In praise of fresh garlic

[Jenise]

No, not the dried bulbs you buy at the store, but fresh. FRESH OUT OF THE GROUND.

My friend Marco brought by several for me along with garlic scapes and some enchanting black gooseberries which are a type I've never seen before. I'm making a black gooseberry sauce for seared duck breast with them tonight.

But I digress: fresh garlic! Man how I love it. So subtle and sweet, you can really load it into a dish without adding heat or making a public enemy out of your breath. It went into the sweet cucumber chips I made for an appetizer, sauteed the cabbage I made to go with the main course's pesto-crusted rockfish, and when Bob called today and said he was coming home for lunch two fat cloves seasoned the brandade I made of of tuna, anchovies, capers, white beans and leftover mashed potatoes that we smeared over toasted whole grain bread.

Marco gave me three bulbs. I think they'll last about a week.

Oh, envy!

And just in time.... I was getting mighty tired of the sharp, somewhat sour smell and taste of the old heads from the grocery. I was finding it hard to gauge how much to use and when to add it to try and tone down the oldness. Just pulled 6 heads from the bed and waiting a few days before cooking with them. I planted 6 different varieties but misplaced the planting guide so I don't know which is which Will enjoy them nevertheless.

I don't think I've ever had garlic that fresh, Jenise. I'll have to try and find a source. Anyone know if it's easy to grow?

Jon, I tried twice without success but did not really give them much attention. It is suppose to be easy to grow garlic but I guess you can't just put it in the ground and forget about it. Lots of types to choose from. Link to Milk Ranch selection which looks good and I trust them based upon past orders of seed potato.

http://www.potatogarden.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2010pggarlic.pdf

Thanks for the link, Brian. It's worth a try.

I don't think I've ever had garlic that fresh, Jenise. I'll have to try and find a source. Anyone know if it's easy to grow?

Jon-
I've found garlic very easy to grow. Plant in autumn. We plant in a sunny location in late October/early Nov. That should work for you as the latitude here in Southern Indiana is roughly the same as D.C.. Other than weeding, I ignore them until they are ready to be harvested which I did about a week ago.
Hit the "EASY" button and do it.
'Winger

I don't think I've ever had garlic that fresh, Jenise. I'll have to try and find a source. Anyone know if it's easy to grow?

Jon, I've been growing the stuff for going on 25 years now and can say that few things are simpler. Virtually no pests bother the stuff, crucially for me including even deer. If you want to experiment on the cheap just to see how it goes, you can try it with supermarket garlic. Wait until fall - October, say - dig yourself a bed (garlic prefers loose soil but isn't picky), separate the heads into cloves, plant them root side down at a depth twice the length of the clove. In your climate you might want to put a layer of mulch over the top, water well and wait. You won't see much (if any) action above the ground until springtime. When the top growth turns about half brown (probably next June or so), harvest.

If you want to grow something fancier I highly recommend the folks here: http://www.filareefarm.com/. They have over 100 (!) varieties of garlic and in the past have been very helpful to me in selecting something appropriate to my climate. For a good concise education on all things garlic including planting and harvesting detail, take a look at The Great Garlic Book by Chester Aaron.

[Robin Garr]

A Kentucky organic garlic farm seems to be thriving with all the current interest in locavore, natural foods. Blue Moon Garlic is in Richmond, Ky., which isn't quite as bucolic as the homespun website might make you think: It's the home of Eastern Kentucky University.

Their garlic is available regularly at the farmers' markets in Louisville, and it is indeed a cut or two above the supermarket stuff.
http://www.bluemoongarlic.com/

Some of the local farmers also sell fresh garlic scapes in season, which is a nice seasonal treat, too.

Their garlic is available regularly at the farmers' markets

Which brings up another way to find more exotic garlic varieties that have already been tested in the local climate: visit your local farmers' market and buy your seed garlic there. There's no real difference between eating garlic and seed garlic anyway, other than the latter being selected for the biggest/fattest cloves (growers keep the best stuff for the next year's planting and sell the rest for eating).

Check out www.wegrowgarlic.com . A husband-wife company in Wisconsin with a fabulous selection and high quality.

Thanks, Mark and 'Winger - I'll give it a shot this fall.
JP

Mother-in law gave me two bulbs last fall. One to plant and one to eat. One we ate was almost poetic. Plan to harvest those cloves planted in the next few days.

My first garlic harvest.

[Jenise]

Oh, don't those look beautiful. Great garlic, great shot.