"Broadback" wrote

Watching a TV program in the last couple of days the cameras visited a
garlic farmer, who has found a new way of preserving garlic. He claimed
that garlic cannot be kept for more than three months. Is that true? I'm
sure that I have kept it longer.

Depends where he was in the world but our garlic cropped in early July is
still fine which is 4 months. We usually find it lasts until at least early
spring before starting to sprout.
I wonder if he is heat treating it to kill the growing tip like some do with
shallots etc. to preserve shelf life. There is a letter in the Kitchen
Garden this month from a chap who says he cannot grow long shallots (like
Jermor) and that they never sprout. Knowing how easy they are to grow I bet
he is planting shop bought ones not those sold for planting which are a lot
more expensive. Friend did the same, saw a large bag of Jermor type shallots
in the supermarket selling quite cheaply and bought those to plant and all
he got was a few roots, not one sprouted.
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK