Pictures of our harvest, 2025
Below is a list of the garlic strains we have in amounts over 1 pound (available for sale August 2025)
I haven't trimmed or weighed anything yet. I'm waiting for the stalks to dry completely. The Silverskins and Tibetan are still in the ground:
Porcelains (Hardneck):
Armenian- A flavourful garlic with an earthy taste. Medium to high heat. Hadrut Karabagh, Armenia.
Chiloe- (Chil O eh) Collected from Simon DeBoer of Langside Farms, Teeswater, ON. Originally from the Island of Chiloe, off the coast of Chile. It was brought to North America by a master gardener, who is now an octogenarian living in Pembroke, ON. Her daughter also grows this strain successfully in the Yukon. I find Chiloe grows well from bulbils. A complex flavour, accompanied by medium heat.
Georgian Crystal- Collected and brought to America in 1985, from the central region of the Republic of Georgia. Bulbs are often quite large, with fewer, bigger cloves. Fairly mild. Nice classic flavour.
Georgian Fire- Originally from the Republic of Georgia. Late harvest. Nice and hot, some describe it as having a “toasted” aftertaste.
Great Northern- Collected from Al Picketts, Eureka Garlic, P.E.I., 2017. Nice clean white wrappers and promising bulb size. Warm, inviting flavour with modest heat.
Leningrad- This one has become popular at the local garlic festivals for its fire and good taste. Said to tolerate very cold winters. Though it originally came from Belarus (a small Republic west of Russia), it became known as Leningrad in the US and Canada. Nice and hot.
Polish Hardneck- Originally from an Ontario grower, John Yovanov. Polish Hardneck has performed well for us in both wet and dry conditions for many years. Mild flavoured with consistent bulb size.
Portugal 1 (Azores)- A long time favourite in our plot. Our customers have commented that the flavour is exceptional. A perfect balance of heat and richness. Collected from the Azores (Portuguese islands) by a student of Wilfred Laurier University, at the request of Robert Litke, Nithburg, ON.
Portugal 2- Origin- the mainland of Portugal. From the collection of Robert Litke. A strong, reliable strain. Quite hot and spicy.
Romanian Red- Originally from Romania, via British Columbia.
A robust cultivar with lots of flavour, and strong, but not overpowering heat. It was found to yield the most allicin in a test of more than twenty garlics (The Complete Book of Garlic, Ted Jordan Meredith).
Sweet German- All garlic has a high sugar content; you just can’t taste it because of the heat. The same is true of this strain, you can’t really taste the sweetness, but it is fairly mild, with a nice depth of flavour. We got this strain from Boundary Garlic, in 2017. The bulbs are a little small, but they have a nice appearance.
Marbled Purple Stripes (Hardneck):
Bogatyr- Origin- Moscow, Russia. Medium heat with a pleasant onion-like aftertaste. The Bogatyri are featured in Russian Folklore as legendary warriors.
Choparsky- Origin- Siberian Botanical Gardens, Siberia. Striking purple stripes on the bulb wrappers. Strong garlic taste. Fairly hot.
Duganskij- (D’yan ski) Lovely, honey-toned shades of brown and purple on the clove skins. Healthy, statuesque plants. Produces very large bulbs that are late to harvest. Reasonably hot with full allium flavour.
Guatemalan Ikeda- Deep purple marbling on bulb wrappers. Clove skins are tan with rose. Dark purple bulbils. Medium heat with a pleasing flavour.
Red Russian- A strain from Linda Scoeby, BC. The bulbs are large, attractively vibrant in colour, and are late to harvest. Robust heat, nice mellow aftertaste. Not to be confused with the Rocambole “Russian Red.”
Ural Mountain- (YUR uhl Mountain) Given to us by Christine Sloboda in 2011, this large, colourful Marbled Purple Stripe has passed through many hands on its path from the Ural Mountains, an ancient, mineral-rich mountain range between Europe and Asia. Robust heat with sharp, pungent flavour.
Creoles (Partial Hardneck):
Aglio Rosso - Originally from Sulmona, in the Abruzzo region of Italy. Lovely pink clove skins, and nice, rounded bulbs of good size.
Ail Rose de Lautrec- The famous garlic of France. Our seed was collected in 2008 at the Fete de l'Ail Rose by a Canadian tourist. In France the white bulb wrappers are traditionally peeled back to the last layer to reveal the soft pink colour of the clove skins. It is known for being a very mild creole.
Ajo Rojo - Brought from Spain in the early 1990’s through a virus free program, this strain is sweet and intense in flavour. The Fort Collins study showed that Ajo Rojo may not genetically fit into the Creole group (published in The Complete Book of Garlic, Ted Jordan Meredith), however, even if that is the case, it still closely resembles a creole, with bright purple clove skins and very long storage.
Barcelona Red Spanish- Brought from Spain in 2008. The clove skins are brightly coloured with reddish-pink, and hints of brown at the base of the clove. Excellent size. Medium Heat.
Burgundy- Deep burgundy clove colour. Wonderful, intense flavour.
Prescadero Red- Sweet and rich, with dark red clove skins. Good bulb uniformity.
Silverskins (Softneck):
Chilean Silver- The Heirloom Archive states that this strain came from Blue Jacket, Oklahoma. We got it from a local grower in Ancaster, ON, in 2010. It out-performed all of my other Silver Skins until I found Eureka Danaery’s to match it in bulb size. Nice large cloves in the center ring make it economical for planting. A strong flavour that I once described as “volatile”.
Eureka Danaery's- From Eureka Garlic, P.E.I. in 2017. Good bulb size and uniformity. Soft pink clove skins. Sharp taste with powerful heat.
L'Ail Rose du Tarn- A beautiful French garlic that is grown in the Tarn Region and shipped all over France. Ours was bought in a market in Nice, and was brought to us in 2007 by Norma Michael. The bulb skins have a unique golden patina, and the clove skins are a soft salmon-pink.
Nootka Rose- Originally from Nootka Rose Farm, Waldron Island, San Juan, WA. A rosy blush can be seen on the bulb wrappers sometimes.
Western Rose - Nice round bulbs, soft pink clove wrappers. Not as late to harvest as most other Silverskins.
Unallocated:
Tibetan- Unique among all the strains that we grow. Late to emerge in spring, and very late to harvest. Keeps for 8-10 months in storage. Bulb wrappers are fine textured and silky-white, with reddish-purple stripes. Average of 7 cloves per bulb. Bulbs are usually 2 ¼ inches across and there are about 7 bulbs per pound. Bulbils are medium sized and dark purplish-red. The scapes are late and rarely coil.
Other strains that we are still growing:
(Not available as bulbs, because we are growing them from bulbils, or we only have enough bulbs to replace our own seed) We may have something for you if you are looking to save these for your garden.
Porcelain:
Angelo's
Beletic Croatia
Eureka Duncan
Fishlake #3
Emberly
Floha
French Pink
Newfoundland Tall
Newfie Goldstrike
Polish Jen
Ukrainian Mavniv
Yugoslavian
Wild Buff
Marbled Purple Stripes:
Metechi
Purple Stripes:
Chesnok Red
Duganskij Celan Seed PS
Persian Star
Red Grain
Shatilli
Artichokes:
We may not grow any more (average yield was 3 small bulbs for each strain)
Rocambles:
Anna's Hungarian
Carpathian
German Brown
German Red
Hungarian Kiss
Killarney Red
Korean Purple
Marino
Mediterranean
Newfoundland Heritage
Puslinch
Spanish Roja
Zagreb Croatia
Asiatics:
Asian Tempest
Korean Mountain
Pyong Yang
Turbans:
Basque
Chinook
Cuban
Keeper
Thai
Tuscan
Uzbek Turban
Xian
Creoles:
Spanish Benitee
Silverskins:
Mother of Pearl
Unallocated:
Marie's Lebanese
Elephant Garlic - Available as bulbs and rounds.
