Garlic

2010 Garlic List and Order Form will be posted here on August 1st, 2010! Stay tuned...

We loooove garlic here at Hope Seeds!  And who wouldn't knowing that:  Garlic  is one of the most cold-season friendly crops to grow with companion-planting qualities to boot; it's wonderfully medicinal offering super immune system boosting properties;  and just adds so much to any divine dish that comes out of the kitchen!

Hope Seeds is a garlic fanatic!  It is one of our favourite crops to grow (it just loves our cool climate), and has so much variety and history.  Our trials include more than 40 different cultivars, and involve propagation from bulbils as well as cloves.  In 2009 we offered 7 varieties for sale, and we’ll only add more in 2010.  Please note:  We will only post our 2010 garlic listing on our website—no paper mailing!  The list (with extensive planting instructions, info about specific types and varieties, and growing-from-bulbils) will be available on August 1st, 2010. 

Shipped in September for Fall planting. 

Quick Links to:
More about Hope Seeds' Garlic
How to Plant and Grow Great Garlic
Garlic Resources

Ordering Garlic Info
2009 Garlic Varieties and Price List

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About Hope Seeds' Garlic

In the listing below, you'll see the word "Rocambole",  "Porcelain" or "Purple Stripe" after the variety name.  This indicates the classification based on plant characteristics.  All are hardneck types that send a central flowering stalk up through the leaves mid-Spring, developing their bulbil capsules if left on the plant (most growers pick these flower stalks off to encourage larger bulb growth underground). As well, each type store quite well and are hardy in our colder growing climates.  Rocamboles  have an average of 6-11 cloves per bulb, have somewhat flattened bulb shapes, and brownish to red-purple clove skins that are easy to peel.   Porcelains  are big plants with big bulbs and cloves (a commonly grown variety is "Music").  Wrappers are typically all white, while clove skins range from yellow/tan to reddish purple.  There is an average of 3-6 cloves per bulb, with 4 most common.  Clove skins cling tightly, making them a bit tricky to peel.  Purple Stripes are the ancestors of all other types of garlic - the real garlic Grandaddies!  With the greatest genetic diversity of any group, their name comes from the vivid purple colour and striping on both the bulb wrappers and clove skins.  Clove skins are somewhat tightly attached, making peeling more difficult than rocamboles, however giving a longer storage life.

We've been experimenting with starting our garlic from bulbils.  Huh???  Well, it all has to do with those scapes that we all pick off our hardneck varieties late Spring/early Summer.  We leave some on to mature (sacrificing some bulb size) and develop their bulbils.  This is an excellent garlic growing technique that will: Increase your planting size exponentially faster than planting by cloves; help avoid soil-borne diseases spread by planting cloves; and re-invigorate varieties that lose their spunk over the years.  As we learn more, we'll post information on growing from bulbils and start to offer bulbils for you daring types out there to try.

How to Plant and Grow Great Garlic

Printable version (PDF)

Growing garlic is very rewarding, simply because it just really wants to grow in our cool, moist, northern climate.  No real fussing, not a lot of attention is required to get a successful harvest.  That said, the more fussing and attention you give, the greater your garlic will become!  Download our info sheet "How to Plant and Grow Great Garlic" for all the spicy details.

Garlic Resources

We participate in the Great Canadian Garlic Collection project organized through Seeds of Diversity Canada.  This project is an attempt to grow, disperse and record the characteristics of dozens of rare garlic types.  As cultivars are planted across the country, we're discovering that their growth patterns change - it just isn't the same weather here in New Brunswick as it is in B.C. (just in case you forgot...).  Hope Seeds has been able to access and share many different garlic varieties through this program, some of which have become our favourites!

Another excellent resource, also from Canada, is Paul Pospisil's The Garlic News.  I discovered this handy quarterly newsletter about a year ago when I contacted Paul regarding disease and planting info.  What a wealth of information, and so freely shared!  Click our Garlic News link for more info on Paul, The Garlic News, and a subscription form.  Any garlic growing enthusiast should not go without!

Ordering Garlic

Please download and print the 2009 garlic order form.  As you browse the listing below, fill in your selections, complete your shipping/contact information and mail with payment to our office.

Hope Seeds is not able to supply larger quantities of garlic than those pack sizes listed below.  We are carefully building our plant populations of many varieties by selecting heavily for the best quality stock to re-plant and share with you.  This takes many growing seasons, and we thank you for your patience.

We cannot ship garlic (or seed potato or Jersalem artichokes) to customers outside of Canada.  International regulations on the transfer of "live plant material" makes this very difficult, and we just don't have the resources to cut the red tape.

Orders are filled on a first-paid-first-served basis, and we generally do not put garlic orders "on hold" for phone, fax or e-mail requests.   We accept payment by Visa, Mastercard, cheque, money order and cash.  

Orders are shipped in September using Canada Post, expedited parcel shipping.   This method ensures your garlic reaches you within 5 business days (most often sooner to Eastern Canada destinations, 5 days to BC) after we put it in Canada Post's hands.  If you should require a different or faster shipping method (i.e. courier, bus), please contact us.

2009 Garlic Varieties

All varieties are hardneck.

NEW!  HUNGARIAN RED - Rocambole                                           Certified Organic SOLD OUT FOR 2009! A rocambole strain that has acclimatized to our Maritime soils and weather in Hope Seeds' gardens for the last 7 years.  It has never let us down with it's gorgeous purple striped wrappers, deep red clove skins, and sweeter flavour with milder heat.  6-9 cloves/bulb avg.  Grown by Hope Seeds.

NEW!  GERMAN EXTRA HARDY - Porcelain                            Certified Organic  Well known to commercial growers, however German Extra Hardy has proven itself to backyard gardeners as well.  Extra large bulbs (avg. 2 1/2") with white wrappers revealing pretty pink clove skins.  Cloves are mini-giants, avg. 6/bulb.  Our grower, Wild Rose Farm in Plympton, NS got their original 5 lbs. of planting stock 10 years ago from a farmer on the South Shore.  It has been multiplying in their soils ever since, the mainstay of Wild Rose's garlic production.

NEW!  YUGOSLAVIAN PORCELAIN - Porcelain                     Certified Organic SOLD OUT FOR 2009! An excellent porcelain type with many good traits: large bulbs and cloves, protective clove skins ensure longer storage, robust plants that adapt quickly to new growing conditions, although does best in cooler climates.  4 cloves/bulb avg.  Grown by Hope Seeds.

NEW!  LENINGRAD - Porcelain                                                           Certified Organic Seeds of Diversity Canada lists Leningrad as hard to find and endangered.  Originally from Belarus, despite the geographic nomenclature tying it to Russian descent. Hot raw flavour tames a bit with cooking.  4-6 cloves/bulb avg. Grown by Hope Seeds.

NEW!  GEORGIAN FIRE - Porcelain                                                  Certified Organic SOLD OUT FOR 2009! Another rare variety by Seeds of Diversity Canada's heritage plant database.  Our taste tester circle was unanimous when declaring Georgian Fire has the "fill-your-mouth-white-hot" kind of heat!  White wrappers with beautiful red clove skins.  3-4 cloves/bulb avg.  Grown by Hope Seeds.  A-packs only.

NEW!   NORTHERN QUEBEC - Porcelain                                      Certified Organic SOLD OUT FOR 2009! A newer variety to Hope Seeds' collection, Northern Quebec shows promise.  This variety is not maintained by any Canadian or US gene bank - so it is up to each of us to keep this one growing! Robust plants with medium-sized bulbs and cloves.  Grown by Hope Seeds.  4 cloves/bulb avg.

NEW!   PERSIAN STAR - Purple Stripe                                      Certified Organic SOLD OUT FOR 2009! We call this garlic "G.P.'s Persian Star" as it came to Hope Seeds from George Peobody's Kirkland Lake, NB gardens. (Yes - the same George Peobody of "Peobody Sweet William" fame!).  Starting from just 2 bulbs that he shared with us a few years ago, finally we have enough to offer to you.  Long, pointy cloves around a hard central stalk.  Beautiful purple stripes on clove skins. An initial heat that quickly receeds to allow the garlic flavour through. Grown by Hope Seeds.  8 cloves/bulb avg.