Georgian Crystal Garlic

SHIPPING & ORDERING INFORMATION:

• GARLIC WILL BEGIN SHIPPING MID-SEPTEMBER AND WILL CONTINUE UNTIL SOLD OUT.
• GARLIC ONLY SHIPS TO THE CONTIGUOUS UNITED STATES.
• WE ARE UNABLE TO SHIP GARLIC TO THE FOLLOWING STATES AND JURISDICTIONS: AK, AFP, AFA, AFE, AS, HI, ID, OR, PR, WA
• SEED SAVERS EXCHANGE HAS THE RIGHT TO SUBSTITUTE A SIMILAR VARIETY IN CASE OF A CROP FAILURE OR SHORTAGE UNLESS YOU INDICATE OTHERWISE WHEN REVIEWING YOUR ORDER AT THE TIME OF CHECKOUT.

The seed for Georgian Crystal garlic was obtained from the Gatersleben Seed Bank and is also known as 'Cichisdzhvari' garlic.

Garlic has a history of over 7,000 years of use in human culture and is native to central Asia. As well as being used for food, it has also been useful as a medicine, even as recently as World War I and World War II.

Some European cultures have been known to associate garlic with "white magic" or spiritual protection, giving rise to the belief that it will ward off vampires.

• Organic
• Hardneck
• 4-6 cloves per head
• Good for storage

This variety works for

• Fresh eating
• Sautéing
• Stir-fries
• Roasting
• Pickling
• Soup
• Long-term storage

Raw garlic is extremely potent and should be used carefully in dishes. Garlic pairs well with acid-rich foods like tomatoes and citrus and creamy sauces made with butter.

To roast garlic, leave the cloves connected but cut off the top of the head and drizzle olive oil over the cloves before placing in the oven. Roasted garlic can be added to dishes or spread over slices of bread.

Garlic scapes, also known as "spears" or "tops", grow as part of the stem of a garlic head. They are tender and have a mild garlic flavor. They can be used in stir-fries or pickled like beans.

Softneck garlic varieties store the best when their tops are kept on and braided into a rope. Make sure to discard any bulbs that are spongy, moldy, or damaged.

Garlic is generally planted in the fall for a harvest the following summer in regions where the ground freezes over the winter. When planting the cloves, place them so that the root end is down and space them between 6-8 inches apart. Cover your cloves with 2 inches of soil and at least 6 inches of mulch (either straw, hay, leaves, or grass clippings). In the spring your garlic will begin to emerge and it is important to keep it well weeded. When the scapes, or curly flower stems, are about 10 inches long you should snap them off. When the leaves of the garlic plants start to die back you will want to harvest the bulbs and dry them for storage.