Page 11 - Simply Vegetables Autumn 2023

Growing Elephant Garlic
GRAHAM BRICKSTOCK
I was first introduced into the world of growing Elephant Garlic by two
of my fellow NVS members a few years ago when they both kindly gave me some cloves. Elephant Garlic although both smelling and tasting mildly of Garlic it is in fact a member of the Leek Group. You can grow plants that individual cloves can weigh over 60 grams each and
if you want to buy cloves for planting later this year, they can cost over £28 per kilo.
Anyway, down to how to grow this versatile vegetable I plant my individual cloves in mid to late October some
7 – 10cm (3-4 inches) deep and 15 – 23cm (6-9 inches) apart. To encourage growth a small amount of Growmore can be inserted into the planting hole with the clove placed on top. If you have heavy soil a small amount of grit in the bottom of the planting hole will help to prevent rotting as this plant likes light soil. The shoots will appear above the soil some 4-6 weeks after planting and a cold spell will help them grow. As the daylight hours increase from February onwards your plants shoot should now be some 15 – 25cm (6-10 inches) tall. This is the time to apply more fertiliser on the surface of your soil. I find that the plants like pelleted chicken manure although other fertilisers will also help the plant grow.
The central stem of the Garlic called a scape will be increasing in height and will attempt to produce a flower, before this happens cut the top of the stem off so this prevents flowering, and the plant will produce larger cloves. The scape can be cut off about 15cm (6 inches) from the ground and eaten raw, boiled, mashed, or fried and taste mildly of Garlic. The plants green growth
will start to turn
yellow by early June, thus indicating that it has reached maturity and ready for harvesting. Take care when digging the plants up as if you get your spade too close to the cloves underground you can damage them. If the ground is dry, try watering it well as this will help by making it easier to dig the plants. Once removed from the ground you may notice some small odd, shaped bulbils hanging from the base of the cloves. Leave these until the plant has dried and then remove them. Dry the plants out by hanging in the dark and cold as this will help to prevent the outer skin from breaking and then you might have produced a plant that can be entered in the any other vegetable class at your local show.
To prepare the plant for a show trim the roots off at its base and cut the stem down to about 10 – 15cm (4-6 inches) and good luck. I have over
the last few years produced individual cloves taken from plants for resowing the following year of up to 60 plus grams. The bulbils can be grown on
but need to be replanted in the ground for two years before they produce a stem so need marking where they are planted. The third year they will produce small cloves and by their fourth year produce a sizeable plant and cloves. Since you will probably produce a lot of cloves too many to use in the kitchen
it does not seem worth growing the bulbils on. Once the show season is over, I split the plants apart and keep the largest cloves as seed for growing the following year. If you require any further information or would like some cloves, please contact me on e-mail grahambrickstock@outlook.com
magazine? Firstly, some very good recipes for what to do with all your surplus tomatoes from Joao Esteves and Marion Neden provides the recipe for the dessert with an orange and potato drizzle cake. Just in case you are having trouble growing tomatoes there are two articles on growing them, one by a new contributor Ken Lumby and we have another new contributor
in Andy White, both are very welcome. Michael Gordon has penned an article on reviving the local show, something that may need doing more going on the number of shows that seem to have disappeared since Covid.
Adrian Baggaley has sent an article on pears which is well worth a read especially if you intend to order some new trees or are thinking of growing some pears which are far better eaten straight off the tree rather than brought in a shop. To add a bit of culture (other than horticulture!) to the magazine Nigel Ball has sent in two poems. I have typed a couple of articles but will not comment on them as I am not sure which will be included as this depends on the space available and this will depend on any late articles!
This I think is my longest Kelvin’s Comments, partly owing to the space available (so to avoid these in the future please send in some articles and / or letters) and partly owing to old age! I hope you find something of interest, don’t forget to order your seeds and enjoy the late autumn / winter.
Simply Vegetables 11