Garlic Growing Guide - Storing garlic GARLIC GROWING GUIDE The ten steps of growing garlic Storing Unless eaten green, preserved or dehydrated garlic should be stored as fresh bulbs. Once garlic is dried it needs to be sorted, hung and left ready to be eaten. This is the second part after harvesting where the garlic goes through a dormancy period. Prepare Preparation Once garlic is dry it needs to be sorted to make sure that is has no disease. C hoose the best bulbs for next years crop and prepare it for storing. Trimming It is necessary to remove the roots and the dirty bulb wrappers before storing. Unless you are looking at plai ting your softneck garlic, also to remove the false stem or pseudostem (what most people think of as the stem) prior to storing. This can normally be done with a pair of scissors, although the hardneck garlic (less so the semi-bolting turbans , creoles and asiatics ) are likely to need to be cut with secateurs as the stem is very tough. While removing the dirty bulb wrapper and trimming, watch for any bulbs with damage or disease. Any in poor condition should be destroyed. We keep the necks on the bulb quite long, the longer the neck being stored the longer it should keep as it reduces air and moisture entering the bulb. The same can be said with keeping on as much bulb wrapper as possible for storing. Si zing Sizing is a process more important for commercial gro wers but is necessary for the home gardener to find the best bulbs for replanting next year. Bulb s izing names vary in the industry both here abroad. We use a wooden template to poke bulbs through to decide the various grades. Premium prices are obtained for larger bulbs which contain larger cloves, as generally larger cloves will grow large bulbs next year. A small bulb could o nly weigh 20gm, while a extra large could weigh in at 100+gms. This is a five fold difference to any returns for a commercial grower if selling by weight and for the home gardener a larger bulb and cloves are easier to use in the kitchen. Garlic grades are based on the width of the garlic. Commercial garlic grade within the trade is based on a numbering system. Size 3 is 30-35mm, 4 is 35-40mm, 5 is 40-45mm, 6 is 45-50mm while grade 7 is 50-55mm. We prefer a grade based on a description of the size. Our preferred sizing scale would be: • Small <50mm • Medium 50-60mm • Large 60-70mm • Extra Large 70mm+ Stati stics If you are a commercial grower or a re an interested home grower, then the best time to record the results of your harvest is after grading . We collect information on bulb size, average bulb weight and other records between the different garlic groups. In this way we know how much garlic to grow next year, whether our trials worked, and our growing regimes for the next season. Our goal is constant improvement. Pl aiting Garlic One way to keep your softneck garlic (silverskin and artichoke ) is to plait them before or after curing. While the strongly bolting garlics cannot be plaited due to their thick scape, in some warmer climates some of the semi-bolting hardneck (turban , creole and asiatic ) garlic groups might be able to be plaited. There are plenty of online videos describing how to plait garlic. Store Storing When to Store Storing garlic is the final stage of curing. In NZ even in cold climates where the late harvesting garlics occurs in early February, the start of Autumn in March is a time when culinary garlic (not planting stock) should begin to be stored. This is because in March in NZ the weather typically begins to change. Daily tempe r atures below 1 6 °C and moist air from rainfall (>65% humidity) are the seasonal triggers for garlic bulbs to develop green internal shoots in preparation for shooting. Naturally garlic is capable of shooting two months after harvesting - particularly turbans . Therefore it is best to bring culinary garlic inside whe re temperatures are more stable and where garlic can be enjoyed for the rest of the year. How to Store Garlic should be stored in a dry, mild, low humidity environment out of direct light. Ideally , garlic should be stored between 10-20 °C. The optimum temperature is 13-14 °C. If the garlic is stored too cool (between 4-1 0 °C) it is likely to sprout. Storing temperatures above 20 °C results in quic ker bulb shrinkage and decreases their storage life. Garlic is best stored at 45-50% relative humidity. Low humidity will result in the bulb withering, too high (70+%) and it will encourage molds and roots to form. Ideally garlic should be stored in a stable temperature zone without significant fluctuations. While it is difficult to obtain ideal home conditions, try to find a spot that will be satisfactory. Put garlic in a space with good air circulation (not air tight containers). A good place is a paper bag, woven or netted bag/basket similar to those used for onions. Do not use glass or plastic containers as garlic will generate condensation and molds. Garlic matures in storage. At their freshest and juiciest after harvest the clove skins are hard to peel. As garlic ages the flavour is enhanced, the clove shrinks making it easier to peel. In storage all cloves will eventually dry out, go moldy or sprout . Depending on the type of garlic and how tight their bulb and cloves skins are garlic will continue to lo se weight through moisture loss. Softneck garlic is known to lose 4-5% of their weight during normal storage, some types (porcelain , standard purple stripe and glazed purple stripe lose 5-10%), while the remaining garlic types can loose 10-15% of their weight due to continued drying. In the kitchen it is great to have a small amount of bulbs ready for use. It is best placed in a breathable container (not plastic), basket, terracotta pot or metal container with holes. Keep out of direct light and in or nearby the kitchen. Garlic types have different storage times. If you are growing a variety of garlic then consider using turban garlic first as it has the shortest storage duration. Consider the storage chart as to the length of storage for various types of garlic. Preserving Preserving Garlic Dehydrating G arlic This is a safe way to keep garlic long term. Pick healthy, firm cloves and remove their skins. Put them in a blender or slice them lengthways or into small pieces. Place on the dehydrator's drying trays until dry, golden and crisp. Keep in an airtight container away from direct light. The dry flakes can also be made into powder with a mortar and pestle or by using a blender with fine cutting blade. The taste remains distin ctly that of the original garlic group. Freezing Garlic Another proven storage technique is freezing the cloves which keeps much of their flavour. You can put the cloves with or without peeling them, into a ziplock bag and freeze. If pre-peeled you can also chop them before freezing. If the clove skins are on it is normally easier to remove them after they are frozen. Garlic in Vinegar Garlic can be preserved in vinegar or wine but it does change the flavour. We advise against preserving garlic in oil because of the risk of botulism. Garlic is prone to botulism due to it's pH being between 5.3-6.3 which is considered too high for preserving in this way. Smoked Garlic Garlic can also be hot or cold smoked. For hot smoked use whole bulbs and remove any loose wrappers (skin), brush olive oil over each bulb and smoke for 1-2 hours depending on the temperature of your smoker. The smoked cloves' contents should resemble a paste like roasted garlic. Cold smoking takes between 1-10 days. Black Garlic Using standard garlic bulbs, garlic can be turned into black garlic - a licorice like food with a non-garlic umami flavour. Black garlic can be made by importing a specialised cooker or alternatively by using a rice cooker, slow cooker or dehydrator can be used to keep garlic bulbs (wrapped in two layers of tin foil) at a low heat for 30-40 days. Black garlic is ready when the cloves are black and their contents treacly. It is not fermented as no bacteria or micro-organisms are used. Black garlic goes through the Maillard reaction of chemically changing amino acids which causes the browning. It's a treat.

Garlic Growing Guide - Planting garlic GARLIC GROWING GUIDE The ten steps of growing garlic Planting Planting is an exciting time in the garden, physically working the soil and starting new beginnings for your garlic crop. When to Plant When to Plant G arlic is generally planted in autumn, with the exact time dependent on your climate and the garlic group you are plan ting. The saying 'plant on the longest day and harvest on the shortest' is a rough rule of thumb which does not take account climate variations and garlic types. Check out the map and chart below to match your climate to the type of garlic you are likely to grow most successfully. Timing is a fine balance with nature, local microclimates and seasonal variability, and the best timing is not always achieved. For milder winters garlic is planted earlier and a bit later in colder areas. Garlic needs to be planted to send out roots before being struck with the winter extremes of driving wind, generally drier cooler air and chilling exposure. The strongly bolting hardneck garlics are more hardy in cold climates. Those in extremely cold areas should plant a month before the soil begins to freeze giving the garlic time to grow roots. Some growers in more mild, humid climates who get persistent garlic rus t (a fungi) plant earlier to harvest earlier thus reducing the impact of this fungi in the warmer months when rust can be prolific. Some try growing turban or asiatic garlic which matures and is harvested earlier than other garlics. However by artificially vernalising and planting early plants are more at risk of secondary shooting (witches broom) or results in smaller bulb sizes. Climate Zone Map Generally the first garlic to be planted are the semi-b olting garlics of turban , creole and asiatic . These garlics are well adapted to long seasons and milder winters because they are more domesticated. The strongly bolting garlics of porcelain , rocambole , standard purple stripe , marbled purple stripe , glazed purple stripe and the softneck artichokes should be planted a little later. Silverskins are the last to be planted in June-August depending on where in the country you live. Consider the for your climate zone, your local conditions and the type of garlic you are considering growing to decide the best time to plan t . NZ Garlic Climatic Zones MILD WINTER COOL WINTER COLD WINTER What to Plant What t o Plant First things first, plant garlic cloves not bulbs - c loves are the divided segments that make up each bulb. The clove skin is not removed. While it is possible to plant the entire bulb, bulbils or true seed (near impossible to find in NZ), the average NZ gardener plants cloves in their vegetable garden. If planting bulb ils for the first year you actually plant the m at the same time as cloves or you can also plant them in spring as well. Secondly, cloves are planted with the pointy end up. The stumpy end has the basal plate from which the root buds will begin to swell in autumn ready for planting. Plants will send down their roots from the basal plate deep into the soil in the cold winter months well before any leaf growth comes out of the pointy top end. Cloves planted upside down will grow but are likely to have stunted growth using a lot of their stored energy to find the surface . Plant only the largest and healthiest cloves. There is a direct correlation between parent bulb size and harvested bulb size. Research suggests there is a ten-fold significance in success in bulb size based on large bulbs compared to large cloves. Also, cloves from a large bulb will generally have a larger harvest bulb compared to the same size clove from a smaller bulb. Interestingly massive bulbs with more cloves have a poorer survival rate. Yet there will always be variation in growing bulbs but consider using large cloves from large bulbs to produce healthy , plump garlic bulbs. Do not plant cloves from bulbs purchased from a shop that is sourced from beyond our shores. Overseas garlic (you can tell because most supermarkets will state the country of origin and/or their roots will be entirely chopped off) poses a disease risk to our soils. Overseas garlic is normally treated with methyl bromide during fumigation and is also likely to have sprout inhibitors. How to Plant How to Plant Garlic Beds or Pots Depending on how much garlic you wish to grow and how much space you have, you might need to form a garlic bed. Garlic can also be successfully grown in pots, however avoid plastic pots where possible as it does not permit the soil to breath compared to clay pots. For pots they should be ideally be 50x50x50cm in dimension if growing only a few. A kiwi typical family (if there is such a thing?) might use 10-20 garlic bulbs per year. Depending on the type of garlic this means a family might need around three bulbs for planting with an average 6-8 cloves per bulb. However, some cannot get enough garlic to eat and might consume 100+/year thus needing at least 10-15 bulbs to divide into 100+ cloves to plant in their garlic bed. Check out the garlic planning diagram to determine how many plantable cloves for each type of garlic. If you wish to only grow a small number of cloves then you could just find a small pocket in your vegetable garden to poke them in. It is worth putting a few sticks into the soil to delineate where you planted them since they are in for a long time. If you have a dozen or more cloves then it is worth designating an area as a garlic bed. If growing in a free-draining raised bed there is no need to mound up the soil. If planting into a ground-level bed then consider raising the soil 20-30cm to ensure that the bed does not get waterlogged during the colder winter months or during those spring deluges that occur particularly up north. We grow ours on 30cm mounds, with the troughs for walking between rows filled in using wood mulch. We make our garlic beds no wider than a metre. This ensures that we can reach all parts of the soil from both sides when planting, applying organic fertiliser, removing scapes and during weeding. Spac ing T he more space you can give an individual clove the better. Wild garlic origins are from the cold and sparse highlands of Central Asia where there is little competition and thus garlic developed to only grow a few thin leaves. Spacing should allow the plant to maximise exposure to sunlight (> photosynthesis), root mass (> nutrient uptake) and air circulation (< risk of disease such as rust). The more space you give garlic the more sunlight and uptake of nutrients will occur from the soil. At Gourmet Garlic we have done several spacing trials and found that planting cloves only a few extra centimetres further apart makes a massive difference to plant health and bulb size. If you want to plant just a bulb or a couple worth of cloves then a short row or two can be planted in the garden bed beside other vegetables - keep in mind that garlic leaves can rise up to a metre tall and may shade other plants. While we are a small commercial grower, like the average home gardener we do not use machinery. Also like the home gardener we would love more room to plant garlic. W e plant our garlic cloves 12cm apart with 20cm spacing between rows. This gives us around 40 cloves per square metre. The generally accepted method is 10-15cm apart in rows 15-30cm apart. Ideally, we would like to have more room for them and space cloves further apart (even our trials tell us this) such as 20x20cm apart (25 cloves/square metre) but our garden space just like at home is at a premium. Our pathways between beds are 40cm wide allowing for a narrow walkway between beds to inspect the plants, undertake weeding, and remove scapes. If you have a lot of garlic to plant consider making a dibble hole jig. The jig will create several holes in the soil at the right soil depth across your row in one go. Ours is simply a narrow strip of wood just over a metre long, with five protruding bolts to make the row. On each bolt we have used a small strip of watering hose as a sleeve between the bolt head and timber. Our spacing and depth are shown in the diagram below. Depth The depth to plant cloves depends on your climate zone and the size of the clove. Those with mild winters barely have to poke the clove into the soil. This would mean the top of the clove sits only a couple of centimetres from the surface. Those with cool winters should plant with 2-5cm of soil on top. In cold climates, it is suggested to plant cloves 5-7cm below the soil surface to protect the clove from the winter extremes and to reduce the chance of frost heaving the clove to the surface. If the clove is large then consider placing it slightly deeper to allow for the longer length of the clove. It is not an exact science. Generally the top of the clove should have a covering of at least 2cm. If your soil is light then you might also sow deep as the roots have a tendency to push the clove upwards during winter and exposed them at the surface. If this happens carefully dig a minor pit beside the clove and put the clove deeper without disturbing the roots. Method This is a simple process. Make the holes for the cloves to the relevant depth. You could use your index finger to make hole and pop the clove in or use a jig. Ensure that the soil is moist, otherwise it will dry out the clove hampering growth and germination. Take a clove from an earlier cracked bulb. Holding the wider base, place the clove into the hole with the pointy end up. Once a row is completed gently apply soil to cover the holes. Early harvesting garlics like turban and asiatic garlic will take about a 1-2 weeks to show leaves, while mid-late harvesting garlics could take six weeks as they rely on cold soil temperatures to trigger leaf development. You can always check root and leaf development by gently digging down in the soil to check.

Become a garlic guru, growing bulbils and growing garlic true seed GARLIC GROWING GUIDE The ten steps of growing garlic Becoming A Garlic Guru Do you have a passion for growing garlic? If you can successfully grow bulbs from cloves (Level 1 - see below) then consider taking it to level 2 to successfully grow garlic bulbs from bulbils . To be a 'Garlic Guru' complete the first two levels, then try to grow garlic's 'true seed '. Growing garlic from true seed is a slower process than using cloves to propagate, but it allows growers to develop new garlic varieties and maintain genetic diversity in their crops. Garlic Guru Levels There are three levels to achieve. Each is a greater challenge and takes more time to achieve. Level 1 - Cloves (Entry Level) Follow our garlic growing guide to progress to the next level . You achieve Level 1 status once you have successfully: joined and contributed at least one post on the NZ Garlic Guru Facebook page; AND grown a bulb of any garlic group (ideally a group best suited to your climate) to at least XL grade (70mm+ width). Note: Elephant garlic is not garlic; AND gift the XL grade bulb to another gardener to grow - share the love! This goal may take between 1-3 years to achieve . Level 2 - Bulbils (Advanced) Learn how to grow bulbils by following the growing bulbil section. To achi eve this level you have to successfully: harvest bulbils* from your own garlic plant; AND plant the bulbils from your own crop; AND harvest bulbs that contain cloves that were grown originally from your own bulbils. *This goal might be a greater challenge in the Far North. This level may take between 2-5 years to achieve . Level 3 - True Seed (Garlic Guru) Persevere by researching the growing true seed section on this page. To achieve level 3 Garlic Guru status : join the True Garlic Seed Growers NZ Facebook page, AND harvest true seed* from your own garlic and video it; AND plant the true seed which grows into bulbs and video it; AND share your success and videos with the True Garlic Seed Growers NZ Facebook page *This goal might be an even greater challenge in the Far North. Level 3 while possible, may take a lifetime or possibly several lifetimes to achieve! Growing Bulbils Growing Bulbils Growing garlic bulbils is a medium-term goal. They are small secondary bulbs normally produced in th e flower cluster (umbel ) beside the flowers. In botany, a bulbil (also called a bulbel or bulblet) form on other types of plants and are defined as a secondary bulb located in the angle between a leaf and stem or in place of flowers such as with garlic. Bulbils are called offsets when full-sized, and if left fall to produce new plants. There are many good reasons to grow bulbils despite them taking 1-5 years (depending on the garlic type) as they: are a quick way of obtaining stock are economical than buying bulbs but are slower to develop reduce the risk of soil-borne disease revitalise bulb size and condition are great raw in salads, on pizzas or to spice up a meal The softneck garlic types silverskin and artichoke do not normally produce the scape flower stem nor bulbils. Also, the semi-bolting garlic types turban , creole and asiatic may not produce scapes in mild-winter areas. Thus some garlic will not form bulbils unless they are put under environmental stress. We are lucky here in the cold deep south, as most years we get some bulbils from all our garlic groups. Growing a garlic scape (without removing it) for most garlic groups will result in smaller bulb sizes. We discuss this in the section on scape removal . In brief, not removing the scape to try to grow bulbils will result in the bulb size being 10-30% smaller. Depending on the garlic group, bulbils take between 2-5 years to produce mature-sized bulbs containing cloves not just rounds without cloves. The rate of maturity depends on the climate, soils and bulbil size as each garlic group produces different sized bulbils. The larger the bulbil the quicker the formation of a good-sized bulb. Garlic Bulbil Guide Collecting Bulbils The quickest way of getting bulbils is to get them from a fellow garlic gardener or to buy them. Gourmet Garlic are the only NZ supplier of bulbils. They can be found in our online shop . Each year we sacrifice the size of some of our bulbs to produce bulbils for our interested garlic growers. When you are growing to produce garlic bulbils from your own plants, in year one (if your climate permits), grow a strongly bolting garlic such as porcelain , rocambole , standard purple stripe , marbled purple stripe or a glazed purple stripe . These are the most reliable garlic groups to grow bulbils from. Let the scape grow, and at harvest time remove the plant to cure much like a garlic bulb. It is best to cut off the scape at this time and store it separately in an open container, allowing it to to dry out of the sun and weather. This will ensure that any bulbils that come loose do not get trampled, mixed with others or lost as they cure. Store them in a dry cool spot in an aerated paper bag until planting time. Planting Bulbils Surprisingly, bulbils can be planted at the start of spring when daily temperatures reach around 18 °C . This reduces the chance of the bulbils scaping and shortens the time taken to produce large bulbs. However, some growers still recommend a cooling winter is best for bulbil growth. If planting in a mild/cool winter area, you may consider pre-cooling them before planting. Plant bulbils closer together than standard cloves, ideally in a separate area of the garden. These small plants will need a bit of care as weeds or other garden plants can shade them out. It is easy to mix them up with your standard crop - you don't want to lose track of these ones! You will need a little more room for the larger bulbil plants from asiatic and rocambole garlic types as they are from larger bulbils. In the first year prepare damp soil in a tray, pot, or in your garden bed and gently sprinkle the bulbils onto the soil. Put a light covering (mm not cm) of fine soil on top of them. Studies have reported that bulbils are more productive and winter-hardy than using standard cloves. Ensure that the soil does not dry out and that there is sufficient soil depth for them to grow roots (10cm+). Shoots will appear quickly, and after a few months in summer they will dry out. If scapes appear remove them to give the bulbil the best chance for bulb production. Harvest the small bulbil's bulb when the leaves dry out. Cure and store them just like any garlic bulb. At harvest the bulbil bulb will be a several times larger than the bulbil you planted. If you are growing from a large bulbil such as asiatic or rocambole you are likely to end up with a round bulb often with cloves. These large bulbil bulbs can be about 30mm wide. Medium sized bulbils normally produce rounds 20mm wide and the smallest bulbils from groups like porcelain , standard purple stripe and glazed purple stripe only form 10mm wide rounds. The following year plant the bulbil bulb just like a normal bulb. Be aware of the climatic zone you live in and use our planting page to know when to plant. Larger bulbils normally take two years to produce normal sized bulbs with cloves, while other groups might take another year or two longer. Growing True Seed Growing True Seed Growing garlic's 'true seed' is a long-term goal. It is something to aspire to. T here are probably less gardeners in the country that have managed to successfully get fertile garlic true seed from their plants than the number of cloves on a porcelain garlic bulb. So w hat is Garlic's True Seed? There is much confusion in gardening circles about what constitutes garlic seed. Visit an online auction or a grower's website and bulbs or cloves (and rarely bulbils) are referred to as ' garlic seed for planting'. This is not technically correct as these are all clones of the plant. True seed is the tiny black seed formed on the umbel flower head as a result of sexual reproduction. Some people may use the term 'seed garlic' to describe clones, while 'garlic seed' is true seed. Garlic seed was not recognised and widely available in modern era until the 1990's. For thousands of years widespread cultivation around the globe using cloves or bulbils to produce a bulb resulted in a decline of the plants' ability to sexually reproduce. Thus the most popular commercial garlic crops have lost their ability to bolt and form flowers. For most crops, like onions (which garlic seed looks similar to but is smaller than) when a cultivar produces a desirable trait such as a resistance to a disease, it can then be propagated asexually to produce clones. Likewise in nature. Random selection retains desirable characteristics to benefit the plant's survival. Absence of genetic renewal means garlic is not able to adapt to new conditions, threats or changing global climatic conditions. For the grower it also results in having to retain 10-25% of the bulbs for replanting rather than using seed. However, in the 1980's fertile garlic strains were collected in a small town near the Tien Shan mountains of Central Asia - the origins of wild garlic. These were primarily strongly bolting purple stripe garlic types such as standard purple stripe , marbled purple stripe and glazed purple stripe which are most genetically similar to wild garlic plus a limited number of porcelain and rocambole too. These collected plants managed to grow fertile true seed. This inspired growers to try growing garlic's true seed themselves . The garlic plant's umbel contains small individual flowers which are tightly packed in between bulbils. The bulbils compete for nutrients and light with the flowers which the bulbils generally out compete. When the umbel matures, the bulbils begin to fall off which offers more light for the flowers which have withered by this stage. While it is possible to get true seed without removing bulbils - there's a greater chance of growing true seed by removing the competing bulbils. When the scapes begin to curl, they can be cut and placed in a bucket of water. Some true seed growers do this instead of waiting for pollination or if there are pests, windy or wet conditions, if it's regularly too hot (>30 °C) or if there is a prolonged cold (<18 °C) period. The scapes will continue to grow and eventually produce bulbils. The bucket of water serves to keep the scapes hydrated and to encourage the growth of bulbils. After a few weeks, the bulbils can be harvested and planted to grow new garlic plants. This technique has a lower success rate. It's also important to know that garlic flowers are protandrous, meaning the male antlers release pollen a few days before the female stigma is ready. Thus they rely on other nearby flowers and pollinators to become fertile. The flowering period is about 1-3 weeks during which insect pollinators (bees, flies etc) can come in contact with the flowers and spread the pollen. It is also possible artificially pollinate using a fine paint brush. How to grow fertile Garlic Tru e Seed There is a series of steps that should be followed to get the best results in producing fertile true seed. Step 1 - Pick it Right Grow several strongly bolting garlic clove s in a cool to cold winter zone . You need a cooler climate to ensure the garlic creates a scape. Standard purple stripe garlic has the greatest potential success for true seed since it's the closest genetically to wild garlic. However the bulbils are some of garlic's smallest making it incredibly difficult to extract them. An easier option is using marbled purple stripe since they have medium sized bulbils compared to fine bulbils of the other purple stripes and porcelains. It has been suggested that the marbled purple stripe group is good also because they generally have a thicker scape or flowering stalk then other purple stripe garlic. Let the plant send up a scape. In order to prolong the plant's life continue to water and feed the plant to support its health. Step 2 - The Tricky Part Keep an eye on the scape and wait for it to uncoil and point towards the sky. It might be necessary to carefully cut the spathe open to expose the bulbils and flowers. Take care. Remove the bulbils without impacting the flowers as much as possible. This is a tricky and tedious task. Consider using tweezers to remove them as they are very tightly packed in a growing umbel. Removing the first bulbil ma y be the trickiest part of this process - this creates an initial gap. When pulling the bulbil up, try to extract it from its base and remove its entire length. There might be some flower causalities during the first few bulbil extractions. Step 3 - Mind the Gap Once the first few bulbils are removed and a gap is created in the umbel, try to get the rest of the bulbils out by rocking them towards the newly created empty space. Try not to crush the bulbils and flowers as you remove them. If there is a tricky spot, leave the plant for a few days and the bulbils will realign which will make it easier to remove them later along with any crushed ones. The aim is to keep as many flowers intact as possible. Step 4 - Keep Watch Keep watch for garlic seed - most fertile garlic types have purple anthers. It is possible to detect a fertilised flower because they will have swollen ovaries which will yield seed at maturity. Note that each ovary has three chambers, each part contains two ovules - so it is possible to get six seeds per flower. Seed is tiny. Tiny! It is black with an irregular grain shape similar to onion seed, but only half their size. It takes around a month and a half to two months for seed to be produced once pollinated. Extract the seed and consider applying a weak bleach treatment to the seed to reduce disease. Also consider pre-cooling before planting. Step 5 - Plant and Cross Fingers While growing true seed is quite an achievement, developing fertile true seed is the end goal. Most first-generation seed will be undersized and infertile (possibly slightly more than 10% will be viable). Later generations will have better fertility, and after several generations most seed will grow. After a few generations seed producing garlic will produce an astonishing 600 seeds per umbel. Plant true seed much like the bulbil planting process with only mm not cm of quality fine seed raising mix covering them. Use a spray bottle to water and control soil moisture early on in their development. If possible, grow them indoors in late winter to give them the best chance of survival and to ensure the largest possible rounds. It will take them a week to sprout (most viable seeds about a fortnight), while weak seeds might take a couple of months. If starting them indoors wait until they are hardy, then harden them off and plant the seedlings outside in large pots or into the ground. The first generation plants from true seed are likely to be weak and very slow growing. Keep your fingers crossed as they are at a higher vulnerability to disease than cloves or bulbils at this stage. It can take up to four months for the plant to get its first leaves. Some plants might have irregular growth but future generations will be stronger, having less bulbils and more viable seed. Occasionally, plants can flower in the first year, although typically it is the following year when they will produce a bulb which flowers. With sexual reproduction there can be much variation in future plants' growth. Some plants might become softnecks, others might have few or no bulbils or other interesting characteristics which our current clones never develop. From there it is possible to selectively breed the desirable traits ... exciting times! Good luck - please let us know if you are successful in producing fertile garlic true seed as this is certainly something to share with the expanding kiwi garlic-growing community.

All 10 Global garlic groups or types Global Garlic Groups There are ten recognised types of garlic around the globe. We have managed to collect one of each type to grow and to offer in our online store . Each garlic group differs in when to plant or harvest them, how long they store for, their ease of peeling and their flavour profile. Each of the ten types have a preference to a particular climate zone. Consider picking a few groups or try them all to see what works in your unique garden micro-climate. Try our garlic group picker to help decide which garlic to grow. NZ Garlic Climate Zones NZ Garlic Climatic Zones Climatically there are three main garlic zones in NZ. These are mild, cool and cold winter climates. We have placed each type of garlic into the broad range where they are most suited to grow. Cool winter areas have the most choice as most garlic types will grow adequately after acclimatising to the local micro-climate. Clicking on a type of garlic takes you onto another page for more information on each. The ten global garlic groups are: MILD WINTER COOL WINTER COLD WINTER Mild Climate Garlics MILD CLIMATE GARLICS These five garlics are the best performing for mild winter zones Creole Mid Season | Long Sto ring | 5-10 cloves The Flamb oy ant: this small one is hot, dresses in vibrant rosy clove skins, and is a real c rowd-pleaser Turba n Early Season | Short St oring |6-12 cloves The Earlybird: Likes to arrive early at the garden part y and prefers to be eaten first Asiatic Early Season | Med Storing |5-10 cloves The Oriential: this one enjoys the warm humid clim ate of the north Silverskin Late Season | Long Storing | 10-30 cloves The Keeper: A long storer that loves being braided, produces plentiful cloves, and is easy on the taste buds Artichoke Mid-season | Med Storing |10-20 cloves The Reliable: The best all-rounder, loving most climate zones, is happy in a braid and has a clean taste Cool Climate Garlics COOL CLIMATE GARLICS These five garlics are the best performing for cool winter zones Silverskin Late Season | Long Storing | 10-30 cloves The Keeper: A long storer that loves being braided, produces plentiful cloves, and is easy on the taste buds Artichoke Mid-season | Med Storing |10-20 cloves The Reliable: The best all-rounder, loving most climate zones, is happy in a braid and has a clean taste Standard Purple Stripe Late-season | Med Storing |8-12 cloves The Godfather: The easy-peeling garlic from which all other garlics originate ... best of all: this wild one's the sweetest Marbled Purple Stripe Late-season | Med Storing |4-9 cloves The Baker: An easy-peeler is know for its tastiness when roasted Glazed Purple Stripe Late-season | Med Storing |6-12 cloves The Dazzler - Has an easy-peeling glossy sheen of silver and gold ... it's a real head-turner Cold Climate Garlics COLD CLIMATE GARLICS These five garlics are the best performing for cold winter zones Standard Purple Stripe Late-season | Medium Storing |8-12 cloves The Godfather: The easy-peeling garlic from which all other garlics originate ... best of all: this wild one's the sweetest Marbled Purple Stripe Late-season | Med Storing |4-9 cloves The Baker: An easy-peeler is know for its tastiness when roasted Glazed Purple Stripe Late-season | Med Storing |6-12 cloves The Dazzler - Has an easy-peeling glossy sheen of silver and gold ... it's a real head-turner Porcelain Late-season | Med Storing | 2-6 cloves The Beauty: Large teardrop form, produces a few massive cloves, is at the top of its field Rocambole Late-season | Short Storing |7-14 cloves The Chef: Culinary perfection and renowned as the tastiest with a sweet nutty flavour

Garlic Growing Guide - Eating garlic GARLIC GROWING GUIDE The ten steps of growing garlic Eating One of the best things about growing garlic is having year-round home-grown garlic to eat. Historically, garlic growing cultures planted several types of garlic for home consumption not only for year-round use but also for different cooking styles. Separating Separating Garlic bulb and clove skins can be challenging to remove. Some garlic types are easier to peel than others. For example rocambol e has a loose clove skin (it does not store long), and most purple stripes are easier to remove than the tighter skins of some other garlic groups. Garlic Bulbs To break the cloves from the bulbs involves separation. Use your thumbs to pull the bulb apart. This might require some force and if using the entire bulb consider pushing down on the bulb using your heal of your hand. Take care not to tear the clove skins during this process. Garlic Cloves Clove skin separation is even trickier. Place a clove down sideways on a cutting board and press firmly with your hand or the side of a wide bladed knife to break the skin and snap the inner loose. This technique might cause some clove bruising. Otherwise consider pouring boiling water on cloves sitting in cold water which will make it easier to peel. A silicon tube garlic peeler which rolls between your palms with a clove or two inside is a cheap and effective tool that is widely available too. There are also a range of online videos of other techniques to try. We find the easiest cloves to peel by hand are porcelain cloves, closely followed by the strongly bolting hardnecks. Chemistry Garlic Chemistry Garlic has been used as medicine, a flavouring agent as well as a food for sever al millennia. Garlic bulbs are made up of nearly 60% water, 33% carbohydrates, 6% proteins and less than 1% of fats. They contain a small amount of ten types of sugars, as well as amino acids, minerals and vitamins. Garlic's most unique agent is associated with the organic sulphur compound that gives garlic it distinctive smell and taste. Sulphurs are known to be antibacterial and antifungal. I t was not until the 1940's that scientists discovered that the antibacterial properties in crushed garlic is allicin. It is not present in uncrushed garlic. Interestingly, scientists found the amino acid alliin which is present in the natural constituent of fresh garlic, when crushed releases an enzyme called alliinase which then converts alliin into allicin. Cooking and our stomach acids destroys allicin. Despite this crushing, chopping or slicing garlic for cooking, garlic releases a complex mix of reactions of active ingredients and health benefits. Using Using Garlic The different garlic groups are diverse as the countries cuisine which traditionally used garlic. They are as different as the difference between French, Asian, Italian, Russian or Spanish cooking styles and ingredients. Each of these countries, over thousands of years have shaped their provincial garlic to their specific cuisine. Garlic is versatile in the kitchen. The cloves can be eaten raw (although some types are very strong and pungent) and the best one to be used raw is the turba n group . This type in Europe is often called a 'summer garlic' as it is the first to be harvested ready for summer and is less oily and more watery. Turban's are often used raw in dips or rubbed into salads compared to other garlics which contain more natural oils which protect the garlic flavour when heated. Other milder garlics like standard and glazed purple stripe or rocamboles are also good raw. Garlics that are cooked or blanch ed garlics usually have a high oil content in the clove which protects the flavours during heating to make sauces, roasted smoked and put on the BBQ. Garlic can also be pickled with vinegar or dehydrated and made into a concentrated (1-3 x) powder or garlic salt. Depending how you wish to use garlic, the cloves can be used whole, chopped, sliced, shaved, crushed or even bruised. All of these techniques will release the alliinase enzyme to produce the sulphuric aroma. When g arlic is heated it breaks down alliin and gives garlic it s rich flavour. Baking whole bulbs or cloves has the least therapeutic effect, the least pungency but many enjoy the mildness that results from baking. Sautéed garlic can also bring out the aromatic flavours. Garlic can be cold or hot smoked as well as be frozen particularly as cloves. Also another way of eating garlic is as 'B lack Garlic'. This garlic is be made from standard garlic bulbs where they are heated for several weeks at a low temperature. It gives the garlic a caramelised umami flavour - it tastes weirdly nothing like garlic. Black garlic is not fermented (no bacteria or micro-organisms are at play) but uses the Maillard reaction to chemically alter the bulb with a reaction of between an amino acid and a reducing sugar. This results in a dark brown to black inner cloves and is like moist licorice. It's considered both sweet and savoury and is often used on crackers, in meals or pureed as a dressing. Other aspects of the garlic can also be used such as garlic sprouts which are immature garlic harvested early and look a bit like spring onions and have a more mild flavour. Scapes (flower stems) can be fried particularly good in stir fries. The c reole type are less fibrous making them ideal for scape pesto while marbled purple stripe and porcelain have thick scapes and are well-suited for grilling. Bulbils can be eaten unpeeled and raw and different types have varying skin thickness and heat profiles. They can be used to spice up a dish or sprinkled on cooked meal which adds a mild garlic flavour to pizzas. They also work for salads or other foods as a seasoning. Garlic rounds (uncloved bulbs) can also be used in the same manner as cloves. Flavours Garlic Flavours Each garlic group has different flavour characteristics. Turban's are a fresh eating garlic usually used raw in salads and dips since they are less oily , the flavour is destroyed and muted during cooking . Eaten raw they have a crisp savoury flavour, if sautéed they offer a nutty flavour while roasted are sweet, nutty with a caramelised flavour. Asiatic are best cooked in a stirfry or sautéed with a lasting strong nutty flavour offering good heat. Creole garlic generally has a hot, sweet and nutty flavour and these purple stripe garlic are also full bodied garlics. The are best sautéed, slow cooked or roasted, with a gentle sauté retaining heat, while more nuttier when crisp. The softneck garlics ( silverskin and artichoke ) generally are more simple to the palate and have a lack of depth of flavour and more vegetative character compared to the hardneck types. They are great for using in sweet dishes like Italian tomato receipes as they cut through the sweetness of the meal. These softneck garlics are best sautéed or slow cooked. The purple stripes of Standard Purple Stripe , Marbled Purple Stripe and Glazed Purple Stripe have an excellent taste and not as sweet as Rocambole . Some people prefer them over the sweeter types as their flavours are intense and complex. Glazed purple stripe is best eaten raw or in a stirfry. Standard purple stripe and glazed purple stripe are best sautéed, slow cooked or roasted to increase their flavours and increase caramelisation. Porcelains are best sautéed , slow cooked or roasted which softens their heat and brings out their richness. Rocambole garlic is considered to have the supreme garlic taste and is a favorite of chefs with its rich, complex and sweet flavours. It has a buttery and creamy texture which coats the mouth much like garlic butter . They are very versatile and can be used raw, sauté, slow cooked and roasted which some chefs describe as earthy, floral and certainly creamy. The colder the climate in which the garlic is grown the hotter the garlic tends to taste. Surprisingly, small bulbs well-grown in poor soils can be the best tasting and storing garlic.

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About how we grow garlic at Gourmet Garlic ABOUT US We are boutique garlic growers in the deep south. We love the varietal quirks so much that we wanted to help other garlic growers so they too could enjoy the unique flavours, shapes and gourmet garlic growing habits. Our Garlic We have grown garlic for our own use for many years in Kingston, Lake Whakatipu. The height of the Covid-19 pandemic gave us time to develop our spare residential section by building retaining walls, preparing the soil and raising growing beds and then growing our first commercial garlic crop. We have had some challenges. We thought it would be easy to source the 10 global garlic groups from a few suppliers around the country but it proved challenging in several ways. First of all, the demand for planted garlic was massive. So we struggled to find any bulbs in order to scale up our production. We found other kiwi gardeners loved planting garlic too. Secondly, we quickly found that suppliers only sell one or two types of garlic, generally the same, most commercially-viable softneck silverskin and artichoke garlic types. Thirdly, the nomenclature or the naming of the different types of garlic as they are all mixed up. Along with other confusing names, Russian Red and NZ Purple could be one of at least three different types depending on who was selling them. There is no way to identify them until you grow the bulbs and look for subtle indicators over a few years. We have standardised our garlic into the recognised ten global garlic groups to make things simple. We sourced much of our range from keen individuals that grow heirloom garlic. It took a few years to identify the types in order to build our special gourmet garlic sampler pack - the first and only such selection in the country. Our Plot & Ethos Being nestled in the southern mountains, at altitude with a constant cool lake breeze gives us the unique climate that helps us grow all the types of garlic - it has some similarities of the conditions wild garlic experiences in its homeland of Central Asia. Like most home gardeners, we grow all our garlic using hand tools on a small plot on our spare residential section. By living on the land and at this scale we can keep an eye on the crop by just walking a few paces from our door. We do not use machinery, and care for our garlic with more gentle hand tools. We grow our garlic to the highest quality possible in our climate zone. It's not easy to maintain all ten global garlic groups in one location. We grow our bulbs using organic principles with no artificial fertilisers, sprays or additives. We use fully compostable packaging and fillings where we can, so you can put them in your compost bin to help build your own soil. Unfortunately, due to importing soil from a community green waste, we got white rot in our soil. This decimates the garlic, and we stopped selling commercially. There is no organic solution, and it takes 20 years for the soil to recover naturally. We have decided to keep this website running, using the knowledge we gained to help others grow great garlic. We hope you will enjoy learning from our garlic growing guide as much as we have enjoyed building it - it's the best resource of information for growing garlic for NZ's unique climatic conditions. We have put a lot of effort into building and maintaining the garlic-growing guide. Please consider supporting us by following our social media links below and sharing our site with others. Happy garlic growing! Gary Patterson Gourmet Garlic NZ

Gourmet Garlics online shop for buying garlic bulbs, bulbils for planting Shop Due to a crop failure we will not be selling garlic this year (2024). Please consider subscribing for future crops, and use NZ's best garlic growing guide . Gourmet Sampler Our unique to NZ, full bulb range every global garlic group (10 types) each group's distinctive character a gift for garlic-loving gardeners try each for your micro-climate SOLD OUT $75 + freight Mild Climate Pack Half of the garlic groups: all mild winter group (5 types) distinctive character & flavours best for mild winter areas SOLD OUT $40 + freight Cool Climate Pack Half of the garlic groups: all cool winter bulbs (5 types) distinctive character & flavours best for cool winter areas SOLD OUT $40 + freight Cold Climate Pack Half of the garlic groups: all cold winter bulbs (5 types) distinctive character & flavours best for cold winter areas SOLD OUT $40 + freight Marbled Purple Pack Single Type: 5 x Marbled Purple Stripe garlic for cool/cold climates - see map mixed grades SOLD OUT $30 + freight Bulbil Packs Bulbil Packs (one type/pack) Choose a type of garlic bulbils you would like. The bulbil count varies depending on the garlic variety's typical yield (picture as guide ). Order one pack or order several. You choose and let us know what type when ordering. NZ's only supplier of garlic bulbils. economic garlic growing prospect increase stock health & bulb vigour bulbils take different times to grow SOLD OUT $20/pack + freight Sorry, we do not sell individual cloves. Cloves once cracked from the bulb, should be planted on the day or the following day. Once separated from the bulb, hibernation ceases and the clove roots begin to swell in readiness to expand into damp soil. If they are not planted, clove moisture loss will accelerate to the detriment of clove vigour once planted. Subscribe

What is gourmet garlic? WHAT IS GOURMET GARLIC? At Gourmet Garlic we celebrate the diversity of the different garlic groups. Each of the ten global garlic groups is unique - much like the varieties of other fruit and vegetables. The garlic's variety in preferred climates, the time to harvest and storage periods appeal to us. Some are easier to peel, and all have different flavour profiles and different nutritional properties. We love offering the full gourmet suite of garlic groups for our customers to try. Our garlic is home-grown, and as such we treat it like part of the family. Corny but true! We hand rear them, watching over each one in the colder months, giving them support and a feed at the right time to nurture them into full-sized mature bulbs. It's not easy to grow all global garlic groups in one location. Some garlic group bulbs prefer mild winters others like cool or cold winters. We try our best to grow the best garlic despite the various needs of each type of garlic. Commercially it would be more economic to grow softneck garlic in a warmer climate. This is because areas with milder winters get more cloves per bulb and softnecks produce 10+ plantible cloves per bulb. We stock the full range, where some garlics like porcelain produce on average four cloves per bulb so we have to keep 25% of our stock for replanting. So there are some extra cost of planting in a colder environment with less economic garlic types. It's gourmet because we: Offer all global garlic groups Only plant exceptional stock (large, firm & healthy) Provide generous spacing for healthy stock Grow bulbs naturally using organic principals (no artificial inputs) Harvest by hand to minimise damage and to quality check each bulb Cure plants whole (not cut) allowing the leaf energise bulbs Grade manually not by machine for more quality control Package using compostable boxes or bags including padding Track postage of all products safely to your home garden Only the best bulbs leave our home to start a new life with you

Standard Purple Stripe garlic type Standard Purple Stripe Group Late Season| Med Storing | 8-12 cloves The Godfather: The easy peeling garlic from which all other garlic groups originate ... best of all this wild one's the sweetest Standard Purple Stripe garlic grows best in cold climates with cold winters. It is considered the most closely related to the original wild garlic, from which all other garlic originated, before being classified into the ten garlic groups now recognised. This garlic group produces several tan coloured cloves and typically has a purple hue on it s bulb wrapper. It grows best in a cool to cold winter climate . Standard Purple Stripe is a strongly-bolting hardneck type meaning it sends up a flower scape with a solid stem which is not braidable. This garlic is considered to have a great all round taste that is rich, spicy, strong - a fusion of different flavours. Characteristics Clove & Bulb Appearance The bulb is normally a round shape, generally it i s white with purple hues on its wra pper (skin) which contains between 8-12 cloves. The cloves 'hug' the pseudostem . The bulbs have a single layer of cloves. Generally all cloves of a standard-sized bulb are of a size suitable for planting. The cloves are smaller than many hardneck garlics and have a long cresce nt shape, angular edges and a long tail/tip. The clove skin is a dull tan colour with a purple blush. The cloves are easy peeling. The easy peeling nature of this garlic makes them ideal in the kitchen, while they have a medium storage life of around 7-9 months after harvest. Bulbils Standard purple stripe is a hardneck garlic which sends out a scape (flower stalk) particularly in colder climates. They typically produce a large amount (80-140) of small cream to pink coloured bulbils . L eaves & Scapes Standard Purple Stripe garlic has a wide, floppy tipped green-yellow leaf . Scapes normally form as a 3/4 loop with a wide green-yell ow umbel . The juvenile garlic leaf is unusual in that it splays sideways laying flat to the soil. Some growers label their early growing form as being a bit 'alien' like.