Four inch garlic heads!

Soilsniffer · July 27, 2007

Spent some time in Martha's Vineyard MA last week, hit a farmers market, and found someone selling the largest cloves I've ever seen:

I arrived at the market an hour after opening, this vendor still had 10 or so left of these huge things. Hard to tell from just the photo, but the right clove is just a touch over four inches in diameter at its widest point, three inches at its narrowest.

I assumed elephant garlic, but the seller assured me she planted regular garlic cloves late last year, and they just all came up huge this year. Full, hot garlic flavor she said.

I purchased three, buck and a half per. Haven't busted any open yet, as I'm saving them to plant in a couple months. They don't look like elephants, tho since I don't grow elephant, I'm not an expert at identifying them. Each head has at least six cloves, eight if you include the two small mutant clove things popping out at opposite ends of each head (what's up with those?).

Seller didn't know what specific kind they were. Hardneck, appear to be completely eggshell white (no color streaks at all).

Any idea what these are? The Growing Great Garlic guy says to avoid bulbs over three inches, as you'll get erratic (mostly disappointing) results, but my curiosity will force me to plant every clove.

FYI, seller info: Tiasquam Brook Farm, out of West Tisbury MA. Flowers, herbs, vegetables. Plowing and mowing services too, heh heh.

Worth1 · July 27, 2007

"Any idea what these are? The Growing Great Garlic guy says to avoid bulbs over three inches, as you'll get erratic (mostly disappointing) results, but my curiosity will force me to plant every clove."

I don't blame you one bit, I would too.

velikipop · July 27, 2007

Four inches is big though not unusual. My Russian and Music average 2.5 inches across. What you have is garlic for sure not elephnat garlic which is not a garlic but a member of the leek family. If it's a hardneck you should see a hard round stem at the top of the head. Softnecks don't have that. The stem end is soft, hence the name.

Alex

henry · July 27, 2007

One question is the garlic dry? from the look of the photos the garlic was taken to market early to sell for fresh eating. A trick to keep garlic that is not dry enough is to peel the wrappers back a bit at the top to let moisture out.

Earl · July 27, 2007

Looks like softneck to me.

missionrandy · July 28, 2007

Earl,

I believe you are right!
Softneck Artichoke Garlic most likely...
Maybe Kettle Valley Giant, Polish White or Inchilium Red.

Randy

Soilsniffer · August 1, 2007

I busted the big clove this morning. Curiosity.

After >2 weeks of storage/curing, it weighed 229g, exactly a half pound.

Peeled off I think five skin layers, exposing the main cloves, and two tiny mutants that were under the 2d or 3d layer:

Separated into cloves. Ended up with five monsters and five regular sized, plus the two mutants. The five monsters weighed in at: 43g, 40g, 27g, 24g, and 21g.

Finally, the normal cloves: 7g, 6g, 4g, 4g, 4g, and the two mutants, 1g each:

Henry: No, the garlic was NOT dry. The inner layers were quite moist, and there was a little bit of paper deep inside beginning to liquify. I'll definitely do as you suggest and open up the layers a bit for the remaining heads.

I plan on using just one clove (flavor test), and planting all the rest. I hope to keep good enough records to remember where each clove was buried, and see next year if larger cloves tend to produce larger heads.

We are all conditioned to plant the largest cloves ... but each clove in a head is genetically identical; I'm thinking ... uhhhh, 'size doesn't matter'. I'll experiment with these cloves (and the remaining heads) for this fall's crop.

Jay

henry · August 1, 2007

Hi Jay, nice photos.
[ We are all conditioned to plant the largest cloves ... but each clove in a head is genetically identical; I'm thinking ... uhhhh, 'size doesn't matter'. I'll experiment with these cloves (and the remaining heads) for this fall's crop]

Jay as a seed garlic farmer I can tell you size makes a big diference and the reason why is the new garlic plant uses what is stored up in the clove to feed it's self in the early growing.

Henry

korney19 · August 1, 2007

Those look great. Looked like Elephant to me...the neck is about an inch and the cormes are common with Elephant, though you usually don't get that many cloves unless it divided or cormes grew into cloves. I had some 4" Siberian hardneck this year but they only put out about 5-6 cloves.

Elephant at 12 o'clock the US quarter, Siberian about 1 o'clock... between the 2 is an Elephant "round"...

Soilsniffer · August 2, 2007

Taste test last evening. What a disappointment.

I removed a thin slice of a large clove (the 27g one), and the Mrs and I sampled it.

Flavor = yecch, heat = moderate.

We minced the clove. Aroma = yecch. We both agreed it smelled of weeds. Imagine a weed patch that was just cut by a lawn mower. The unpleasant, slightly bitter aroma of freshly cut weeds. We weren't gonna eat it raw. Last chance for salvation: saute, then add to smashed potatoes.

After sauteing, again, Yecch. Bitter. I'm not even sure there was any garlic flavor there. We mixed the potatoes with linguica instead, chucked the garlic.

I s'pose I'll still plant a few of these cloves this fall. Maybe I'll get an 8-oz head next year. Maybe the flavor will improve.

There's a question. Can flavor improve? Can lousy tasting Massachusetts-grown garlic taste better if grown in good Tennessee garden soil?

Bummed,
Jay

Soilsniffer · August 2, 2007

Confusion has set in.

My first post, I mentioned they were hardnecks. Someone said 'looks like softneck to me'. I opened the largest one, yep, definitely softneck. What a gaffe.

Not necessarily. In order to keep the other cloves from rotting, I started opening the skin layers of the final two monster cloves. They're both hardnecks.

I just *knew* they were hardnecks at first, guess I just didn't check all of them closely. The strange part: though one was definitely softneck, all three heads looked identical (save for size), even down to the small mutant cloves around the outside.

So, the softneck tasted terrible, maybe I'll have better fortune with these two hardnecks.

J

July 27, 2007	#1
Soilsniffer Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: z7, Richmond VA Posts: 187	A four inch garlic head! Spent some time in Martha's Vineyard MA last week, hit a farmers market, and found someone selling the largest cloves I've ever seen: I arrived at the market an hour after opening, this vendor still had 10 or so left of these huge things. Hard to tell from just the photo, but the right clove is just a touch over four inches in diameter at its widest point, three inches at its narrowest. I assumed elephant garlic, but the seller assured me she planted regular garlic cloves late last year, and they just all came up huge this year. Full, hot garlic flavor she said. I purchased three, buck and a half per. Haven't busted any open yet, as I'm saving them to plant in a couple months. They don't look like elephants, tho since I don't grow elephant, I'm not an expert at identifying them. Each head has at least six cloves, eight if you include the two small mutant clove things popping out at opposite ends of each head (what's up with those?). Seller didn't know what specific kind they were. Hardneck, appear to be completely eggshell white (no color streaks at all). Any idea what these are? The Growing Great Garlic guy says to avoid bulbs over three inches, as you'll get erratic (mostly disappointing) results, but my curiosity will force me to plant every clove. FYI, seller info: Tiasquam Brook Farm, out of West Tisbury MA. Flowers, herbs, vegetables. Plowing and mowing services too, heh heh. __________________ Identifying garlic is done mostly by consensus. Many are like trying to identify the difference between twins. Last edited by Soilsniffer; August 2, 2007 at 08:02 PM.

July 27, 2007	#3
velikipop Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Langley, BC Posts: 768	Four inches is big though not unusual. My Russian and Music average 2.5 inches across. What you have is garlic for sure not elephnat garlic which is not a garlic but a member of the leek family. If it's a hardneck you should see a hard round stem at the top of the head. Softnecks don't have that. The stem end is soft, hence the name. Alex __________________ I'll plant and I'll harvest what the earth brings forth The hammer's on the table, the pitchfork's on the shelf Bob Dylan

July 27, 2007	#4
henry Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Midway B.C. Canada Posts: 311	Looks like a porcelain One question is the garlic dry? from the look of the photos the garlic was taken to market early to sell for fresh eating. A trick to keep garlic that is not dry enough is to peel the wrappers back a bit at the top to let moisture out. __________________ Henry

July 27, 2007	#5
Earl Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: SW Ohio Posts: 1,278	Looks like softneck to me. __________________ "Seriously think about what you're about to do/say before you do it and the outcome will always be better." Earl

July 28, 2007	#6
missionrandy Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Fraser Valley, BC, Canada Posts: 272	Earl, I believe you are right! Softneck Artichoke Garlic most likely... Maybe Kettle Valley Giant, Polish White or Inchilium Red. Randy __________________ Grow your own! Tomatoes that is...

July 27, 2007	#2
Worth1 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Den of Drunken Fools Posts: 38,539	"Any idea what these are? The Growing Great Garlic guy says to avoid bulbs over three inches, as you'll get erratic (mostly disappointing) results, but my curiosity will force me to plant every clove." I don't blame you one bit, I would too.

August 1, 2007	#7
Soilsniffer Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: z7, Richmond VA Posts: 187	I busted the big clove this morning. Curiosity. After >2 weeks of storage/curing, it weighed 229g, exactly a half pound. Peeled off I think five skin layers, exposing the main cloves, and two tiny mutants that were under the 2d or 3d layer: Separated into cloves. Ended up with five monsters and five regular sized, plus the two mutants. The five monsters weighed in at: 43g, 40g, 27g, 24g, and 21g. Finally, the normal cloves: 7g, 6g, 4g, 4g, 4g, and the two mutants, 1g each: Henry: No, the garlic was NOT dry. The inner layers were quite moist, and there was a little bit of paper deep inside beginning to liquify. I'll definitely do as you suggest and open up the layers a bit for the remaining heads. I plan on using just one clove (flavor test), and planting all the rest. I hope to keep good enough records to remember where each clove was buried, and see next year if larger cloves tend to produce larger heads. We are all conditioned to plant the largest cloves ... but each clove in a head is genetically identical; I'm thinking ... uhhhh, 'size doesn't matter'. I'll experiment with these cloves (and the remaining heads) for this fall's crop. Jay __________________ Identifying garlic is done mostly by consensus. Many are like trying to identify the difference between twins.

August 1, 2007	#9
korney19 Buffalo-Niagara Tomato TasteFest™ Co-Founder Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: The Niagara Frontier Posts: 942	Those look great. Looked like Elephant to me...the neck is about an inch and the cormes are common with Elephant, though you usually don't get that many cloves unless it divided or cormes grew into cloves. I had some 4" Siberian hardneck this year but they only put out about 5-6 cloves. Elephant at 12 o'clock the US quarter, Siberian about 1 o'clock... between the 2 is an Elephant "round"...

August 2, 2007	#10
Soilsniffer Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: z7, Richmond VA Posts: 187	Taste test last evening. What a disappointment. I removed a thin slice of a large clove (the 27g one), and the Mrs and I sampled it. Flavor = yecch, heat = moderate. We minced the clove. Aroma = yecch. We both agreed it smelled of weeds. Imagine a weed patch that was just cut by a lawn mower. The unpleasant, slightly bitter aroma of freshly cut weeds. We weren't gonna eat it raw. Last chance for salvation: saute, then add to smashed potatoes. After sauteing, again, Yecch. Bitter. I'm not even sure there was any garlic flavor there. We mixed the potatoes with linguica instead, chucked the garlic. I s'pose I'll still plant a few of these cloves this fall. Maybe I'll get an 8-oz head next year. Maybe the flavor will improve. There's a question. Can flavor improve? Can lousy tasting Massachusetts-grown garlic taste better if grown in good Tennessee garden soil? Bummed, Jay __________________ Identifying garlic is done mostly by consensus. Many are like trying to identify the difference between twins.