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New Season Garlic
by Oregano @ 2007-05-26 - 21:01:18

Until 1997, I had never experienced fresh new season garlic. I had only every bought garlic from a supermarket or greengrocer. That May I went with a friend on a trip from Munich to the Camargue to see the wildlife and get a break away from our high tech jobs. As well as buying beautiful Provencal tablecloths for our wives in Arles we took back some fresh veg and Muscat wine from a countryside roadside stall.

I went for the garlic that looked like it was just out of the ground. What surprised me when I got home was that it was moister and milder than any garlic I had bought in a shop. Over the last few years I have grown garlic - in a huge variety of shapes and sizes but I have always enjoyed it when it was really fresh.

 new season garlic1

The head on the right is old garlic recently bought at a supermarket. The four heads on the right are fresh from my garden today; I read somewhere that they are ready to be lifted when 4-5 leaves have turned yellow.

 new season garlic2

Above you see the old garlic where each clove has a dried skin (OK they are not the same garlic variety!). The new season garlic below does not have dried skins, indeed there is no obvious skin on the cloves at all, they are just moist.

New season garlic is moist and milder than old garlic; but with a stronger taste than wild garlic. Apart from gardeners I wonder how many people in the UK are familiar with it; or am I naive? I have only ever seen it on sale at Waitrose in my town and then only very occasionally. I know that there are some recipes e.g. garlic soup that are suitable for the more subtle taste of fresh garlic.

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FunkyFarmerFunkyFarmer [Member]
2007-05-26 @ 21:22

Can you answer a question for me please? Is garlic a bi-annual? I planted minein feb and there are only two leaves per plant and they don't seem to be doing a lot :no: LOL

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OreganoOregano pro
http://outdoors.blog.co.uk
2007-05-27 @ 12:45

No, I think that garlic is a perennial that should grow to full size in one year. The bulbs in the photo were either planted in November (I planted another batch in February) or were simply cloves that fell off last year when I harvested and got left in the ground.

If it is not harvested it just dies down in the winter like chives and grows again.

Maybe yours will grow a bit more with all the rain and warm weather.

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FunkyFarmerFunkyFarmer [Member]
2007-05-27 @ 13:09

Cheers. Thanks for the info :DD

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[Visitor]
http://bloggitygoodness.blog.ca
2007-05-27 @ 02:51

I love garlic.

neilemacneilemac [Member]
http://www.neilemacview.blog.ca/main
2007-05-27 @ 14:48

Your story reminds me of tasting a delicious 'leek' soup made from leek stocks left in the ground over the winter and harvested the following spring/summer. The leeks become almost sweet, not at all as I had preconceived before indulging in my friend 'Saska's home made soup.

I also had the opportunity to indulge in what is called wild garlic grown near a friend's abode midst the mountains of Eastern Townships of Quebec. The delicious bulbs are reminiscent of the reddish hued ones shown in the second photo above.

Garlic cloves are also medicinal, kick the symptoms and stop a 'cold' in its tracks by eating garlic raw. The taste is a bit much for the uninitiated, but well worth it ...for your health.

Thanks for bringing garlic out of the garden and onto our blog plate. Yum...

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OreganoOregano pro
http://outdoors.blog.co.uk
2007-06-01 @ 21:35

Neil, I have noticed that supermarket garlic has cloves of various hues. Here in the UK (and it was the same when I lived in Germany) they were either white or a reddish colour. I am no expert but believe (based on the cloves I planted) that I have a mixture of white and reddish. The heads harvested a week ago (and which looked white) have now turned slightly reddish. I imagine in some weeks they will look more like the upper head in the second photo.

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neilemacneilemac [Member]
http://www.neilemacview.blog.ca/main
2007-06-01 @ 21:41

"will look more like the upper head in the second photo."

Yes, and that would be precisely the one to which I referred.

Being a Tauaus, I love digging and planting in my element. :

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