How should it be displayed, and what class should it go in? It's not, of course, a true garlic.
QuoteHow should it be displayed, and what class should it go in? It's not, of course, a true garlic.
As you rightly say it is not a true garlic so for this reason it would have to go under 'any other veg'
In national champion ship classes you would normally display 12 bulbs of garlic.
But you are not showing garlic so I would say a maximum of four.
My decision would be on the size and quality of my exhibits bearing in mind the more you show the greater the risk of finding minor faults so your ego could be your worst enemy.
I would possibly go for three laid in triangular form, but take four with me and decide once I have seen the competition.
There are no specific rules for 'any other veg' so the first thing you want to do is
impress the judge.
Then you would have to ensure the stems are thin, cut to about 1" above the bulb.
I like to tie/whip them with raffia or soft hemp string, rather than say insulation tape which I think looks vulgar. It is better to use nothing rather than the latter.
You want the bulbs all to be the same size particularly in circumference because generally they are viewed from above, so the diameter is more noticeable than the height.
I use a piece of string to measure the circumference of all the potential bulbs.
I would group these in groups of similar size then pick the three or four from one group..
This can often mean that I don't display my biggest bulbs because it is better to have a contingent of bulbs that are slightly smaller but of similar size. It comes across as a fault to have say have one bulb the is larger than the other two, simply because you want to display your biggest.
If your biggest is enormous I would be tempted to display it singly in the same class.
The bulbs want to be unblemished, firm and generally all the same colour/ripeness and the roots trimmed back leaving no soil on the base plate. You can wash the base plate if you are careful but generally if your bulbs are well dried and ripened this is often unnecessary.
I think that all I can say about them other than to wish you the best of luck, let us know how you get on.
I showed an elephant garlic once - it wasn't impressed.
Sorry Robert!
(you all know you wanted to say that!)
It's a site show, and not very competitive, more a bit of fun. As I like unusual veg, I'm looking for ways of exhibiting them. I'll give it a try, and maybe some of my other oddities as well. Thanks.
I will, don't worry. I'll have something in the 'Any other veg' class, and 'Any five veg'. I should be OK for Garlic, but everything else is a tossup, and with the cold 'summer', I'm not at all sure I'll even have any toms to show.