Types of Garlic for Home Gardens

Today, I’m sharing gardening tips on the types of garlic for home gardens.  Fall is the perfect time for planting garlic in my home gardens.  I have planted garlic in the spring, but I didn’t get the big bulbs that I had hoped for.  So, planting garlic cloves in the fall for harvest the following summer works best for me.  When I take this step, I harvest huge, flavorful garlic bulbs.    

When I first started gardening I was amazed at the different types of garlic available.  I was used to the garlic in the grocery store.  However, I had no idea what type of garlic I was purchasing.  It came in a pack of 4, and that was good enough for me.

I was visiting a farmer’s market one Saturday, and picked up a few cloves of garlic.  I used the garlic in a dish shortly thereafter, and it was than that I realized the flavor was unmatched.  It was hot and spicy, just the way I liked my food.  I visited the market again to have a chat with the vendor, and we ended up in an hour discussion about planting and growing garlic.

At that point I decided to start growing my own and I haven’t looked back.  I love checking out the catalogues and websites, and deciding what I want to plant each season.  If you want to grow garlic, there’s few things to consider before purchasing.  For example, do you like mild or spicy garlic?  Do you plan to store the garlic through the winter?  Do you want large cloves etc.?  Making selections for home gardens can be confusing. So, here’s a few tips.

Types of Garlic for Home Gardens:

Subspecies of Garlic:

Hardneck  –  Most of the garlic that I plant is hardneck.  The neck is the stalk that grows from the clove of garlic. Hard neck garlic produces a scape or flower stalk.  It is recommended that the scape be removed in the summer to avoid robbing the cloves of energy.  If the scrapes rob the cloves of energy, the plant will produce smaller bulbs. Some gardeners remove the scrapes to make garlic pesto, add the scrapes to a salad or use it in stir fry.

• Hardneck garlic grows best in colder zones.  I live in Zone 6B, so hard neck garlic is perfect for me.
• Easier to peel
• More flavorful
• Cloves are larger

Soft Neck –  Next, I do plant a few varieties of soft neck garlic, but not many.

• Local grocery stores usually carry the soft neck variety.
• Grows best in warmer climates.
• Perfect for storing over the winter.
• Usually lasts 9 – 12 months after harvest.
• Great for braiding too.  Unfortunately, the cloves are not uniform.  Some are large and some are small if that matters.
• Softneck garlic is not as flavorful or spicy as the hardneck varieties.

Elephant – Last, I have never planted Elephant garlic in my home garden.  But, if you like mild varieties elephant garlic should be at the top of your list.

• Elephant garlic cloves are huge compared to the hard neck and soft neck varieties.
• Doesn’t have the health benefits of regular garlic or the flavor.
• Elephant garlic is more in the family of leeks and onions.
• Rather than having several cloves, it is one bulb like an onion.
• If you love roasted garlic, elephant garlic is perfect.

There are approximately 100 varieties of garlic under the subspecies of hard and soft neck varieties.  Since I like spicy garlic, I purchase from the hard neck categories. My favorite garlic is Spanish Rojo.  However other spicy varieties include:   Tibetan,  Korean Mountain,  Shantung Purple, and Chet’s Italian Red.

If you like mild, but flavorful garlic try these varieties:  Transylvanian, Early Italian, or Texas Rose.

Check out the different varieties of garlic that you can grow.  There are just too many to name here.  Most importantly, you want to purchase garlic that suits your individual taste and your growing zone.  Before you leave, check out my article on 13 Ways to Use Garlic for Health and Food Uses and Planting and Harvesting Garlic.