garlic

Hi im going to try to grow the kind of garlic you can buy from the delhi,its small and not strong , its sold in a wonderfull mediterarian (i think) oil and you need a mortgage to buy it, hense growing it myself etc,,has anyone any ideas which garlic to try and has anybody got any ideas on the oil contents they use, i know its not a cooking info prog but really would appreciat any help at all,,,good luck Alan4711

have searched web for mild garlic bulbs (mediteranian)  came back with Italian Purple garlic also known as Gambino... it is mild & when I want to put in oil RAW I just use olive oil.. often doing this same thing with any peeled garlic clove it flavours your oil for cooking... can`t beat garlic..good luck

I bought a garlic bulb from the local shop and its growing madly everywhere.I am afraid I use it for gardening purposes rather than eating.

I had quite good results with garlic this year. I planted 'Marco' bought from the GC around end Sept early Oct last year. They over wintered well and I havested the first half around June when some of the leaves died off a bit. These were well split into cloves but not very big and quite mild so I think they might have been ideal for the 'deli garlic' you are asking about. The remaining bulbs I left for another 4-5 weeks and the swelled nicely to decent sized bulbs and cloves but again were quite mild.

I dont know if the mildness was due to the weather conditions or if the variety is actually like that tho.

nice one thanks verymuch for all the im sorting out a garlic to growbut im told just buyone from the supermarket and use that to grow however when i looked in the seed catalogues they cost ten times as much WHY ,anyway im still trying to find all the stuff  in the oil part of it ,right many thanks all good luck Alan4711 

I've tried growing garlic from the supermarket in the past and they haven't made good sized bulbs. This afternoon I planted Marco's cloves at the allotment and am really hoping for a decent crop, pickled garlic is my aim for next year (it's also delicious).

If there's an Unwins GC near you Alan they have a decent enough selection of garlic bulbs to choose from this year. If you order any of the seed catalogues (Suttons, T&M etc) they will have a wider variety and also details of which are more mild than others.

To 4711 -be very  careful about storing garlic in oil. Commercial products are treated by acidification to prevent the possibility of Botulinum toxin being generated in the stored product. Simply putting garlic cloves into olive oil may result in the production of this toxin which is very hazardous to health. Advice is usually to store in vinegar rather than oil, or if you must have home-made garlic oil, just make a small amount for use  right away. You should find lots of advice online about this.

Garlic is pricier from the garden centre since that is designed for planting out. Garlic in supermarkets may have been stored in a way that will prevent it growing well or it may not be suited for the British climate.If you do grow some garlic maybe try the varieties that store well (usually termed hard necked). After harvest I keep the garlic in an airy cool place and find that it lasts from August right through to about May the next year. Then you can get lovely garlic whenever you want and use it any way you like!

I've been growing Germidour for a couple of years, which has done well. It over-winters up here in the Pennines (where it's reliably cold and wet...), and is a nice mild variety.

As imcg says, you really should not try to preserve garlic in oil at home. Commercial producers have to put preservatives/acidifiers in, as botulinum is unnoticeable, and potentially fatally toxic. There are other ways to preserve garlic, but in oil isn't one to try at home!

With regard buying growing garlic, rather than food garlic -- food garlic may have been treated with chemicals/etc to prevent it sprouting (ie, to store it longer in the shop), and may not grow as well.

I can also recommend elephant garlic, which is great fun, and produces huge mild cloves!

I'm afraid you get what you pay for! Price may seem high, but when split into cloves and price divided, it looks a good buy. Suggest Isle of Whyte Garlic Farm for garlic bulbs. Bought from there when on holiday and had good results the following year, despite getting  blight! (in Hampshire). Bought the following year from them at Hampton Court Flower Show and again good results, in Midlands this time. Then decided to use a supermarket one and results not good, so I'm back to doing it 'properly'!

Read the description of variety to select the one that suits you, then you get, hopefully, the sort you like. Happy growing!

Remember that whatever type of garlic you grow,keep some of the best bulbs back to use to grow the following year.Your "own" garlic will grow best in your particular situation.Obviously do the same things with beans,peas and even tomatoes

wow thats a lot of good advise,i had heard of the danger of making garlic oil so make as needed seems best and use it straight away,so we will try a couple of catalogue ones and an Elephant one for fun many many thanks for all that advise AND  has anybody tried Rosemary oil it smells nice but the Rosemary doesnt soften in the oil ,quite strange as i expected it to soften and blend into the oil to use on roast spuds  etc ,any other advise on different herbs to grow and put into oil its all appreciated i assure you.good luck all

Alan4711

Hi Alan4711 - you're very welcome! I find majority of gardeners are a pretty friendly lot and are happy to share their knowledge and experience in response to questions asked.. I've been gardening for more years than I care to remember and have always found folks really helpful.

If you work out how many cloves you get from a single bulb, then the price doesn't seem quite so bad! And you have next years' cloves to plant out 'for free' so to speak!

Rosemary is a mediterranean plant and as such is a tough old bird, so that's why it doesn't soften I think.

Experiment with any herb you fancy! Happy gardening!

I agree with Ian4602 about the elephant garlic....I grew it this season for the first time and wow! it was fantastic.  Large bulbs with a lovely mild flavour.  Have saved some cloves to replant.  

weve put aside a raised plot at he allotment for herbs its a fairly good top soil iv put in, but Monty,s on tv looked very light free dryish soil how do i lighten up my soil, iv not put any thing into it yet  and will the garlic be ok with the herb soil when i do get it right any advise for me

good luck ALAN4711

Mediterranean herbs like it well drained and not particularly fertile, which is why Monty was re-using tomato borders in the greenhouse, and had previously had them potted in gravel-rich soil.

By contrast, I think garlic (elephant and normal) like quite rich ground.

The difference, I suppose, is that for herbs, you want concentrated oils, etc, and a minimum of wet, lush growth: for garlic, you want nice plump bulbs.

nice one ian4602 all well noted just what i needed to know many thanks for that cheers all

Alan4711

i had a great crop of elephant garlic this year by replanting last years bulbs vert large and tasty