Year-Round Garlic from Our Tennessee Farm: How We Preserve Our Harvest

We're garlic farmers — and we're garlic obsessed. Geoffrey spent years as a fine-dining chef before we started farming, and one thing he'll tell you flat out: once you've cooked with real heirloom garlic, grocery store garlic just doesn't cut it.

Here's the reality of growing garlic: most varieties store for 4 to 8 months after harvest. Since garlic is planted in fall and harvested the following summer, that storage window has to stretch all the way to the next harvest to keep you in homegrown garlic year-round. That gap is exactly why we preserve — and why we've never had to buy garlic from a grocery store since we started growing our own.

We use four methods on our farm, and we recommend all of them. Each one has its place depending on how you cook and what you're making.

Method 1: Freezing

Freezing is fast, flexible, and keeps that deep heirloom flavor locked in for up to a year.

A quick note on texture: Freezing changes garlic's texture — it won't have that firm snap of a fresh clove. But for cooking? Soups, sauces, roasts, sautés — it's fantastic.

Geoffrey's note: "I'd argue roasted-then-frozen garlic is actually better than fresh for certain dishes. The flavor mellows and deepens in a way that's hard to replicate any other way."

Freezing Whole Cloves

Option A — Freeze in the skin: Pull cloves off the bulb, leave the papery wrapper on, and drop into a freezer bag. The skin slips right off after a quick thaw.

Option B — Peel and freeze: Peel and trim cloves, spread on a parchment-lined baking sheet, freeze until solid (1–2 hours), then transfer to a freezer bag or jar. This keeps them from clumping.

To use: Thaw 2–3 minutes before prepping. Best used cooked, not raw. You may want to use a little extra since freezing mellows the intensity slightly.

Freezing Minced Garlic

1. Run garlic through a press or food processor.
2. Scoop into an ice cube tray or drop spoonfuls onto a lined baking sheet.
3. Freeze until solid, then transfer cubes to a freezer bag.

Toss a cube straight into a hot pan — no thawing needed.

Geoffrey's tip: "I portion these by tablespoon so I always know exactly how much I'm adding. Game changer for consistent recipes."

Roasting Before Freezing

Roasted frozen garlic is sweeter, deeper, almost caramel-like — incredible in mashed potatoes, pasta, spreads, and soups.

1. Peel outer papers off a full head, keeping it intact.
2. Slice off the top ¼ inch to expose the cloves.
3. Drizzle generously with olive oil.
4. Roast at 400°F for 30–40 minutes until golden and soft.
5. Cool, separate cloves, freeze on a lined sheet, then transfer to a freezer-safe container.

Method 2: Dehydrating

Dehydrating removes moisture completely, giving you shelf-stable garlic that lasts 1–2 years in an airtight container. It's our pick for pantry staples — garlic powder, garlic flakes, and minced dried garlic that you can reach for any time.

How to dehydrate garlic:

1. Peel and slice cloves thinly (about ⅛ inch) or mince.
2. Spread in a single layer on dehydrator trays.
3. Dehydrate at 125–135°F for 6–12 hours until completely dry and crisp — no soft spots.
4. Let cool fully before storing in airtight jars away from light and heat.

To make garlic powder: Once fully dehydrated, run flakes through a spice grinder or high-powered blender until fine. Sift if needed.

Geoffrey's tip: "Homemade garlic powder from heirloom varieties has a complexity that store-bought simply doesn't. Once you make your own, you won't go back."

Note: Dehydrating garlic is pungent — we recommend doing this outside or with good ventilation!

Method 3: Freeze Drying

Freeze drying is the gold standard for long-term preservation. It removes nearly all moisture while keeping the cell structure intact, which means the flavor, color, and even some of the texture are remarkably well preserved. Freeze-dried garlic can last 10–25 years in proper storage.

The catch: home freeze dryers are a significant investment (typically $2,000–$5,000). If you're serious about long-term food storage or preserving large harvests, it's worth it. Otherwise, dehydrating gets you most of the way there at a fraction of the cost.

How to freeze dry garlic:

1. Peel and slice or mince cloves.
2. Spread in a single layer on freeze dryer trays.
3. Run a standard freeze dry cycle (typically 24–40 hours depending on your machine and load).
4. Store in Mylar bags with oxygen absorbers or airtight glass jars for maximum shelf life.

Freeze-dried garlic rehydrates beautifully and can be ground into powder just like dehydrated garlic.

Geoffrey's note: "The flavor retention in freeze-dried garlic is remarkable. It's the closest thing to fresh you'll get from a preserved product."

Method 4: Honey Fermentation

This one surprises people — but fermented garlic in honey is one of the most delicious things you can make with your harvest. The garlic slowly ferments over weeks, becoming tender and almost candy-like, while the honey takes on a deep, savory-sweet garlic flavor. Both the cloves and the honey are edible and incredible.

Fermented garlic honey lasts a year or more at room temperature and gets better with time.

How to make it:

1. Peel garlic cloves and pack them into a clean glass jar — fill it about ¾ full.
2. Pour raw, unpasteurized honey over the cloves until fully submerged. (Raw honey contains the wild yeasts needed for fermentation — pasteurized honey won't work as well.)
3. Stir gently to release air bubbles. Leave about 1 inch of headspace.
4. Cover loosely with a lid or cloth — the fermentation produces CO₂ and needs to breathe. Burp the jar daily for the first week or two.
5. Store at room temperature out of direct sunlight. Flip or stir daily to keep cloves coated.
6. It's ready to eat in as little as 2–4 weeks, but the flavor deepens significantly over 1–3 months.

Ways to use fermented garlic honey:

• Eat a clove straight as a daily wellness boost
• Drizzle the honey on cheese boards, pizza, or roasted vegetables
• Use as a glaze for meats or salmon
• Stir into salad dressings or marinades
• Add to cocktails or hot tea

Geoffrey's tip: "The honey after 3 months is liquid gold — I use it anywhere I'd use a sweet-savory glaze. It's one of those things that sounds weird until you taste it."

One Thing to Remember

Do not freeze, dehydrate, or ferment garlic you plan to replant. Any processing will damage or destroy the clove's ability to germinate. Keep your seed garlic in a cool, dry, well-ventilated spot and plant it fresh each fall.

Start With Great Garlic

The better your garlic going in, the better it tastes coming out — whether you're freezing, drying, or fermenting. We grow all of our garlic using regenerative practices on our Tennessee farm — no pesticides, no synthetic fertilizers, just the same care and intention we bring to everything we grow.

Shop our seed garlic →