Isn't all garlic the same?
Source of Recipe
mine
Recipe Introduction
All cultivated garlic fall into 2 distinct subspecies Hardneck and Softneck
Hardnecks produce flower stalks. If left on the stalk they will produce a flower then bulbils (little cloves). The plant usually grows taller than softnecks and has narrower leaves. If stressed hardnecks will produce no stalk and the garlic will not clove leaving a solid piece of garlic. The cloves on a hardneck are large and generally produce 6-12 cloves per plant.
Softnecks produce no flower stalk and usually grow shorter and wider leaves.
If stressed they will form a flower stalk with bulbils. They will generally produce 15-20 cloves per plant. Rarely they will form a solid also. They are known best for braiding and storage life.
Elephant garlic is actually a leek. It grows tall and has wide leaves . It forms a hardneck and flower stalk. It produces a large lavender flower if left on but will not form bulbils like hardnecks.
But it does form corms (a little clove) on the roots and sometimes between leaf (paper) layers. Elephant garlic produces 3-5cloves per plant but will often form solids (sometimes as large as baseballs). We like to plant the big solids they make huge cloved garlics the next year.
member logon
