Elephant Garlic is Here!

Left: Elephant Garlic    Right: Chesnok Red Garlic  

Elephant garlic (Allium ampeloprasum var. ampeloprasum) is an extra large mild tasting relative of garlic. A single bulb can weigh over a pound! A single clove can be as large as a whole bulb of other varieties of garlic.

Elephant Garlic is to garlic what leeks are to onions – the taste is much less intense and somewhat sweeter. It is sometimes called “garlic for people who don’t like garlic”.

It’s often served raw in salads or it can be sliced and sauteed in butter and mixed into rice or pasta. Use it to add a hint of flavor to soups and stews.

Elephant garlic belongs to the onion genus. It is not a true garlic, but actually a variant of the leek species. It has 4 to 5 foot, solid, flowering stalks and broad, flat leaves, much like those of the leek. If left alone it will spread into a clump with many flowering heads and can be grown as an ornamental. The flowers are lovely when dried.

The mature bulb has many cloves which are quite large with papery skins. These are the ones to eat. Much smaller cloves with a hard shell occur on the outside of the bulb.

Sow True is happy to be carrying elephant garlic for the first time. Order it here.

It is a late season variety, producing huge softball-sized bulbs. Remove the flower head for larger cloves. Cloves per bulb: 5-7. Cloves per pound: 8-14. Certified Organically Grown in Watauga County, NC.

	Article Written by: Angie Lavezzo
	About the Author: Angie Lavezzo is the former general manager of Sow True Seed. Beyond her professional role at Sow True, Angie's passion for gardening extends into personal hands-on experience, fostering plants and reaping bountiful harvests.