Chimyan Garlic is a wild hardneck garlic that performed well in our warmer Mediterranean climate (zone 9B) where hardnecks can be difficult to produce or underperform in terms of yield. These bulbs are large, with cloves that have blushed purple skins; clove flavor is complex and spicy.
Details:
This is our first garlic offering in our seed catalog; quantity is limited!
Note: All garlic has a $10 shipping surcharge - we ship all garlic orders via USPS Priority Mail.
Chimyan Garlic is a wild hardneck garlic that performed well in our warmer Mediterranean climate (zone 9B) where hardnecks can be difficult to produce or underperform in terms of yield. These bulbs are large, with cloves that have blushed purple skins; clove flavor is complex and spicy.
Details:
This is our first garlic offering in our seed catalog; quantity is limited!
Note: All garlic has a $10 shipping surcharge - we ship all garlic orders via USPS Priority Mail.
Garlic is typically planted in the Fall - within two weeks on either side of your first frost date. Break up the bulb, separate the cloves, and tuck each one, still covered in its papery wrapping, about an inch into the soil. I tend to mulch the bed lightly after planting, and add more mulch around the sprouts once they emerge.
Watch your garlic grow slowly through the winter, and pick up pace as the weather warms. In early summer, look out for the loopy scapes - this is the flower stalk of your garlic. It is considered best practice to cut these back before the flowers open, in order to encourage the plant to put its last burst of energy into sizing up its bulb below ground. Garlic scapes have become a farmers market delicacy in the past decade - people pickle them, process them into pesto, and add to dishes for a garlicky bite somewhat more mellow than the flavor of the garlic bulb itself. While I agree with the common wisdom of cutting back the scapes - consider letting one plant go to flower and seed if you have never before seen a garlic in bloom!
Garlic lets you know it is ready for harvest when the bottom two or three leaves of the plant turn yellow and brown. Like with most root crops, you will have best luck harvesting when the soil is relatively dry. Use a digging fork or a shovel to lift them - don’t try to pull them straight up out of the ground by the leaves.
Although you can eat garlic immediately after harvesting it, if you are hoping to store some for any length of time, you will need to cure it for a few weeks. You can shake off any excess loose soil as you harvest, but don’t worry about getting them super clean yet, and definitely do not wash them - keeping the bulbs dry during this time is imperative to be able to store your garlic for a long time. Keep the leaves on the plants and bundle 5-10 of them together with some twine. Hang them to dry out somewhere with adequate airflow but no direct sunlight. The exact timing of your curing process will depend on things like the humidity in the air, but generally 2-4 weeks should do it. All the leaves will turn brown, the papery layers outside of the bulbs will get a little crisp, and you’ll be able to tell the garlic just feels like the garlic you’re used to having in your kitchen.
At this point you can cut back the leaves - make sure to leave almost an inch of neck above the bulb intact - cutting too close to the bulb can expose the bulb to rot. You can also wipe off any remaining dirt, which should now be dry and come off easily with your hand or a dry rag. You can keep some of your garlic in the kitchen for daily use, but if you have a big crop, you can store the remainder in paper bags somewhere cool. The dark and the cold temperatures will delay the bulbs’ desire to eventually sprout, and you can bring more into the kitchen on an as-needed basis.
Compared to other root crops like potatoes and yams, garlic is not very needy about its curing and storage process. You will likely have success without being super specific about things like temperatures and humidity levels. I suspect that one reason for this is that garlic is one of our most anti-microbial vegetables, easily fighting off the forces of aging and decomposition that can more quickly befall some of our other food roots. This same feature makes it a powerful ally during surges of respiratory infections, most effective if taken regularly as a preventative measure or at the very first signs of illness. There has also been a good amount of research showing that it benefits cardiovascular health by reducing blood pressure, and that it has positive effects on the gut microbiome.
Although cooked garlic is not devoid of health benefits, it seems like you can get the most from your garlic by consuming it raw. Breaking down the cell walls allows it to release its healthful powers, so always cut, crush, grate or chew. Eating it straight can induce an unpleasant gag reflex, but there are many ways to get around this. Thinly sliced garlic is delicious on top of a buttered piece of toast and grated garlic is tasty in a salad dressing. If you are going to eat it on its own, I recommend mincing it and then washing down a spoonful with some water, or mixing it with some honey.
-Goda
What the scientific / medical research canon reveals about garlic:
References
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