As we’ve just added garlic to the optional extras you can buy on our Farm Shop page, we thought we’d share some information about it for those who like to get to know their food a bit more intimately.
What we’re selling is all grown here on Sutton Community Farm (no Chinese imports here), but is a French variety called Toulouse Wight, or allium sativum ophioscorodon – hardneck. They’re lovely, with white skin and pink cloves, and come from near Toulouse in SW France, and French gourmands regard them as the best for flavour.
They are the most versatile ‘hardneck’ variety – so versatile that they can be planted in autumn or early spring – though as they don’t like it too wet, they’re better for the south of England than the rest of the country.
For the growers among you, it’s worth knowing that hardneck garlic produces a flowering stalk, which is known as the ‘hardneck’. You can snap this off the plant as soon as it appears, which has two advantages: first, you can use it in stirfries. Second, it can cause the bulb still in the ground to double in size. Garlic bonanza!