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Home | Plants | Vegetables | Garlic

Garlic

Soft-Neck or Hard-Neck?

SOFT-NECK GARLIC

Soft-neck garlic grows a ring of large cloves around the perimeter of the bulb, plus another one or two rings of smaller cloves in the center. Most soft-neck varieties make large bulbs which, when properly cured and stored, can last 9-12 months. Their flavors and spiciness are varied, and soft-neck garlic has pliable stalks, so it can be made into beautiful garlic braids.

 

HARD-NECK GARLIC

Hard-neck varieties grow with a strong central stalk, around which is a single ring of cloves, usually quite large and fat. They possess a wide range of flavor nuances and degrees of heat. The central stalk makes a charmingly curled or twisted, edible ‘scape’ in mid-late spring. Hard-neck garlic has stronger, more individual and complex flavors reflective of the regional soil and weather patterns, similar to wine.  They are favorites for roasting.  Hard-neck garlic is easy to peel, however it does not store as long as soft-necks — cure the bulbs and eat within 4-6 months.

 

Garlic planting instructions

Garlic – Chesnok Red (organic, hard-neck)

Photo Credit: Irish Eyes Garden Seeds

Regularly wins acclaim and awards as one of the best tasting baking/roasting garlics!

Collected in 1985 in the Rep. of Georgia, this highly productive, easy-to-grow ‘Purple-Striped’ garlic makes beautiful, large deep-purple bulbs. Eaten raw, its intense heat quickly dissipates, but cooking and baking truly bring out its earthy, rich garlic complexities, very aromatic with a rich, smooth sweetness and just a touch of heat.

The cloves are more numerous (~8-20) and elongated than most hard-neck types and are initially hard to peel, allowing Chesnok Red to store much longer than other hard-necks – up to a year! But cloves become easier to peel the longer they store. Like other hard-neck varieties, it also produces curling, edible ‘scapes’ in June. Garlic is a  heavy feeder, so feed your soil well!

Plants are vigorous and upright, can handle a little neglect, an are great multipliers, growing large bulbs from even medium-sized cloves.

Garlic planting instructions

Garlic – German Porcelain (organic, hard-neck)

Credit, Irish Eyes Garden Seed

One of the best hard-neck garlics for flavor and keeping, this robust and extra-hardy heirloom variety in the Porcelain group offers large, impressive 2.5 to 3” bulbs with 4-6 easy-to-peel jumbo cloves for easy kitchen use. Beautiful well-formed bulbs are wrapped in thick white luxuriant parchment-like skins with inner layers splashed red-purple, almost too beautiful to eat. Cloves are usually striped with purple.

Flavor is rich, garlicky, and medium hot. Grows well in any climate. Stores at least 6 months, up to 8 to 9 months when stored properly (in a cool dark place).

Garlic planting instructions

Garlic – Inchelium Red (organic, soft-neck)

Photo Credit, Irish Eyes Garden Seed

Large 3″ + bulbs produce 8-20 cloves of good size. Mild, but lasting flavor, with a hint of hot! Dense cloves store extremely well. Flavor can get stronger in storage. This vigorous soft-necked variety won a Rodale taste test of 20 garlic strains – named “Very Best of the Soft-Necks”. Inchelium Red is also exceptionally healthy, easy to peel, and easy to grow!

Garlic planting instructions

Garlic – Metechi (organic, hard-neck)

Metechi Garlic, courtesy Irish Eyes Garden Seeds

Metechi is a mid-season, purple striped hardneck variety. Metechi has a robust garlic flavor along with a sharp bite. Raw, it’s fiery hot, finishing with a lasting spice. Cooking will tone down the heat, while retaining the garlic taste you’ll want. This variety has thick, white-wrapped bulbs that hold 4-6 bulky cloves wrapped in a blush-color skin dappled with purple. These are cold-hardy plants with strong leaves.

Garlic planting instructions

Garlic – Nootka Rose (organic, soft-neck)

Photo Credit: Irish Eyes Garden Seeds

Nootka Rose is a beautifully colored ‘Silver-Skin’ garlic created at Nootka Rose Farm on the San Juan Islands in Puget Sound, WA and is considered an heirloom variety. Known for its rich, warm, bold flavor and exceptional aroma, it excels as a cooking garlic. Thick, creamy white wrappers cover beautiful, red-streaked clove skins that are easy to peel, and the large bulbs tend to yield anywhere from 15-24 cloves each. Nootka Rose is very long-storing, from 9 to 12 months, is ideal for braiding, and grows well in all parts of the country except those with the warmest winters.

Nootka Rose is usually the last garlic to mature and be harvested and is often, if not usually, the longest storing garlic of all. Because it is a long storing variety, you might want to grow some and save them for the time when your other varieties have already sprouted and are no longer in an ideal eating condition.

Garlic planting instructions

Garlic – Musik (organic, hard-neck)

Photo Credit, Irish Eyes Garden Seed

Musik garlic from Starling Farm, Boulder
We are thrilled to offer one of our favorite hardneck garlic varieties from the farm of one of our favorite local musicians, Gregory Alan Isakov! Starling Farm, located in Boulder County, Colorado, is a six-acre farm focused on small-scale, bio-intensive market gardening. They produce a wide variety of vegetables, seeds and flowers—all grown with organic practices and high integrity. This year, 2022, marks their eighth growing season.

Musik is one of the most popular hard-neck varieties, a “Garlic Lovers” garlic, prized for being incredibly flavorful, well-developed, complex and spicy, without any bitterness. Flavor ranges from spicy when raw to a hot and aromatic, true gourmet garlic flavor when cooked; one clove can add a lot of flavor to any recipe! A porcelain type, it is exceptionally cold-hardy, productive and robust; plants can reach 3-4’ tall with dark green leaves stabilized by long roots. White-skinned with a blush of pink, bulbs are 2” diameter or larger, with 4-5 easy-to-peel jumbo cloves. Musik is easy to grow and keeps well until April or May when stored properly, up to 9 months to a year.

Musik has a notably high content of allicin, a powerful antioxidant and cold & flu fighter.
Harvest when lower 4-5 leaves have dried. Dry and hang out of direct light in a warm area with good air circulation. After they have dried for 2-3 weeks, cut off the stem, 1″ from the bulb and trim roots.

Garlic planting instructions

Garlic – Morado Creole (organic, hard-neck)

Morado Creole, courtesy Irish Eyes Garden Seeds

Morado Creole, with its deep purple cloves, is the reportedly the best Creole variety for cold-season growing. With a mild-spicy flavor, it’s great for eating raw in recipes. Morado Creole is a long storing garlic, originally from Spain.

Like most garlic, it’s a heavy feeder, so be sure to fertilize.

 

Garlic planting instructions

Garlic – Silver Rose (organic, soft-neck)

This is a soft-neck silverskin variety. Rose-colored cloves in very smooth bright-white bulbs. Beautiful garlic to braid! This is a longest-storing garlic.  Like all fast-growing Silverskin garlic, this type is frequently planted in the spring. Very popular in Western and Southern US and in France and Italy. There are 12-15 cloves per head.

Garlic planting instructions

Garlic – Spanish Roja (hard-neck)

Photo Credit, Irish Eyes Garden Seed

This vigorous, easy-to-grow heirloom variety arrived in the US over 100 years ago. It is famous for its classic rich, complex ‘true garlic’ flavor and is one of the most popular with restaurants/chefs. The large, purple streaked bulbs often reach three inches in diameter and typically have seven to twelve large tan cloves. Spanish Roja peels easily and keeps for up to 4-6 months when properly stored (the outer bulb wrappers are thin and flake off easily so be careful to keep them intact to prolong storage). Like all hard-neck garlic, Spanish Roja will produce curly ‘scapes’ (flowering stems), which can be snipped off and used for another culinary treat in late spring.  This variety grows well in cold winter areas, and is cold-hardy to Zone 3.

Garlic planting instructions

Garlic – Svea Red (organic, hard-neck)

Photo Credit, Irish Eyes Garden Seed

A late-season Porcelain-type, Svea is the ‘chunky tuna’ of Porcelains, producing large, flattened bulbs with 5 to 8 fat, easy-to-peel cloves. The colorful bulbs show red and purple stripes on their skins and clove wrappers. Blessed with strong, spicy-hot flavor when raw, the flavor mellows to a tasty nuttiness when roasted or baked.

Garlic planting instructions