Plaiting garlic and onions

This morning I finally got round to plaiting my garlic and onions. They've been drying out on an old wooden fruit tray in the back garden for a week or so. Once the necks are nice and dry its an easy enough job. Rub off the rough outer layer of skin on the bulb. Then start by laying 3 bulbs criss-cross, with  a good big bulb at the bottom. the first knot is important as it stops the plait untangling. You make this by pushing the right hand bulb under over and then add another attractive one to the centre to make 4.

After that its just a question of laying each bulb diagonally across and plaiting in from the side. The best way to learn is to have a go, your first few attempts will untangle themselves but persevere and you should get the hang of it. Trim off the wispy bits at the top and bind with string. You can snip off the beards at the bottom of the bulbs at the same time. Make a loop and find an appropriate place in your kitchen to hang them up.