Elephant garlic- The garlic that isn’t even garlic but we love it just the same. Elephant garlic is a hard-neck variety which means that they produce scapes. Scapes are a bonus tasty treat that grows out of the center of your garlic stalk. Always harvest the scapes so your plant can focus its energy on bulb development. Elephant garlic is more closely related to a leek. It is less spicy than garlic but still incredibly flavorful.
Garlic grows best in zones 3-9. They prefer full sun but can still produce with partial shade. Here in Arizona, we plant garlic in October and November with harvest in May and June. In many milder summer zones, you can also plant in spring for harvest in fall.
We are in our second season of growing elephant garlic and it will remain a staple in our garden. In 2019 we planted seed elephant garlic from Bakercreek seeds. This year we are planting the best of our harvest. We will be sowing cloves as well as rounds and corms. Let’s talk about what that means.
Bulb– a full head of garlic with multiple cloves. Elephant garlic usually has 5-6 cloves per bulb. (pictured below)
Clove– an individual piece of garlic removed from a bulb. (pictured above, top left)
Rounds– the stage of growth that elephant garlic goes through. In this form, they look more like onions (pictured above, bottom center)
Corms– or garlic nuts as I like to call them are small bulblet that grows off of your main stalk. Always save these for replanting! (pictured above, top right)
From our experience when planting a clove you will get a round (although we had a few go straight to bulb last season) and a bunch of corms. We are going this year’s planted rounds to produce more full bulbs.
Planting
Although I am referring to elephant garlic in this post we plant all of our garlic in the same manner. Garlic prefers soil rich in organic material (compost or composted chicken manure are great choices). Having well-draining soil is a MUST. There is a debate about whether you should soak your garlic in something like fish or kelp emulsion and water. We skip this step because I endorse lazy gardening and I haven’t had any problems with germination.
Plant your garlic cloves & rounds pointy side up (root side down). Plant the garlic 3 inches deep, 2 inches for standard garlic, with a spacing of about 6-12” apart. Keep soil moist until shoots emerge in 4-6 weeks. At that point, you should reduce your watering. We water about once a week during cooler temperatures.
You will know it’s time to harvest your elephant garlic when the stalks start to turn yellow & brown and begin to fall over. When you’re ready to harvest you will want to dig up around each bulb, being careful not to damage the bulb. Do not pull your garlic by the stalks or you may miss those amazing corms or worse break the garlic off in the soil.
After harvest lay flat to dry for a few days. Once your garlic has dried brush off the excess soil. DO NOT WASH OR WET YOUR GARLIC. Once your garlic is dry hang it in a cool dry place with good air circulation. We like to use a fan for this step called curing. This process takes 3-6 weeks in our dry Arizona climate, it can take up to 8 weeks in more humid environments.
Once your elephant garlic is done curing you can remove the excess roots and all but 1 inch of the stalk. Elephant garlic stores for 3-10 months if cured and stored properly.
We love using elephant garlic in soups and stews or sautéed with mushrooms to top steaks. They are great in any dish you choose to put it in. You’ll be AMAZED by the flavor in these giant gems.
