Last October, we planted over 4,000 garlic bulbs. It took us roughly 2.5 days and we had help from a team of over 40 volunteers from The Challenge and a team from Reed Business.
We really appreciate their help, as it was such a big task. Desipte some fears of disease through the season, the garlic has shown good signs of growth. We are now almost ready to harvest the early purple at the beginning of June and the rest until the end of July. We can store the Iberian and Solent up until Christmas, ensuring homegrown local garlic is available until the end of the year.
We are growing four varieties of garlic, they all come from the famous Isle of Wight garlic farm which is the centre for UK garlic:
Lautrec Wight
Harvested in June: white skinned, pink cloved, from near toulouse, South Western france, held by the French to be the best tasting of all french garlic. Apparently it has a slightly nuttier flavour.
Early Purple Wight
Harvest in June: large purple bulbs. This garlic is originally from china and is best consumed green (skin not dried) for a gentle mild flavour with a tender stem. This garlic is great for stir frys – the bulbs can be eaten whole with the stems. The leaves can be used as you would a leek, a spring onion, good in pasta, pesto & chopped into salads.
Iberian Wight
A large flat white garlic with purple stripes, originated in south west spain.
Solent Wight
Harvest in July: a very robust garlic, large dense white bulbs with a slight subtle nutty flavour. Tends to melt when cooked. A good grower and a strong, hardy plant – giving us a good chance for a successful crop. This garlic retains its flavour with cooking.
And here it is, our garlic crop – almost ready to harvest:
