Elephant Garlic Gardening Kit

***NOTE: We are out of elephant garlic rounds for the 2022 season*** 
In place of each garlic round in the kit you purchase, we will provide two additional elephant garlic cloves.
 
Create your own elephant garlic garden! Elephant garlic is biennial which means that it fully matures after two years during which it undergoes several phases of growth. Within this kit, we provide elephant garlic in each phase of development so that you can see how the plant evolves. The smallest seeds are called "corms" which are small and hard like acorns. When corms are planted and allowed to grow, they turn into "rounds" which look like a single elephant garlic bulb that does not have cloves. Rounds can be eaten just as with the more common cloved bulbs and have the same flavor. If rounds are planted in the ground, they grow into the cloved elephant garlic bulb that most are familiar with. 
 
These kits come with samples of each phase of the elephant garlic grow cycle and can be ordered to create small, medium or large sized gardens. Our elephant garlic is naturally grown without the use of herbicides/pesticides. 
 
Elephant garlic is a fairly simple and robust plant and thus can be fun to grow for both experienced and novice gardeners:
 
Elephant garlic can be planted in the fall (typically about 30 days before the ground freezes). It can also be planted in the early spring as well, but will likely not have enough time to split into cloves.
Plant the seeds in an area that gets lots of sun, approximately 8-12 inches apart and approximately 2-4 inches deep in loose well draining soil with the pointed end of the seed facing up (this is where the seed sprouts come from)
For seeds sewn in the fall, cover the growing area with compost or mulched leaves to protect them from the frost over the winter
In the spring after the ground thaws, water the soil to keep it moist but not water-logged
Over the spring and through harvest, make sure the area is weeded. Elephant garlic is considered a "heavy feeder" and weeds may steal valuable nutrients, inhibiting growth.
In the late spring and early summer, the stalks formed from rounds and cloves will produce a flower stalk called a "scape". These can be cut off as soon as they form and can be cut and eaten. They have a delicate garlic flavor. Cutting these scapes early allows the plant to direct its energy to growing a large bulb in the ground.
The final garlic bulbs can be harvested when the leaves begin to dry out, turn yellow and bend over. Use a trowel or gardening fork to loosen the soil and pull the bulbs straight out of the ground.
After harvesting, place the bulbs in a well ventillated, cool, dark area to cure them prior to consuming them.