Every spring when I see garlic scapes at the Farmers’ Market, I slap my forehead wondering how I could forget again to plant garlic. Garlic, like Brussels sprouts, has a 6-month growing season. But unlike Brussels sprouts, which I see at the market when I’m gathering my other spring and summer crops, the garlic goes in when I’m cleaning up the gardening in preparation for the winter. Specifically, it’s planted four weeks before the ground freezes.
This year, I put the date on my calendar. September 24th: Plant Garlic. Thankfully, I received an email reminder from Seeds of Change to order my garlic seeds.
Garlic bulbs grow from the previous season’s cloves. But, you can’t just pick up a bulb from the local market. Not all garlic will sprout. Nowadays, much of the supermarket garlic is bred to not sprout. And most likely it is not organic. So, I accept that I will order garlic “seed” on-line. That was an easy decision.
Hard Neck vs. Soft Neck
The hard neck garlic produces the scape – the garlic flavored green shoot that sprouts up before the bulb is mature. The bulbs, once harvested, can be stored up to six months.
The soft neck garlic doesn’t produce the scape, but they have a longer storage life – up to one year.
Beyond that, there are about a dozen varieties of each. Purple skin, white skin, large bulb, small bulb. Spicy, mild. Suitable for warm climates, cold climates. And it’s unclear if I’ll actually get what I order… Seeds of Change does not guarantee quantities of any variety, so I threw a dart to the wall to decide.
I ordered one “unit” of soft neck and one “unit” of hardneck. Each unit has 3 bulbs, totally approximately 20-30 seeds. I'll be safe of vampires next summer. Stay tuned…
For more tips on growing garlic, go here.
And to get in the mood for garlic, here’s a variation on the classic Spanish Garlic Soup.
Garlic Soup with Romesco
12 + garlic cloves
8 slices bread
1/4 cup olive oil
8 cups chicken stock
3 tbs. sherry fino
3 eggs
2 tbs. cream
salt and pepper to taste
1. Heat oil in a large pan. Add garlic and cook until it begins to brown. Remove.
2. Fry bread in oil. Set aside.
3. Return garlic to pan, add chicken stock and sherry. Simmer for 20 minutes.
4. Puree.
5. Beat eggs with cream. Slowly pour a ladel of soup into egg mix. Whisk into remaining soup. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Heat to just below simmer. Garnish with Romesco and Parsley
Romesco
1 red peppers
1 hot pepper
1 shallot, diced
1 garlic clove,
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tomato
1/4 cup almonds
balsamic or red wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
1. Seed peppers and cut into quarters. Cut tomato into quarters.
2. Put all ingredients, except vinegar, in a pot. Roast until peppers begin to brown.
3. Drain oil and reserve. Puree remaining ingredients. Drizzle in oil. Adjust seasoning with vinegar, salt and pepper.
That extra loving touch: In a skillet, add 1/4 cup olive oil. Fry almond slices, garlic slices and parsley leaves. When garlic begins to brown, drain on a paper towel and season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish crouton with crispies.