# 108 varieties of garlic



## bunkerbob (Sep 29, 2009)

Yesterday I went to Campo, Ca about 100 miles south from us to pick up a stack of hog fencing that was advertised on Craigslist. And yes it was more than worth the trip for the fencing. 
This 30 something fella has a small farm, 43 acres, in the mountains and grows vegetables for the local chefs at restaurants and farmers markets. He said that he had also collected 108 varieties of garlic from all over the world and grows them there. 
I was curious about the garlic and he invited us to his barn where they are kept to cure for planting, well I was dumbstruck when he opened the door, sure enough, there hanging from the rafters in a natural well chilled environment was hundreds of garlic heads. Each bundle was labeled and tied up. 
He started to name just a few and my head started to spin, there were some from Siberia, Transylvania(yes Dracula), China, Russia, on and on. Some of these were so rare they get upwards of $50 per pound. He is in the process of taking inventory and was cautious about depleting some of the most rare and would not sell some of these.
Well temptation overwhelmed me and I bought a few to plant in my garden and eat, of course these were some of the more affordable varieties. 
He will in the near future have a internet site to sell to the public as well.

BB


----------



## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

They really are different too, some varieties will blow your socks off, some are very mild, some have really tasty scapes.
The most amazing thing to me is that they are all cultivated by bulbs so developing a new variety is very difficult. On the plus side no worries of cross pollination if you grow several varieties.


----------



## crabapple (Jan 1, 2012)

There are 3 or 4 Organic farms on line.
I have been buying garlic from one for 3 years now.
Garlic from all over the world, Russia was the hardest to gather from.
They, the KGB believed the gathers were spies.
So they could only travel at night, so as not to see anything behind the fields.
I have only 5 kinds now, but it is 10 times better then store bought cloves & one hundred time better then powder garlic.
Garlic is easy to grow, if you would like tips PM me & I will give you my tips & web sites that really helped me.
Thanks for this thread.


----------

