It's a truth universally acknowledged that you need to be hard to survive up north. If you're soft, stick to the south. Well, this is the conventional wisdom with garlic. There are two types differentiated by their necks. Conventionally sold to gardeners is softneck, a dowdy run of the mill short stem which you pull when it goes yellow. The hardneck is an elegant plant with a proud stem that twists like a swan's neck eventually opening into flower. This bit is called a scrape which is sold in its own right as a delicacy in high-class establishments for a modest fortune. I'm not sure "scrape" does it justice, and perhaps a rebranding is require before further market penetration is achieved. I'm of course not one to choose what I grow based on aesthetics but I can imagine that some
of you might consider using it as a decorative addition to the garden. Although it looks good alongside our designer shed, I am only attracted to its northern latitude pedigree, having bought mine from the Really Garlicky farm which is just down the road. Drawbacks? Despite a decent size bulb, you get only about six cloves to the bulb and it does not match the keeping qualities of the southern softie. I guess you can't have it all, but we're getting there.
It's a truth universally acknowledged that you need to be hard to survive up north. If you're soft, stick to the south. Well, this is the conventional wisdom with garlic. There are two types differentiated by their necks. Conventionally sold to gardeners is softneck, a dowdy run of the mill short stem which you pull when it goes yellow. The hardneck is an elegant plant with a proud stem that twists like a swan's neck eventually opening into flower. This bit is called a scrape which is sold in its own right as a delicacy in high-class establishments for a modest fortune. I'm not sure "scrape" does it justice, and perhaps a rebranding is require before further market penetration is achieved. I'm of course not one to choose what I grow based on aesthetics but I can imagine that some
of you might consider using it as a decorative addition to the garden. Although it looks good alongside our designer shed, I am only attracted to its northern latitude pedigree, having bought mine from the Really Garlicky farm which is just down the road. Drawbacks? Despite a decent size bulb, you get only about six cloves to the bulb and it does not match the keeping qualities of the southern softie. I guess you can't have it all, but we're getting there.
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