Elephantine

Last September, I planted a dozen elephant garlic cloves, which I've not grown before. They're big, so they go in with more space (9–12") between them than normal garlic, and 2–3" deep. They grew on quite well, and I've been looking forward to harvesting them. They seemed to have stopped growing, and the foliage was starting to yellow and fall (the sign that alliums are done for the season), so up they came at the weekend. They are pleasingly huge. Each one is about the size of a decent cooking apple, and each clove is about as big as a normal head of garlic.

Clove of elephant garlic, and head of normal garlic for comparison. (© Ian 2012)

They need trimming, and then to cure for a while, like normal garlic. The biggest cloves, I'll replant in a month or so, and I shall imminently replant the small, round, yellowish bulbils that have formed around the base. They may, or may not, make it into fully formed heads next year: if they don't, but instead form a round bulb, the head the next year should be massive.

I now need to start thinking about ordering the overwinter onions and garlic, along with a new bag of green manure seed.