Interesting Large-fruited Species And Varieties Of Garlic

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

White elephant … grows in the garden

Garlic, winter variety White elephant non-shooting

Garlic is a very popular spice because of its specific aroma and pungent, distinctive taste. It is used in the preparation of a huge number of dishes in the cuisines of many countries around the world. In addition, garlic is considered to be the strongest antioxidant, therefore it is used for the prevention and treatment of many diseases.

For over 20 years, we have been testing and growing interesting varieties of garlic and shallots on our site. We are looking for new items by correspondence, as well as bring them from trips.

As a result, we add new products to the collection almost every year. About five years ago, while relaxing on the coast of the Sea of Azov, at the “spontaneous” market, I saw a pile of garlic.

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He came closer and began to examine the goods. It would amaze any gardener: these were huge beautiful heads of garlic the size of an orange, weighing at least 150 grams, and some even pulled 200 grams! It was perfectly white, large teeth - 6-8 pieces each, they are arranged radially, like slices of a tangerine.

I talked to the owner, who gave a professional assessment of this variety. It is called the White Elephant and belongs to the non-shooting forms of garlic - Artichoke (Soft neck) according to the international classification. Large white onion with 6-8 dense teeth, soft cream pulp with a characteristic semi-sharp taste, soft, very appetizing aroma. It is good both fresh and in cooking (for example, you can make garlic soup). The advantages can also be safely attributed to high winter hardiness, resistance to fusarium.

I planted this garlic, as is customary in our area, on Pokrov Day (October 14). The garlic planted at this time manages to form powerful roots and goes into winter, like a winter, and not a podwinter culture. Well-rooted garlic is not afraid of winter, and in spring it sprouts like a "brush". If the tooth goes into winter "beardless", i.e. without roots, no snow cover will save him. Garlic needs six weeks to take root before real frosts, so it turns out that the optimal time for planting winter garlic in our country is from October 14 to 24. In more northern regions, of course, this garlic should be planted taking into account the local climatic conditions.

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Elephant garlic in the garden (young)

Another Elephant occupies a worthy place in our beds - this is an interesting type of leek (Allium Ampeloprasum) - Elephant Garlic. In the West, it is also sometimes called Russian garlic, and in our country it is called rockambole. In the first year, the plant forms a one-tooth. And in the second year, planted with a single-toothed or large clove, Elephant garlic forms a bulb weighing 400-500 grams.

The plant is up to 1.5 meters high. Propagated by cloves, babies and one-toothed. Babies appear at the bottom of the bulb, attached to its bottom. Unlike leeks, it does not require leg bleaching, but it requires a lot of organic matter and moisture to grow successfully.

The growing season for Elephant Garlic, planted in autumn, ends at the end of June - early July (for the one planted in spring - later). We remove the bulbs during the period of yellowing of the leaves. We clean the heads from the aerial part and external scales. In a cool and dry place, they can be stored for up to 8 months, and babies for more than two years. The taste of the cloves is delicate and the aroma is less intense. In general, the most surprising thing about this vegetable is its unusual taste, since the taste and aroma of the bulbs combine the taste of both onion and garlic at the same time. Moreover, they are less pronounced, as, for example, in the same garlic or onion. Moreover, they do not have the characteristic bitterness of traditional cultures.

These onions are consumed fresh, it is unusually tasty in pickled form, it is added as a seasoning for canning, as well as in the first and second courses. It is also used in salads and as an addition to sandwiches. In restaurants, it is served baked in the oven or on the grill. Young leaves and cloves can also be used in food, both fresh and after canning.

Elephant garlic contains phytoncides, which have bactericidal properties, and antioxidants, which help to remove harmful substances from the body. It has almost all the health benefits of garlic. Stored well, not germinating until mid-April. Keeping quality increases if the heads are kept for 10-15 days in the light.

Elephant garlic - green stems

The agricultural technology of these "elephant" species practically does not differ from the cultivation of winter varieties of garlic. In early October, on a light, fertilized bed, I cut deep grooves, sprinkle with ash and superphosphate. Thus, I provide planting of garlic with potassium, phosphorus and trace elements. Then I plant the cloves at a distance of 8-10 cm from each other, and the Elephant Garlic - at a distance of 12-15 cm. I do the same with especially large teeth and one-toothed teeth. I sprinkle the grooves filled with garlic with compost and mulch with what is at hand - straw, fallen leaves and other organic matter.

Usually I plant garlic to a depth of 8-10 cm. If the soil is loose, light, rich in organic matter, it is better to deepen the cloves even 15 cm. They winter more reliably and develop better. Garlic does not like heavy soil, it must be light and fertile - this is a prerequisite.

I try to plant the largest cloves and one-toothed ones, as garlic, unfortunately, tends to decrease the size of the head. If you plant a row of large and a row of small teeth next to each other, the summer harvest from these rows will look exactly the same. The law is simple: if you want to have large heads, plant large teeth. And so that the heads do not become smaller, every year I replace up to 30% of the seed with single-tooth, grown from children.

I do not remove mulch in spring. Long-term experience has confirmed that the soil warms up more slowly under mulch, and garlic shoots in early spring are protected from sudden daily temperature fluctuations. In addition, if the bed of garlic is covered with mulch, then maintenance is simplified - just one weeding is enough.

Elephant garlic, harvest

One more note: do not be late in harvesting garlic. If the optimal period is missed, then the heads can fall apart and be poorly stored. It is better to remove the garlic a day earlier than two days later. I dry the dug out garlic for two weeks in the shade, without cutting off the stems. During this time, the heads dry out, and some of the nutrients from the stems pass into them. Then I cut off the stems, and store the garlic in a cool dry place.

Also, on my site, I managed to tame garlic varieties from other regions. The first 2-3 years, almost all of the alien garlic gives a significant variation in yield, ripening time, winter hardiness, part of it dies. But from year to year I stubbornly select the best ones from the surviving plants, until I get the desired result. As a result, for ten years I "registered" in my garden a gentle, but capricious non-shooting variety, large-fruited winter garlic from Ukraine - Boguslavsky and Sophievsky shooting. I like them because they winter well and ripen two weeks earlier than others. Another southern variety with a semi-sharp taste and good keeping quality adapted to our climate after five years. This is the Elegant - 961.

Pungent garlic from neighboring Belarus blended into our climate quite quickly and began to give an even (each bulb 60 g) yield.

From trips I always bring something new, and now I have a good collection of winter and spring garlic, shallots and others. No less interesting are such varieties of garlic as Vyatsky (Dolkin) and Dobrynya, which have dense medium-sized onions covered with grayish-purple scales with barely noticeable oblong stripes.

These varieties are also quite productive and practically do not require any special care. The varieties Alekseevsky, Losevsky and Titan can be called real giants; onions of these varieties have a number of cloves ranging from 4-8 and a fairly impressive weight, which often exceeds the mark of 100 g.

Valery Brizhan, experienced gardener

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