are pulled out in a stair step fashion. Each tray is full of prepared pieces of green garlic to be dried.

6) Pickled Green Garlic

Last but not least , you’re able to pickle it ! Pickled green garlic is a welcome addition to Bloody Mary ’s , salad dressing , gormandize in olive , served with cheese and cracker , mixed with sautéed vegetable , or in hoummos .

To pickle dark-green Allium sativum , reduce and disrobe away any tough upper and KO’d portions , revealing the most tender middle parts . Pack into a jar with avinegar - establish brine and seasonings of choice . Seeour easy refrigerator pickling brine recipe here . It ’s used for pickle peppers in this example but can well be apply to a variety of veggie , include garlic .

What about Preserving Garlic in Oil?

While you may see garlic preserved in oil at the grocery computer memory , it ’s not something I necessarily recommend trying at home . If you do , carry on withextreme caution ! Botulismorganisms ( naturally present in territory ) are unremarkably establish on ail and can grow to dangerous levels in the absence seizure of oxygen , such as in an oil solution .

To safely maintain garlic in oil , the garlic must be acidified first , explains a food safety expert fromOklahoma State University . Otherwise , it ’s best refrigerate ail and oil admixture and utilise within just a few days .

And those are the top 6 ways to use green garlic.

I hope you enjoyed this object lesson on green garlic and the related formula ! While I do n’t necessarily advise you go and pull out your whole harvest of garlic early , I trust you get to attempt it sometime .

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A small mason jar is full of seasoning powder. A spoon is resting in front of it with a spoonful of the seasoning.

A pint mason jar is 2/3rds full of garlic cloves while honey is being poured into the jar, filling it almost all the way to the rim of the jar.

Two images of glass baking pan full of heads of green garlic, cut in half. The first is raw, white, and the second image is after being roasted in the oven, now golden brown.

Two freezer containers full of freshly roasted green garlic cloves.

A mason jar full of pickled garlic cloves with a few peppercorns. Surrounding the jar are bulbs of garlic, herbs, and a flip top jar full of garlic cloves.

A hand holding a bunch of peeled green garlic stalks and bulbs, with more laying out in the background. The white heads are smaller than typical garlic, but more round than green onions.

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