Permaculture in Action

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Garlic Braiding and Giveaway.

I have enlisted the services of the Master Garlic Braider himself to provide you with a garlic braiding tutorial....
Step One cross the stems of two corms.

start with two

Step Two - loop the stems together to ensure the braid doesn't unravel. 

then knot them together

Step Three - place a third stem between the first two.

then add a third

Step Four - plait these three stems for three plaits. You will be looking for the next corms to sit neatly between the first two and the middle corm.

and plait a few strands

Step Five - the process continues as you add garlic to the braid, first to the outer two then the middle one and the addition of stems ensures the length of the braid. Keep any short stems till the end where length no longer is an issue.

add more as you go

keep it tight

stems make for length

when you have enough
Step Six - when you have added the desired number of corms plait the stems till you reach a suitable length.


plait til the end and tie off

I like to braid within the Fibonacci sequence of numbers because of the affinity to nature and eight and twenty one are the most common though the smaller garlics some times go to larger numbers. 

Thanks Mark for sharing your expertise.

Now for the giveaway....To celebrate our garlic harvest we'd like to offer this garlic braid as a gift....




Simply leave a comment, and a winner will be chosen at random by Mark on his birthday 20th Dec, at 8pm. Due to quarantine/customs restrictions the draw can only be open to Australian residents

                                                 Good luck,

                                                                    Kate   xxx

25 comments:

  1. Wow! I'd love to win seeing as my garlic crop was only 3 plants this year. (That makes for a very small braid...)

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  2. Happy Birthday Mark for the 20th!
    I hope your Gardens continue to prosper in the new year!

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  3. Happy early birthday and thank you so much for showing me how to braid garlic. Now I just have to wait for mine to be ready to pick :)!

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  4. Hey Kate, thanks to the MGB for that great tutorial........
    I have about 4 garlic plants in garden and they are just flowering, so a little way off using.
    I can imagine the comments at the post office ..........."who had garlic for dinner last night?" hehe.......

    Claire :}

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  5. This is greedy because I have garlic, but I'd love some of yours to plant next year. My plaits are much less tidy! I shall take note.

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  6. I soooooooooo have garlic envy, now!!!!!! Thanks for the tutorial, will keep on practising. Unfortunately I can't enter your giveaway as we can't bring plant material into Tasmania due to strict bio security (which is a good thing). That's supposing that I won it of course.

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  7. Ohh how fantastic! Thanks for the tutorial.
    I'd love some of your home grown garlic! I have never grown it and will definitely be planting some next year!

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  8. No good for me either - no garlic to Tasmania :o( but I agree with Deb it is a good thing really. And I have just harvested mine so I have enough for a little while!
    And I have to say that your master garlic plaiter is certainly very neat and tidy with his plaits - I hope he has an awesome birthday!!

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  9. Oohh! It is so wonderful to find Aussie garlic - I would love to win a whole braid! How/where do you store the braid so it keeps for a long time?

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  10. I'm growing my own too however thanks for the tutorial. Step by step photos make such a difference!

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  11. Hi Meg, we just hand them in the kitchen or on the verandah, where they get plenty of air flow. They will last until next year when they will start to sprout ready for replanting ( around May) So be sure you use them or preserve them before then!
    Thanks Deb and Evi for letting me know about Tassie restriction. I didn't know!

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  12. I made a braid of my garlic a few weeks ago but I didn't dry it properly and it broke
    yesterday:( with all that wet weather we have had lately I didn't harvest it early enough. I will know better for next year! I would love to win one of your braids though!
    Thanks.

    Melissa:)

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  13. How fabulous! Both the garlic braiding tutorial and the giveaway. :- )

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  14. Oh you make it look so easy.... but I have some garlic here from a friend that I had a go with and it didn't quite work out LOL I have plenty of home grown garlic right now so no need to enter me in the comp, but thanks so much for the tutorial!

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  15. What a fantastic braid! I tried it last year and it sort of worked, but it didn't look like that!

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  16. Thanks for the tutorial!!

    My question is how long do you need to hang it out for before you can start eating it? (this is the first time I have grown garlic)

    Georgina x

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  17. you can eat it straight away but mostly when the skins are dry it peels best so depending on the weather a few weeks sees it ready for use.

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  18. Thanks for the tutorial - this was my first year growing my own and now I know how to braid them. What do you do from May onwards, when all the local garlic is sprouting? You mentioned preserving it ... what do you do?

    Tulipwood

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  19. Well, Mark can rest easy now as he has officially made a lasting contribution to food gardening. He must be one of only a handful who can do this well and now, thanks to this, there may be more...

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  20. Ooh, yes please! :) My partner and I both always say that everything can be improved with a liberal addition of garlic :P I haven't tried growing it since I've been living in flats, although I do grow other bits and pieces on my balcony. Maybe I should give it another go in a pot?

    kate1485 at hotmail.com

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  21. What a handy skill to write a Tutorial on! Thanks so much for that. ღ
    I'm in Australia and would of course, LOVE to be included.
    I'll be posting this on my blog fbook page. I think I know some others that might be more than interested.
    ღ Aleta

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  22. I am adding my thanks. My crop is only 6 and I haven't harvested them yet...was waiting for the stems to completely die back... And when give one to my brother, put two bak in the ground...not really a braid is it? Next year I'm on to it, in the mean time I would LOVE yours!
    And have a fabulous birthday Mark.

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  23. Garlic is one of the most used ingredients in our house :-) We've grown some, but never enough to braid, and we'd love the chance to try yours ;-) Thanks for the chance! Warmly, Kelly

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  24. That garlic is magnificent.

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