Topic: Elephant garlic flowering?

[artichoke]

I haven't grown elephant garlic before. All mine are enormous and healthy looking, but all sending up flower buds. Is this normal, or will the bulbs deteriorate like leeks and onions?

I have also cooked with an experimentally dug up one, and sliced some into salad, and am slightly disappointed that it barely has any flavour at all, let alone one of mild garlic. I know it's related to the leek, but I'd rather have leeks......

[xena]

Hi

I am also growing it this year and although ours are not flowering i do know that this variety of Garlic is milder than the more common smaller types. Sorry can't offer advice about the flowering.. i know that they are usually harvested July onwards :)

[goodlife]

Elephant garlic does flower readily and it is totally normal ..and doesn't affect for the end result..and you can eat the scapes like you can with garlic.. ;D
If your EG doesn't flower then you just get one large clove it is not going to develop individual cloves..but it still edible..
I don't bother with EG myself..I have grown it but garlic is garlic and and EG is just something a bit of that direction.. ::) Nothing wrong with it otherwise..ok for soups.. ::)

[chriscross1966]

I'm going to let mine flower and set
1: Cos the bees on the plot love alliums
2: SO I can see if I can get some seed, can you imagine how big the round would be off an EG?

chrisc

[Robert_Brenchley]

I think you get bigger bulbs if you take the flowers off. I've never let mine bloom.

[Vinlander]

Three things:

Firstly, EG will seem very mild if you are a real garlic addict (it's strong to milquetoast palates!), so you need to eat it is as a veg rather than as a herb/spice - definitely the best way for you is to roast it whole. Delicious.

Alternatively if you use big "onion quantities" in a dish then you have replaced both onions and garlic and will produce a similar but subtly different result.

Secondly, in my experience it is easier to grow than onions and less prone to white rot - so using big quantities as above is a no-brainer.

Thirdly, the flowers definitely don't make a huge difference to the yield, so you might as well enjoy them - bigger, brighter purple and much prettier than any other edible allium - and a lot tougher than 90% of the ornamental (but useless) alliums. They have lasted 10 years in my garden so far whereas the ornamentals rarely last 3...

Cheers.

[artichoke]

Ah, thanks everybody. Will eat some scapes and look forward to beautiful flowers and seeds on the others.

[shirlton]

Took ours off yesterday to get the bigger bulbs.We like the mild flavour of the elephant garlic

[Jayb]

I tend to take most of the flower stalks off, but I haven't noticed much difference, perhaps better to leave for the bees.(I'm not a hundred percent sure on what they might cross with, so removed them as saving seed from other alliums).

I agree they are no substitute for garlic, but I love them in their own right, my fave roasted with veggies or around a roast meat yummm.

[galina]

Elephant Garlic or Garlic pesto. 

Cut flower stalks, aka scapes,  whilst they are still young and tender, mince or blend together finely.  Mix with olive oil, a bit of salt and some nuts.  Pine nuts are traditional for pesto, but others will do.  Blend to a fine paste and use like ordinary basil pesto.  Delicious!

Needs to be stored in the fridge or frozen.   

[Jayb]

Sounds scrummy, just need some scapes  ;D

[1066]

I've left one of ours to flower, just to see what it will be like. and yes they are milder but as others have said great roasted. Only really grow them cos OH loves them!!

[realfood]

Elephant garlic is one of my favourites to eat. Superb in stews, mince, baked,etc., with a pronounced flavour all of it's own. I am always being pestered by other plotters to let them have some of mine to try.
I think that taking off the flower head increases the size of the bulb, though I leave one or two as they are so pretty.
I find that along with leeks, it seems to have some resistance to white rot.