Allotments 4 All
Produce => Edible Plants => Topic started by: Robert_Brenchley on December 20, 2005, 19:27:01
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I've been wondering what size my elephant garlic cloves would turn out to be. they turned up at lunchtime, after being ordered from the Garlic Farm on Friday night, which is what I call good service. The size was most impressive; I hope I can grow them as large.
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I agree they look very impressive ...
Derekthefox :D
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Elephant garlic - Veg of the year 2005 for me.
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Most of the garlic I grow now is elephant garlic, with only a small amount of tradition garlic. The elephant garlic is trouble free, and stores without loss for up to two years.
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Yes realfood, that may be so, but the real garlic is just so ... and is considered to be so beneficial to health too ... I am growing both ...
Derekthefox :D
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How long does a clove last you for?
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I consume garlic at a phenomenal rate Robert, at least one head a week. I have not used enough elephant garlic to have a consumption rate, but with it being milder, I reckon at least as much. Mind you I only have 14 cloves planted, and at least 4 of those will be retained for seed ...
I have about 70 cloves of traditional garlic planted ...
Derekthefox :D
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I acknowledge that elephant garlic has a milder taste - but it seems to pervade anything you cook with it more than real garlic.
How do you store yours Real Food? I don't think I dried mine off in the sun long enough and it's gone over...
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I've resisted elephant garlic on the basis that garlic is garlic and I love it so who needs great big garlic? I didn't know that it is more resistant to disease. I must admit though, I do like my garlic strong. Like Derek I've got 70-80 cloves of traditional garlic planted.
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To me it is another vegetable, that I believe I will love, so if variety is the spice of life ...
Derekthefox :D
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I've planted around that quantity of 'normal' garlic; Solent Wight, which is supposed to be stroing and long-lasting, and Albigensian garlic, which I couldn't resist as it's apparently originally from Languedoc, and associated with the Cathars (so why is it named after a different bunch of heretics?). It's supposed to foster heresy and sedition, so a good dose of it would do any church good as far as I'm concerned! Inevitably, I couldn't resist it. Then I got a little elephant garlic, and some eschalotte grise. That should keep us going. I think we'd get through a head a week if we cooked every day, but the truth is that we haven't got the energy. I'm a secondary school teacher and my wife is a mental health social worker; these are supposed to be the two most stressful jobs out. It may well be true.
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I sympathise with your plight Robert ...
Derekthefox :D
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This year I experimented and pickled some Elephant Garlic and it is absolutely amazing...can't get enough of it. Great as a nibble with a pint of Real Ale and a chunk of Extra Mature Cheddar and some Crusty bread ;D
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excellent Dingerbell, I adore normal pickled garlic, I have never had elephant garlic pickled, but would expect it to be superb ... I presume you don't have many friends then ... ;D
Derekthefox :D
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I lived in the Middle East for 11 years and got used to eating Huge amounts of Garlic ...can't get enough of the stuff. Who needs friends when you've got a Cheese and pickled Garlic Buttie ;D
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I have a litre size jar of pickled garlic at work, when I am feeling a little drained, I just pop a couple, and I am buzzing in no time - and it's legal !!! ;D
Derekthefox :D
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I do not have any special treatment for storing my elephant garlic. I lift it, dry it off protected from rain for a couple of months, and then bring it in to store in a dry frost free place.
However, I have some old ones, just dumped under the bench in the greenhouse. They are still usable, and viable, although wrinkled, after two years! Quite amazing, though I do not recommend this treatment!! It is just an observation!
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Thanks real food. A bit longer on the rotary drier for my cloves next year, I think.
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Robert Brenchley wrote that: Albigensian garlic, which I couldn't resist as it's apparently originally from Languedoc, and associated with the Cathars (so why is it named after a different bunch of heretics?). It's supposed to foster heresy and sedition, so a good dose of it would do any church good as far as I'm concerned! Inevitably, I couldn't resist it.
Ho Ho. Me neither (see www.savetheplot.co.uk for why). Where did you get it? Mine is French, but without such a heritage! Think we got it from Julia's mum when she came home from french holiday
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I got mine from the Garlic Farm. It may be hype, I don't know (I'm puzzled that it should have been used by one lot of heretics, and yet be named after another), but since I'm a theological liberal, and have occasionally had people calling me a 'heretic' and insisting that I was 'going to hell' it was irresistable. A good dose of heresy (or maybe honesty, since very few of these people have ever really looked at what 'orthodoxy' means!) would do most churches good as far as I'm concerned.
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I am sure there is a lot of fascinating history and legend to do with that garlic and its association with the Albigensians and the Cathars. The Languedoc is a source of a lot of heretical material for those who are interested, Rennes Le Chateau being the most recent. I certainly find this subject captivating, but have never discussed it out of sheer respect for others beliefs. I think I have seen some references somewhere to garlic as symbolism ... the cloves being representative of the moon etc.
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I read 'Holy Blood and Holy Grail' when it first came out, and was totally unimpressed; the most historical site for the Cathars is Montsegur, where the last of them held out. The castle fell in 1244, and a couple of hundred people were thrown into a vast fire. The last known Cathar was executed in 1321.
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That book was very controversial, and chose challenging material in order to establish itself. Other people have examined a lot of the history of Southern France and it is in deed fascinating when removed from all the hype and glamour of the so called grail trails ... Along the same lines, there is another thread running, talking about the influence of the moon cycles on planting. If looked at as variations in local gravity, and the astrological links are removed, then this becomes fascinating material too, as it may appear that old traditions had serious wisdom that we have discarded as old wives tales.
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I know that mine are only the small ones, but it distresses me, as a first time user, that I plant this huge thing & it doesn't grow. What a waste??
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I haven't planted mine out yet (its too wet on my plot) and started them off in trays in a cool room about a week or so back- it took just 3 days for them to show 1/2" of decent strong root growth. I've put them outside next to the house now, until conditions are a bit better.
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Well mine have about two inches of green shoot showing, so I will take that as an encouraging sign ...
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I have 'normal' garlic showing about three inches of growth - planted between the rasps and rhubarb about 8 weeks ago. Can't remember what variety - the half price with all the other bulbs in the garden centre variety.
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What's going on with yours then, Tim?
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I'm just looking at it, Robert, & thinking I could be safer using it now rather than letting it rot in the ground!!
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May I humbly suggest Tim, that a suggestion like that hints of a defeatist attitude to me, which I definitely cannot believe ... !!! ;) Do you have any cloches ?
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Screw your courage to the sticking post and plant it. You'll end up with a lot more garlic if I'm not very much mistaken.
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Yes, Derek. Yes, Derek!
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I'm with Robert and Derek here, Tim! Get it in!! Odd, tho..last year, from my identically sized cloves planted in the same prepared soil, had several whoppers - and about 3 runts. No idea why..
Planted my garlic, elephant garlic and red onions last Autumn - all through and all looking good.
btw - is the clove home-grown, or from The Garlic Farm?
Cheers!
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The latter. Not something I've ever tried before. A present!
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The latter. Not something I've ever tried before. A present!
Tell you what, Ower Tim...belated Birthday present an' all that :-*..plant yer clove, as per suggestions above, and I'll send you one of my HOME GROWN, 2005 bulbs to cook..
Now, it's not going to be one of my Extra-Specially Large Ones, you understand (Ones that measured 6 on the Richter Scale when I lifted them??)Just one, oh, I dunno, 'bout "that..."...quite minor really..
...but the French lady's recipe I got from the Beeb Boards for it will be Mega!!
You on, then????
Lishka xxx
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ON!!
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OK THEN MATEY!!
(and I heard you Loud and Clear...) ;D
Right then...due to the Govt's Drive to Get Us All Walking due to the closure of local friendly PO's, may now be Monday before I can get to hike to a place to post it........the bulb may be 'minor' in the scale of Elephant Garlic size, but a 'major' concern when it comes to ramming it through the only surviving post-box........
And do you want The French Lady's recipe for it??
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SVP!
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Oh no, I didn't plant my garlic in the autumn, ended up eating the stuff I bought for the lottie in December.... just bought some new cloves from the garden centre. Should I put it in now (soil is very wet and there's not much light to make it germinate) or should I let it sprout in pots by the window ???
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Mine's in modular pots in a cold greenhouse and growing well. I should put it into pots if I were you not into cold wet ground. No need to put it on a window ledge, a cosy place outside will do (perhaps the base of a south facing wall ).
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I noticed Homebase selling elephant garlic over the weekend. Their garlic's rubbish, but maybe this will be better.
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I plant as many garlic bulbs as I can ... even Ahmeds' garlic that he says is 'the best' one year, and turns out to be 'the worst' the next year!
I've been growing elephant garlic this/last year too. Doesn't look like anything an 'elephant' could have produced yet ... but I suppose it's only January!
I keep mine all year round by whizzing it all up in a blender with olive oil and storing it in the fridge. Delicious :)
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1st time for me too...really looking forward to harvesting as last years crop (not elephant) was dire to say the least ;D
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I keep mine all year round by whizzing it all up in a blender with olive oil and storing it in the fridge. Delicious :)
What a good idea Trixiebelle, will try that if I do well with my garlic
MM
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I keep mine all year round by whizzing it all up in a blender with olive oil and storing it in the fridge. Delicious :)
What a good idea Trixiebelle, will try that if I do well with my garlic
MM
Isn't that supposed to be a TERRIBLE idea? :o Botulism and all that? Or am I thinking of something else.. ::)
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Thanks Larkspur, I will put it out this lunchtime..
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Storing garlic is a bit of an issue for me. It doesn't seem to keep as well as onions. After a bit the cloves develop brown patches and lose their juiciness. I'm not sure storing it in the fridge would be a good solution longterm but I had the idea that maybe doing Trixiebelle's thing with the olive oil and the blender and then freezing it in an icecube tray would give (n)ice cubes ;) for adding to whatever was being cooked. What do you think?
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Storing garlic is a bit of an issue for me.
Remember that diff. garlics have diff. storage properties - Early Wight, f'rinstance,only 2-3 months, others store longer, so something to factor in when you buy.
maybe doing Trixiebelle's thing with the olive oil and the blender and then freezing it in an icecube tray would give (n)ice cubes ;) for adding to whatever was being cooked. What do you think?
Better idea and worth a try? Spect just enough oil to make an emulsion, tho? Anything's better than storing it in the fridge for more than a week, say.
Cheers!
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Isn't that supposed to be a TERRIBLE idea? :o Botulism and all that? Or am I thinking of something else.. ::)
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REALLY????? OOOPS ::) IGNORE MY RECOMMENDATION!!!!!
SORRY .... Trixie XXX
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I remember having a jar of salad dressing (o/oil, vinegar, mustard, salt, pepper & crushed garlic) lurking in my fridge once for a couple of weeks when I went on hol. The garlic was growing this grey/white mould when I returned :o
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:D You do not need to do anything special to store Elephant garlic. It is almost indestructible!! Dry off well and keep in dry, cool conditions. It will last for a year in good condition with no pests. I even have some that is 18 moths old and was left in an unheated greenhouse, and it is still useable!!
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Ah I have planted MArco and THermidrome. Perhaps I shall also plant Elephant Garlic. Thanks for the advice Real Food!
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Storing garlic is a bit of an issue for me. It doesn't seem to keep as well as onions. After a bit the cloves develop brown patches and lose their juiciness. I'm not sure storing it in the fridge would be a good solution longterm but I had the idea that maybe doing Trixiebelle's thing with the olive oil and the blender and then freezing it in an icecube tray would give (n)ice cubes ;) for adding to whatever was being cooked. What do you think?
Storing garlic in the fridge longterm is definitely a bad idea as the atmosphere in a fridge is very damp and it will eventually rot or go mouldy. To store well, it needs to be cool and dry. What type of garlic are you talking about? Some store better than others.
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Don't know what sort Trixie Bell is talking about. I'm talking about the ones I mentioned in the post before yours : Marco and Thermidrome
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This thread is actually supposed to be about elephant garlic!!!!
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True, RF :)
Hard to remember sometimes that elephant garlic isn't garlic at all 8)
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Ah my mistake! I always assumed that it was just a larger and blander version :-[ Sorry :'(
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To all practical intents and purposes it is, but botanically it's closer to the leeks.
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Humbly agolopise :) But thanks for all the advice. :)
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I know this is off-topic, grawrc, but where does your username come from? I always hear it as "Grawrc!" as in the vultures in the Jungle Book or a giant parrot. Or is that just me? :)
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My brother's initial, my initials and my sister's initials. I knew it was a username I couldn't forget. ;)