The cloves I love
Monty Don grows two very different types of garlic for his table – and both have had their best year yet
MY garlic – and I suspect yours too – has loved this year. A very cold winter did it no harm at all. In fact, garlic must have a period of exposure to cold temperatures in order to form good roots and proper cloves. In practice, this means about six weeks below 10ºC – which is one good reason to plant in autumn rather than late winter.
The cool, wet spring encouraged good foliage and then it had a lovely long bake, which meant good bulbs and very good drying of them after harvest. In fact, this is the first year I can recall drying my garlic entirely on the surface of the soil with not a drop of rain from when I lifted it to when I put it away to store four weeks later.
I only grew two varieties this year: ‘Sprint’, which is an extra-early hardneck type (more of which later), and elephant garlic, which, truth be told, is not a garlic at all but a member of the leek family. But elephant garlic looks like garlic, smells like garlic and tastes like garlic – it’s just two or three times bigger than most bulbs and, surprisingly, much more subtle in taste.
There are two types of garlic – hardneck and softneck. The garlic you buy in shops is almost always softneck – mainly because it stores better and the soft, pliable necks can be attractively plaited. But hardneck varieties, which have a rigid stalk, crop earlier, do better in very cold conditions and have a milder, more subtle flavour. However, they rarely store right through the year, so a combination of both types is advisable. Just remember that the stalk of the hardneck garlics must be removed before harvest.
Softneck varieties tend to have a hotter flavour than the hardnecks and there is a much wider range of varieties to choose from. I have successfully grown ‘Cristo’, ‘Thermidrome’, ‘Printanor’, ‘Moraluz’ and ‘Germidour’.
I have tried storing garlic hanging in plaits from the rafters and loose in bunches, but have found that the best and most spaceefficient method is to let them dry thoroughly, then remove all but a stub of the necks, cut back the roots without removing the basal plate, clean off any papery or soiled outer skin and store in a basket in a cool, dark place. This way hardneck keeps until early spring and softneck for about a year.
Elephant garlic is now something I consider to be essential because the huge cloves grow well, store well and taste very good indeed. Each one is the size of an orange segment, but for all its scale it is distinctly delicate compared to some of the more powerful garlic varieties. Because it is so much bigger than ‘normal’ garlic, it should be spaced a little wider – about a foot between plants. Like true garlic, it is extremely good for you, helping digestion, lowering blood pressure and boosting the immune system. I’m deeply suspicious of so-called ‘super foods’ but if they exist then garlic comes very high up in that list.
Garlic grows best in full sun and when it can spread its extensive roots down into free-draining but organically rich soil. Prepare the ground with garden compost, raking it to a fine tilth. Plant the cloves in rows – making sure you have the pointed ends facing up – about 2.5-5cm deep and about 15-20cm apart. I then cover the area with 2-3cm of garden compost. This both protects the growing shoots (and effectively makes your planting a little deeper, which is never a bad thing) and enriches the soil. Keep them weed-free and water well in spring as the foliage is growing.