Garlic

We’ve started shipping 2023 seed stock – click here

Garlic has become an important ingredient for boosting the immune system. In addition, the export of garlic into South Africa has been drastically reduced. As a result, prices have skyrocketed. March/April is the time to plant garlic for harvest in October/November. Harvested garlic has an approximate 6-month shelf life if stored correctly. 

Apart from supplying garlic seed we also run a one-day Garlic Growing Workshop on 18 February 2023 which include information on everything you need to know on preparing beds, selecting seed, growing, harvest, and storing. More…

 Wickedfood Earth Farm garlic has become a highly sought-after product in South Africa, because of its high quality. We supply direct to consumers and to leading organic and health shops, as well as supplying organic, heirloom garlic seed stock to growers.

We grow 6 different varieties commercially, all with their unique flavour profiles, from hot and very pungent, to sweet and mild. We are always on the lookout for different varieties, and in 2018 trailed a further 13 varieties.

During the 2022 season we planted 10 different varieties of garlic to see what would grow best in our area. We will harvest 6 varieties for commercial distribution from November this year. Our Wickedfood Earth Egyptian Pink Garlic is usualy harvested in mid October, then cured it for 2 weeks, before packaging and distributing. The remaining garlic varieties were harvested from early to mid-November to early January. This stock of garlic has a shelf life to the end June 2023, but we will sell out well before.

In 2021 we had late frost as the garlic was coming out of hibernation, which killed a lot of the heads. Then excessive rain during harvest prevented the outer protective leaves from forming and drying properly. This year we thus have very limited seed garlic available. The one positive is that the garlic heads that survived are extremely hardy and so far they are looking strong and health in the fields. 

Organically produced

We know we have a great quality organically produced product. With the growing of our garlic, as with all our produce, we apply a holistic approach to farming, following the principles of organics, and permaculture. We make all our own compost and do not use pesticides, fertilizers or genetically modified seed stock.

During the 2019 growing cycle we had a lot of challenges to overcome, the greatest of which is that our main borehole dried up completely early in winter 2018. Fortunately we had a backup borehole with a windmill, so we could also claim that our garlic had zero carbon footprint while growing. It is a great concern that with the ongoing drought and shift in rainfall patterns, attributed to climate change, water is becoming a major issue in food production, the effects of which are certainly starting to come to the fore. In our valley alone, all the boreholes are yielding significantly less than 3 years ago, with more than 50% having dried up or becoming unreliable.

 

The 6 varieties available from Wickedfood Earth Farm are:

We’ve started shipping for 2023

• Wickedfood Earth Egyptian Pink (±16 cloves per head @ R20 per head for fresh, R40 per 50g seed garlic) – a medium clove garlic, the most pungent variety that we grow. This is our flagship garlic that we have been growing for the past 10 years. Over the period we have selected the very best seed to propagate from which has resulted in a high quality garlic. It has a wonderful flavour and texture. If you like a stronger flavoured garlic then this is the one for you.

• Egyptian White (±12 cloves per head @ R20 per head for fresh, R35 per 50g seed garlic) – probably the garlic that is most often available in the supermarkets. A firm white head with a good garlic flavour. Produces and stores very well.

• Wickedfood Earth White (±12 cloves per head @ R25 per head for fresh, R35 per 50g seed garlic) – specially bred over the last 7 years at Wickedfood Earth Farm from a classic French garlic, with a large squat clove. It is easy to peel, with great mild flavour and pleasing floral aroma.

• Giant or Elephant Garlic (sold out) – Giant Elephant garlic is not actually a garlic, it is a member of the leek family that looks, tastes and behaves like a garlic. A mild flavoured garlic much favoured as it’s easy to peel and produces impressively large cloves. Perfect for eating raw in salads.
  

• Tuscan Garlic (±11 cloves per head @ R25 per head for fresh, R30 per 50g seed garlic) – A short squat cloves, easy to peel and have a wonderful aroma and flavour. Originating in Italy, this is a traditional Italian cooking garlic, great for replicating authentic Italian cuisine.

• Eastern Porcelain Garlic (±10 cloves per head @ R25 per head for fresh, R35 per 50g seed garlic) – Large and typically all white, hence the name Porcelain. It leans toward the hot and slightly aggressive in flavour. Cloves are on the large side with a few per bulb, a good choice for those who like copious amounts of garlic with little peeling. Porcelains have among the highest yields of allicin, the sulfur compound most associated with garlic’s therapeutic properties.

• Mixed Pack Taster (100g of a mix of all the garlic cloves we have @ R120 per pack) Egyptian Pink, Egyptian white, Wickedfood Earth White, Tuscan, and Eastern Porcelain. This would give you good taste of the various garlic we grow.
  

All our garlic is available off the farm – Contact Mike 060 761-0885, earth@wickedfood.co.za 

 

Recipes

At Wickedfood Earth Country Cooking School we only use our organically grown garlic, both in our cooking classes as well as in the various preserves, relishes, chutnies and sauces we produce. The Cooking School team finds that it has a far superior flavour to most of the conventional garlic available on supermarket shelves.  

Butterflied leg of lamb

By butterflying meat, it helps it to cook quicker and more evenly as well as giving a greater surface area for the marinade to have an effect on. This Spanish-inspired dish, with a garlicky Salsa verde is a favourite at Wickedfood Earth Country Cooking School.  It works equally well with shoulder, chops or fillet. A boned leg of lamb can also be cubed, marinated and grilled on skewers. It can either be cooked in the oven, on an open braai, or in a kettle braai. Serve with boiled potatoes, or a potato salad and roasted butternut, cole slaw or green salad. Also great in rolls or pita breads. More…

Green Garlic What It Is And How To Cook It

Around this time of early summer, green garlic comes into season at Wickedfood Earth. Green garlic or spring garlic is the young version of the garlic, before it divides itself into separate cloves. More…

Garlic Bread – click here

 

Other Recipes – click here