Prairie Gardens

Garlic

Garlic is an excellent winter hardy perennial plant to grow in your garden. We have been experimenting with hard-neck varieties on our farm – and they 100% survive our winters, and grow to large bulbs by August! Garlic is pretty easy to grow, and has few pests or diseases.

Garlic Harvest Fest on August 12-13, 2023
Check back soon for details on our upcoming Garlic Harvest Festival!

Order Garlic Online - Available Varieties - Growing Garlic - Harvesting Garlic

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Seed Garlic – Red Russian
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Baby Garlic
$15.00 Add to cart

Prairie Gardens Garlic Varieties

Bogatyr garlic is intensely hot when raw and is used by coarsely chopping, mincing, and pureeing and this will release oils providing an even sharper flavor than slicing or leaving whole. Bogatyr garlic is good for roasting and sautéing. Roasting is the most popular method as it enhances the complex flavor profile. It can also be combined in soups to add a richness and pickled to create a pleasing tangy, bite. Pair Bogatyr garlic with rich ingredients such as cream, olive oil, starchy pasta, grilled steak, roasted meats, and seafood. It can also be used in hummus and pesto and paired with acidic fruits and vegetables. Bogatyr garlic will keep up to ten months when stored in a cool, dry place. Refrain from storing in the refrigerator as it will induce sprouting.

An heirloom garlic variety from Georgia (the country, not the state), Chesnok Red has purple to red stripes on the skin that is preferred for cooking, due to its mild yet excellent taste and easy-to-peel cloves. The Chesnok Red also stores very well for a hardneck garlic. Not surprisingly, this is probably the most powerful garlic for use in herbal medicine due to its high allicin and alliinase contents (the compounds responsible for garlic's health benefits). Great for herbal remedies as well as baking (rich and sweet flavor), stews and raw. Medium heat.

Experiencing this German Red is like sitting in a deep, luxurious Lazy Boy; you don't want it to end. The soft sulfurs and rich aromas make you deeply inhale and swirl the flavors around in your head, just because you can... without suffering undue bite or heat. A revelation for those unfamiliar with what real garlic can be, and a garlic powder lover's dream. Cloves: Averages 8-12 cloves and, like any Rocambole, you can expect some doubles and triples in there. Skins peel with exceptional ease and are light brown in color. A "middle of the road" Rocambole with an apple-like snap and aromatic character. Cloves practically peel themselves and bulbs are typically large.

Produces large bulbs, about 9 centimeters in diameter, with 4 to 6 large cloves wrapped around a hard, central stalk. The bulb is covered in bright, ivory white papery skins. Each clove is loosely covered by an easy-to-peel whitish-tan skin with purple striping. In colder climates the clove wrapper color will be a deeper red. German White garlic offers a strong garlic flavor with a long-lasting heat that softens when cooked.

The most widely grown of garlic varieties. It is a great favorite and known for its robust, well-rounded, true garlic flavor. Its raw heat is nicely balanced by a deep and rich flavor, with sweet undertones. It’s excellent in any dish where the object is to showcase the garlic flavor. It is also great for roasting. Rocamboles have loose skins and are easy to peel. Bulbs can be large and characteristically have 8-12 cloves. The bulb wrappers usually have red, pinkish and purplish colours, and when harvested the cloves are encased in a reddish-brown skin. Rocamboles are attractive plants and have broader leaves than Porcelains, but do not grow as tall. Their only downside is that they do not store as long as Porcelains. Ukrainian - A large, hardy robust garlic. 9-10 cloves per bulb. Early harvesting. Short storing. Full flavored and spicy with a warm rich aftertaste. A deep full garlic flavor.

A hardy porcelain variety of garlic, meaning it has silky white exterior wrappers. The cloves themselves have a reddish brown or sometimes slightly purple skin. Music has large, flavorful bulbs and grows dependably in most climates. It has medium pungency, not as strong as Russian Red but stronger than Chesnok Red and can store for months without losing any flavor or aroma. Like wine, Porcelains beg to be spoken of in metaphor and earthy comparisons, "A skosh of oak with a lingering hint of thyme and chestnut." The cloves are always large and few per bulb, making them a good choice for those who like copious amounts of garlic with little peeling.

Small in size, averaging five centimeters in diameter or less, the bulbs are round with a bulbous end that tapers to a hard, central stalk. There are numerous layers of thin, white, papery skin that can be solid or striped with pink or purple, and the skin becomes a deeper purple with each layer that is stripped away. There are 5-8 plump, medium-sized cloves and each clove is encased in a hard, red-brown skin. When peeled open, the clove is smooth and creamy white. Siberian garlic is pungent and hot, but not overwhelming, with a slightly musky aroma. When cooked, it becomes delicate, mild, and creamy with a sweet aftertaste.

Garlic is pretty easy to grow, and has few pests or diseases. Because the bulb is located so close to the surface, we cover ours with straw for the winter, and use only shallow cultivation methods to keep the weeds from growing. Ideally – choose a place in your garden that is as free of weeds as possible.

Growing Garlic

We plant our cloves by mid October. Garlic planted too late in the fall will not have good root growth and will get off to a slow start in the spring. The site where the garlic is planted should be in full sun and in a light, humus-rich soil that drains well and is not too fertile. Too much nitrogen causes heavy top growth and, especially in the spring, delays bulb formation. Our Alberta soils tend to be neutral (PH 7) or slightly higher – which is perfect!

Seed garlic comes as a whole garlic bulb. We break apart the bulb, being careful not to peel off any of the skins. Plant the individual cloves 10cm (4 inches) apart and about 5cm (2 inches) deep with the pointy side up.

Our cold winter weather means you should plant deeper so the developing plant is not uprooted during the winter. In the spring – keep a close eye on them as the greens start to grow – in early May. To maximize bulb size, cut off the scapes (the curling tip) just as they begin to curl. We pickle them – they are like a garlicky pickled bean and are excellent as a pickle in Caesars or on a charcuterie board!

Garlic matures from early to mid August. Avoid watering for a few weeks before harvesting to allow the bulbs to cure.

Harvesting Garlic

When To Harvest Your Garlic:

a) Count the leaves! The sixth leaf down is starting to brown on 50% of the crop. Each leaf is a wrapper leaf around the bulb. Bulbs need 5-7 layers of wrapper leaves to store well.

b) There are air spaces between the round stem of hardneck garlic and the cloves, visible when bulbs are cut horizontally. Don’t leave it in the ground too long – this space continues to widen and the wrapper leaves around the bulb start to stain and fall apart – so your bulbs won’t hang together.

Once it’s time to harvest

1. If the soil is very dry, water the night before. Very hard soil can damage the bulbs.
It’s important not to leave garlic in plastic buckets for long. Plan for 15 minutes per 5 gallon bucket to dig garlic and 15 minutes per bucket to hang it up. If the bulbs sweat – it is not so good.
Treat the bulbs like fragile, sun-sensitive eggs, as bruised bulbs won’t store well. Don’t bang, throw or drop them.
Carefully loosen the bulbs with digging forks, without stabbing them. Pulling on unloosened garlic damages the necks, and they won’t store well.
If they have a lot of soil on the roots, use curled fingers to “brush” soil out.
Try not to rub or pick at the skin. Bulbs need several layers of intact skin to store well. 5 to 7 layers are ideal.
Put the bulbs gently into buckets or crates angled to shade the bulbs. Air above 90F can cook garlic bulbs, sun can scorch them. Do not hang them in the greenhouses to cure – air temps get over 100F.
Don’t wash the bulbs, no matter how dirty. They need to dry, not get wetter. Dirt will dry and drop off later, or can be gently brushed off if bulbs are not clean enough for market.
Keep bulbs in the shade while harvesting, and take to the shed or barn for drying.

Try to avoid puncturing the bulbs when digging them out. Remove any dirt by hand, leaving as much of the skin intact as possible. Cure the bulbs in a single layer in a warm spot for 1 week to 10 days. Then clean them off again and cut off the stems and leaves of the hardneck varieties.

Store in a cool, dry, well-ventilated space. Do not store in the refrigerator. Refrigeration will induce sprouting, changing the garlic’s texture and flavour.

Set aside your best bulbs for planting in the fall. Use any damaged bulbs first, Store the best.

Garlic

Seed Garlic – Red Russian

Baby Garlic

Prairie Gardens Garlic Varieties

Growing Garlic

Harvesting Garlic

When To Harvest Your Garlic:

Once it’s time to harvest

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