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Scroll down to learn about
Artichoke Variety of Gourmet Garlics
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[ Lorz Italian ] [ New York White ] [ Polish White ] [ Red Toch ] [ Rogue River Red ] [ Siciliano ] [ Simoneti ] [ Susanville ] [ Thermadrone ] [ Transylvanian ] |

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Order Now We are now accepting orders for gourmet garlic to be shipped in September 2011. - [ Shallots in Summer - order now for mid-late summer shipping ] - [ Garlic Braids - order now for Fall 2011 shipping ] - [ Garlics sorted by variety - order now for Fall 2011 shipping ] - [ Garlics sorted by mild, medium and strong - order now for Fall 2011 shipping ] |

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We now include an online garlic gardeners market where you buy direct |
![]() Artichoke garlics (sativums or softnecks) are the kinds of garlics seen most in the supermarkets in our part of the country. California Early and California Late are grown in huge quantities around Gilroy, California and shipped all over the country and are the generic garlic that most people think of when they think of garlic. In fact, most people around our parts weren't even aware that there was more than one kind of garlic. Artichoke garlics are the easiest to grow and seem to be less fussy about growing conditions than the others and do well in warm winter locations. They have lots of cloves, usually somewhere between 12 and 20, with lots of smaller internal cloves. These are a favorite among people who want to use only a very small amount of garlic in a dish (although I can't imagine why). They appear to feel that if you can taste the garlic in a dish you have used too much and prefer to use the small inner cloves. Artichokes are generally very large, store well and have a wide range of flavors with some, like Simoneti and Red Toch, being very mild and pleasant and others, such as Inchelium Red and Susanville, have greater depth of flavor. Chinese Purple and Purple Cauldron are much stronger and stick around for a while. The Asiatic group of artichoke garlics tend to send up scapes, despite the fact that they're supposed to be softnecks and have a little more color to the bulb wrappers than the main group, which are usually very white. The Turban group of artichoke garlics tend to be the most colorful artichokes and have fewer cloves per bulb than the others. The turbans also harvest earlier and store less long than the other artichokes and a good bit stronger in taste as well. Artichoke Garlics are the commercial growers favorite because they are easier to grow and produce larger bulbs that most other garlics. Artichokes are often called red garlics or Italian garlics despite the fact that most are neither red nor were ever grown in Italy. Most of the artichokes that have red as part of their name have no red in them, but we retain the word as it helps to describe exactly which cultivar we are discussing. |

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You must settle up your order (check out) from one grower before buying from a different grower - just like at your neighborhood farmers market.
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Harvests in early summer - stores into mid-winter. Order now for shipment in fall 2011. - Applegate is a superb mild garlic that is excellent for raw eating as in pesto or added as something crunchy to tuna or chicken salad (it's that mild) or cooking where you want only the most delicate hint of garlic in your dish. Applegate is an early harvesting fairly good storing garlic but should be grown in conjunction with a longer storing Porcelain or Silverwhite in order to be able to have good garlic year around. Extremes of weather, such as extra cold
or dry winters or high temperatures in the early spring can make it
a warmer and stronger garlic. It is a wonderful garlic and I highly recommend it for those
who love good tasting mild garlic. It is well worth growing and is
a fairly early maturing garlic which you can be enjoying while most of
the others are still in the ground.
Applegate is a good garlic to grow in warm winter areas.
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This one of the two Gilroy cultivars is the one you're least likely to find
in the local supermarkets because it is processed into dried and pickled and otherwise processed garlic products.
California Early is a little bigger and sweeter than California Late, which
is definitely on the hot side. Cal Early is said to be very early maturing but it seems to be more of a mid-artichoke-season garlic
for us, though it is a prolific grower and a good commercial garlic.
It does seem to tolerate our hot spring weather well and stores well also.
I was pleasantly surprised by how much better our Cal Early garlic was than the ones we bought in the stores.
The difference our healthy soil and careful handling makes is phenomenal.When grown and harvested properly,
Cal Early is an excellent all- around general use garlic and a wonderful
baker.
It ranks 4-5 on the garlickiness scale and 3-4 on the pungency side. It has a semi-rich flavor and a little bite, but is still on the light side.
It's a very good growers garlic as it has many large cloves
(even the innermost cloves are of good size) and it stores well under proper conditions.
The Gilroy growers knew good garlic when they saw it, it was their agricultural practices and resulting soil conditions that made the difference.
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![]() - - May or may not be available in 2011. - - Know for sure where your food comes from - buy direct from our growers below and save. One of the two cultivars you're most likely to find in the local supermarkets, along with California Early. California Late is a little on the hot side and has more color. Cal Late is more of a mid-late season garlic for us, though it is a prolific grower and a good commercial garlic. It does seem to tolerate our hot spring weather well and stores well also. I was pleasantly surprised by how much more flavor our Cal Late garlic was than the ones we bought in the stores. The difference our healthy soil and careful handling makes is phenomenal.When grown and harvested properly, Cal Late is an excellent all- around general use garlic and a wonderful baker. It's a very good growers garlic as it has many large cloves (even the innermost cloves are of good size) and it stores well under proper conditions. The Gilroy people choose their garlic well, they just didn't grow it well. Great garlic became a casualty of modern farming, but rightful growing can restore it to its place of dignity.
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Grows very well in most of the USA and can even be grown in warm winter areas quite well. It is good to grow these along with Porcelains or Silverskins so you can have both early season and long storing kinds. You may not ever run out of good garlic. -- Order now for shipment in August/September 2011. Get in line early as there will likely be shortages this year. -- Know where your food comes from - Buy from our growers below and save.After ordering, use your back arrow key to return to this point, otherwise the secure shopping cart will return you to Gourmet Garlic Gardens' home page.
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Know for sure where your food comes from - buy direct from our growers below and save.
Early Red Italian has long been a gardeners favorite because it is an early harvesting , richly flavored light-to medium pungency garlic that has a lot of color and grows almost anywhere.
That's a lot to like in a garlic that when properly grown and stored will keep through the winter.
After a few months of having no garlic, Early Red Italian gave gardeners an excellent garlic weeks before most other varieties and it is a prolific grower and a good commercial garlic.
It matures after the mild Red Toch and before Inchelium Red, which is a little stronger most years.
It does seem to tolerate our hot spring weather well and stores well also.
Early Red Italian ranks 4-5 on the garlickiness scale and 3-4 on the pungency side. It has a semi-rich flavor and a little bite, but is still on the light side.
The difference our healthy soil and careful handling makes is phenomenal in all garlics. When grown and harvested properly,
Early Red Italian is an excellent all- around general use garlic and an excellent baker.
It's a very good growers garlic as it has many large cloves and it stores well under proper conditions.
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Grows very well in warm winter areas. Know for sure where your food comes from - buy direct from our growers below and save. lnchelium Red is a large and beautiful artichoke garlic
with delightfully robust flavor but not so strong as to be overpowering. In
1990 Rodale Kitchens, part of the parent organization of Organic Gardening
magazine, sponsored a garlic tasting contest. Inchelium Red won the
contest. The verdict was not unanimous, of course, as people's tastes
vary widely, but it won anyway. It is among our best selling artichoke garlics most
years.
Inchelium Red is my benchmark garlic for true medium. I compare the tastes of all garlics as being milder or stronger than Inchelium Red.
It has medium rich garlickness and medium pungency, or, hotness when eaten raw. On a scale of 1 to 10 on flavor and taste, it gets a 5 in each category.
From a growers perspective, it is a large and healthy garlic
to grow and appears to be relatively resistant to most of the diseases
that can affect garlic. Its true origin is unknown as it was discovered
growing on an Indian reservation and no one seems to know where it
came from. Inchelium Red usually has anywhere from 12 to 20 cloves and is large enough that even the interior cloves are generally of good size. The outer bulb wrappers are thick and protect the bulb well so it is a good storer but still peels easily. For those who want to grow their own garlic it has enough cloves that it doesn't take but a year or two to grow all you can eat. It harvests in mid-season (late for an artichoke) and takes a little longer than average to cure due to its large size. Bulbs are usually over 2 and a half inches in diameter and will weigh several ounces each.
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Excellent strong garlic grows well all over the country, even in warm winter areas. Harvests in early summer - stores into mid-winter. This braidable Italian artichoke can get quite large with good growing conditions and plenty of water. Italian Late has more purple in the bulb wrappers than one usually sees in an artichoke and the semi-thick wrappers peel easily away revealing large cloves with elongated tips a hint of purple. It harvests in early-mid summer and stores into mid-winter or longer. It averages seven to nine large fat cloves in three clove layers and usually has no small internal cloves. It ranks 5-6 on the garlickiness scale and 8 on the pungency side. It has a semi-rich flavor and a lot of bite that just increases with age and it stores well for 6-8 months. Most Italian garlics tend to be somewhat mild, but this one, like Lorz, is different. Depending on growing conditions, it can be very hot and strong.
At first, it doesn't seem to have any aftertaste at all - then in
a few minutes it begins to grow and becomes very noticeable and builds to
a peak in about thirty minutes. If you like garlic with a bold flavor that
really sticks around, this is for you. In years where the taste is milder
due to growing conditions, the aftertaste is still present, even
though the initial taste is milder.
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Lorz Italian - An Excellent Heirloom Garlic . Excellent strong garlic for warm winter gardeners. Harvests in early summer - stores into mid-winter. Know for sure where your food comes from - buy direct from our growers below and save. This medium-large Italian artichoke is unusual in several ways; color, taste and storability. Lorz has more purple in the bulb wrappers than one usually sees in an artichoke and the semi-thick wrappers peel easily away revealing large cream-colored cloves with elongated tips and only the faintest hint of purple. It harvests in mid season and stores very well until winter. It averages seven large fat cloves in three clove layers and usually has no small internal cloves. It ranks 4-5 on the garlickiness scale and 8 on the pungency side. It has a semi-rich flavor and a lot bite that just increases with age and it stores well for 6-8 months. Most Italian garlics tend to be somewhat mild, but this
one is different. Depending on growing conditions, it can be very hot and
strong. At first, it doesn't seem to have any aftertaste at all - then in
a few minutes it begins to grow and becomes very noticeable and builds to
a peak in about thirty minutes. If you like garlic with a bold flavor that
really sticks around, this is for you. In years where the taste is milder
due to growing conditions, the aftertaste is still strongly present, even
though the initial taste is milder. A real garlic lovers garlic.
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Know for sure where your food comes from - buy direct from our growers below and save. NY White
Harvests early in summer - stores into mid-winter.- Order now from our growers for shipment in fall 2011. -
New York White is an excellent early season garlic with a deep rich flavor to it but only a little bite.
It has long been an upstate New York gardener's favorite because it is an early harvesting, richly flavored light-to medium pungency garlic that grows almost anywhere.
In addition, its parchment-like bulb wrappers make it a very good braiding garlic.
That's a lot to like in a garlic that when properly grown and stored will keep through the winter and it is a prolific grower and a good commercial garlic.
It matures after the mild Red Toch and before Inchelium Red, which is a little stronger most years.
It grows well in warm winter areas and is quite hardy.
New York White ranks 6-8 on the garlickiness scale and 3-4 on the pungency side.
It has a rather rich, musky, earthy flavor and a little bite, but is still on the light side.
NY White is similar to Polish White and is an excellent early season braider for northern gardeners - they mature a month or two before the Silverskins.
It's a very good grower's garlic as it has many large cloves (even the innermost cloves are of good size) and it stores well under proper conditions.
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![]() ![]() Polish White Harvests early in summer - stores into mid-winter. - Order now from our growers for shipment in fall 2010. -
Polish White is an excellent early season garlic with a deep rich flavor to it but only a little bite.
It has long been a gardener's favorite because it is an early harvesting, richly flavored light-to medium pungency garlic that grows almost anywhere.
In addition, its parchment-like bulb wrappers make it a very good braiding garlic.
That's a lot to like in a garlic that when properly grown and stored will keep through the winter and it is a prolific grower and a good commercial garlic.
It matures after the mild Red Toch and before Inchelium Red, which is a little stronger most years.
It grows well in warm winter areas and is quite hardy.
Polish White ranks 6-8 on the garlickiness scale and 3-4 on the pungency side.
It has a rather rich, musky, earthy flavor and a little bite, but is still on the light side.
When grown and harvested properly,
Polish White is an excellent all- around general use garlic and a very good baker baker.
It's a very good grower's garlic as it has many large cloves (even the innermost cloves are of good size) and it stores well under proper conditions.
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Know for sure where your food comes from - buy direct from our growers below and save. Harvests early in summer - stores into mid-winter. - Order now from our growers for shipment in fall 2011. - Grows very well in warm winter areas. Red Toch is another one of those delightful garlics originally from the Republic of Georgia in the former USSR. This tiny country seems to have developed more garlics than everyone else put together. Red Toch is a nicely flavored garlic, a bit on the mild side and with very little heat. It is not quite as mild as Applegate and not quite as strong as Inchelium Red. The inner bulb wrappers have a little rosy pink coloration and are of medium thickness and easy to peel. Red Toch averages fairly large bulbs that are and it generally grows fairly clean under good conditions and has a few smaller inner cloves but no tiny ones. It, too, likes to finish off its growing season somewhat on the dry side, otherwise bulb wrappers can split. Chester Aaron in his books Garlic is Life and The Great Garlic Book, a guide with Recipes has well deserved praise for this garlic. Its fame has also spread from the Victory Garden series on Public Television. It is good for a garlic to gain a reputation for its flavor rather than its pungency. There's more to garlic than raw power, you should at least like the taste of what you eat. Some cultivars are so strong it's hard to tell whether they have any flavor or not. It's good to see this very nice garlic get some respect in a world of power hitters. On my dual scale it ranks a 6-7 for garlickiness and a 1-2 for pungency. Rich but very mellow. I had dinner with Chester Aaron and about 30 garlic experts in Tulsa one evening at a posh supper club that was elegant in every way. There were whole bulbs of Red Toch all up and down the linen tableclothes amid the candles and fresh flowers and all the Sterling and stemware and these scientists and a few of us ordinary folk broke those bulbs apart and ate them as appetizers with French bread and butter and with bulb wrappers everywhere, surrounding diners were invited to enjoy the feast - and did. Since eating garlic makes you feel good, literally, a great time was had by all, including the surrounding diners as memories that will last a lifetime were made that night. The chef appreciated the education he got in garlic that night. It usually grows rather well for us here in central Texas and is one of our family's favorites, especially for raw eating. An old Filaree Farm catalog says its raw taste has been described as the perfect garlic taste. I don't know about that as I hope I haven't yet tasted the perfect garlic taste, but I do know that I like it and we will continue to grow it and use it at home. It is really nice to be able to have a wide variety to choose from as one's taste varies from day to day and even from meal to meal, so buy a few and try them and be sure to save some for planting this fall. It is a very early maturing garlic and is one of the first cultivars we harvest each year.
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Rogue River Red is a hardy and vigorous garlic that we found growing here when we moved in and the previous owner didn't know where it came from. It is a great survivor and has become our best grower.
Rogue River Red is an early-mid season harvesting medium-rich flavored and only mildly pungent softneck Artichoke with straw-colored clove covers
and often a lot of purplish color to the bulb wrappers. Excellent all-around garlic that can be braided and stores into mid-winter.
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Know for sure where your food comes from - buy direct from our growers below and save. Harvests early summer - stores into mid-winter.
Siciliano is a white garlic that is a feast to the eyes as well as the palate and stores well also and that's asking a lot of a white garlic. The rich flavor is a bonus.
Sicilano has an obvious pearly lustre to it that makes it pleasing to look at and sensous to the touch. It has a rich,deep flavor with a zesty medium pungency and a crisp, crunchy texture that is like a water chestnut with taste and an attitude.
Its richness makes it excellent for raw eating as in pesto, salsa or just to have something crunchy to munch on with a sandwich, instead of the usual chips.
Being an Artichoke garlic, Siciliano is an excellent braider and is adaptable to a wide range of climates and is a good garlic for growing in warm winter areas.
True lovers of Mediterranian food have known for centuries that Siciliano is a very special garlic and if you are going to prepare truly authentic Sicilian cuisine, will any other garlic really do?
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After ordering, use your back arrow key to return to this point, ![]()
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Harvests in early summer - stores into mid-winter. - Order now for shipment in fall 2011. - Despite its Italian sounding name this large, clean, wonderfully mild garlic originated in the Republic of Georgia, a southern former USSR country, as have so very many cultivars-these people know and love garlic. Simoneti may well be my own personal favorite for raw eating. On the average, they're huge and solid and grow extremely clean and free from fungus, molds, etc. that can plague many others. The flavor is definitely garlicky, but with minimal aftertaste and heat. This gentle giant is great for those who like it mild but with full flavor. If strong garlic upsets your stomach, try this one instead. Simoneti has thick, very white bulb wrappers that are easy to peel and it stores well. Even the inner cloves are of good size. It is another grower's delight as it has many large plantable cloves (12 to 18 or more) and you can build up your garden with it in only a season or two. Simoneti has a very thick neck and is very large leafed and has a rather roundish shape. If you like it as much as I do, you will want to get a few extra for planting this fall. As with other large artichoke garlics it harvests in mid-season (one of the latest artichokes) and takes a little longer than average to cure due to its large size.
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Harvests in late spring/early summer season - stores into winter. - Order now for shipping in fall 2011. - Susanville is an excellent early season flavorful garlic from the mountains in Northern California. Susanville is an Artichoke that is rich in flavor and only moderately pungent. It is said to be from a virus-free test that took place in the 1980s and it can get quite large when grown in favorable conditions. It is a wonderful garlic and I highly recommend it for those who live in either warm or cold winter areas. It is well worth growing and is a fairly early maturing garlic which you can be enjoying while most of the others are still in the ground. Susanville can get quite large when well grown and is best grown in conjunction with a long storing Porcelain or Silverskin for year around garlic.
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Harvests in late spring/early summer season - stores into winter. - Order now for shipping in fall 2011. - Thermadrone is an excellent early season flavorful garlic from France. Thermadrone is a mild artichoke that adds to our collection of French garlics for authenticity in French cooking - next year we hope to add a silverskin. Your French culinary creation cannot be truly authentic unless you use the same kinds of garlic that the chefs in France use - their tastes really are unique. Thermadrone, like the French Creole Rose de Lautrec, has a dijon mustardy side tone to its flavor that is different than Asian and Italian garlics. It is a wonderful garlic and I highly recommend it for those who love French cooking. It is well worth growing and is a fairly early maturing garlic which you can be enjoying while most of the others are still in the ground. Thermadrone can get quite large when well grown and is best grown in conjunction with a long storing Porcelain or Silverskin for year around garlic.
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Order now for shipment in fall 2011. - Know for sure where your food comes from - buy direct from our growers below and save. Transylvanian is the mysterious early season flavorful garlic from Transylvania. Finally, you can grow the famous Transylvanian garlic and it will grow almost anywhere in the USA though the more tropical areas may be a bit of a gamble. If you are troubled by vampires or just blood-sucking in-laws,it is well worth growing and is a fairly early maturing garlic which you can be enjoying while most of the others are still in the ground. Transylvanian can get quite large when well grown and is best grown in conjunction with a long storing Porcelain or Silverskin for year around garlic.
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Shipping and Handling
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This Farmers market is like your local farmers market.
If you buy from a grower and later cancel that order for any reason, the credit card processing gateway still charges Gourmet Garlic Gardens the full processing
fee plus an additional fee of the same amount for processing the cancellation and also it places an additional clerical burden on us
so, regretably, we must charge a 15% cancellation fee when processing the cancellation because that's about what it costs us.
My advice is to look around among the various growers and decide what to buy from whom and then place your orders and stick with the growers you have chosen.
![]() Each grower/vendor is responsible for their own garlic and prompt shipping to the buyer. Gourmet Garlic Gardens is not responsible for any garlic sent directly from any grower/vendor to any buyer and serves only as a virtual meeting place and credit/debit card processor for the convenience of both grower and buyer. Gourmet Garlic Gardens' total liability from all causes is limited to refunding the monies the buyer has charged against their card using Gourmet Garlic Gardens as a payment processor for any specific transaction with any particular grower/vendor. ![]() Prices and availability of garlic subject to change without notice. ![]() |
![]() How Our Garlics are Grown
All the garlic for sale in our online farmers market was grown without the use of petrochemical pesticides,
herbicides, or fertilizers; only natural and non-toxic fertilizers and pest control methods are used.
Some of our growers are Certified Organic and some are Certified Naturally Grown, which we regard as equal to
Certified Organic in every meaningful way but without all the bureaucratic entanglements.
All our farmers market growers grow organically and some are Certified Organic but not all want to be certified
Organic because of the paperwork and reporting requirements and are among the best available sources of sustainable/
organic Garlic and they become Certified Naturally Grown, where the regulation comes from their fellow members rather
than a federal bureacracy.
We do not allow growers who use synthetic petroleum-based fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides or herbicides to
participate in our farmers market.
All garlic in our farmers market is grown in the USA, no imports allowed. ![]() |




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[ Our Home Page ]
[ Online Catalog ]
[ Garlic Overview ]
[ 40 Varieties ]
[ Growing Garlic ]
[ Cooking with Garlic ]
[ Chemistry of Garlic ]
[ Garlic Pills, Etc. ]
[ Health Benefits ]
[ Links ]
[ FAQs ]
[ About Us ]
[ How to Order ]
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Our site is always under construction. - This page last updated November 11, 2011.
If you would like to communicate with us, please send email to:
bob@web-access.net
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and up to date garlic information since August of 1997.
Thanks one and all.