For those of us who value the flavour and medicinal properties of garlic, I thought I’d share a few resources and suppliers who have seed garlic available this year.
Now is the time to order ‘seed garlic’ or bulbs that contain cloves for planting. You can prepare your soil ahead of time. This is a tutorial on growing garlic if you’d like to refer to it. I am ordering mine now as it quickly runs out. Last year was bad for many garlic growers I spoke to due to their seed garlic crops being wiped out from heavy rain. Best not to delay! Subtropical varieties for our local region include: Glen Large, Southern Glen, Italian Pink and Italian Red. There are a couple of other varieties I’m looking at to see how they grow in our climate including Ken Large and Robert’s Choice (hard neck Elephant garlic variety).
How much to buy? It depends on how much you eat/use and the space you have. It’s usually wise to put in 2-3 cultivars that have different harvest times – early, mid or late season starting our planting late this month or early March. This also spreads the risk in case of crop failure. Depending on the variety, each bulb has an average of 10-17 cloves/segments which can yield 15-25 bulbs/kg IF you grow it well. As a very general guide, a good harvest can yield 8-12 times the quantity of garlic planted. So, for each clove you sow, you get a bulb (expect some losses though) so always have a buffer and plant more than you need. It’s typical to harvest approx 60-80% usable garlic with the rest being undersized or damaged. Planting is usually 45-50 cloves/square metre if planted 15cm x 15cm apart.
Glen Large is hard to get this year so if you want this variety, consider ordering ASAP. See attached for plant profile information.
These are a few suppliers if you want to order:
- Burando Downs Garlic – Italian Pink. Small bulbs have approx 16 cloves with 33-35 bulbs/kg @ $25/kg. Medium bulbs have 16-17 cloves with 27 bulbs/kg for $30/kg. Australia Post fees for 1 kg is $12.90, for 2 kg $17.20 and for up to 4.5 kg $21.65. If you’re interested in saving on postage and combining an order, Lois is happy to organise a group order to one address.
- Wilamay Farms – certified organic Glen Large and Ken Large (similar flavour) certified organic. $35/kg. If you’re interested, Simon has limited stock left so get in touch ASAP. If you only need 500g or less of the Glen Large, you can order online rather than by phone.
- Eden Seeds currently have both Glen Large (Early Purple) and Giant Russian.
- The Seed Garlic Shop have a range of Subtropical varieties including Glen Large – $6.95/bulb. They will only be shipping from late March though. $12.50 flat rate postage. Southern Glen has already sold out.
- Another option is Elephant Garlic or Russian Garlic but it is not a true garlic. The flavour is much milder and cloves/bulbs much larger. An example of this is Robert’s Choice. 5-6 up to 10-12/cloves in a bulb depending on the size. These are a HARD NECK variety that takes much longer to grow. Plant in March and harvest around end of November.
When to Sow?
I sow my garlic in harmony with a root crop day using the perpetual Moon Calendar in the waning moon phases. If you’re interested in my experiment results of taking pot luck with timing vs moon planting, check out my video. The garlic bulbs were incredibly different and for me, working with Nature’s timing is a no-brainer!
If you’re wondering whether to grow your own garlic, read the attached toxic cocktail of what is done to supermarket/retail garlic. This wonderful superfood and its medicinal properties are destroyed if you buy cheap imported Chinese garlic.
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