Garlic Botanical Name: Allium sativum (Liliaceae)
General Description/History: - Related to onion, shallots and chives - The bulb at the base of a plant - The mature garlic bulb is a group of small bulbs known as cloves - Held together by 2-3 layers of papery skin. Select plump firm bulbs with no sign of bruising or decay. Remove clove from bulb and peel. Use whole, sliced, crushed or finely chopped. Garlic requires moist conditions, winter chilling and increasingly warm days towards maturity. Garlic is propagated from individual cloves which are planted from mid-autumn to mid-winter. Newly planted bulbs or young plants require temperatures between 0-10°C for one-two months to enable bulbing. Plants may fail to form bulbs if they are not exposed to temperatures below 20°C. Garlic matures between early and mid-summer taking 59 months from planting. The plants are mature when the leaves have dried off. Garlic is part of the onion family. Garlic bulbs were found in Tutankamen’s tomb, who was buried in 1358BC. Garlic has been valued.
Alternative Names: Bahasa: bawang putih Chinese: da suan or suan tau English: garlic Thai: gratiem
Varieties: Please click pictures to see seasonality
White	Purple	Ball
Growing Areas: QLD - Gympie, Lockyer Valley NSW - Dareton, Finley, Griffith VIC - Sunraysia SA Adelaide Plains, Riverland WA - Perth Metropolitan Outer Areas
Preparation Videos: Preparing Garlic Making Garlic butter
Nutritional Value: A good source of dietary fibre. Garlic is valued for its medicinal qualities, particularly as an antiseptic and a cold/flu deterrent. 390kJ/100g.
Storage/Handling: Store with onions in a cool dark area. Garlic has a storage life of up to 6 months. Consumer Storage: Whole bulbs should be stored in a dry, well ventilated place. Individual cloves can be peeled and stored in an air tight jar in the refrigerator.
Recipes: Potato Wedges Chicken and Garden Vegetable Risotto Middle Eastern Yogurt Lamb with Pumpkin Couscous Grilled Garlic Mushrooms with Garlic Yogurt Dressing Roasted Capsicum and Olive Bruschetta Quick Vegetarian Pizza Baked Spuds with Spicy Cauli Topper Scrumptious Vegetable Lasagne Easy Marinated Artichoke Hearts Malay braised ginger short rib of Angus beef on sautéed rice noodles Gourmet Ratatouille with Rosemary Lamb Rack Eggplant in the Pan Pan Seared Muscovy Duck Breast, Creamed Spinach, Pan Juices Basil Pesto New Potato & Green Bean Salad Tomato and Avocado Bruschetta Tortellini with Ricotta and Pumpkin Steamed Fish with Ginger and Spring Onion Upside Down Parsnip Tart Asparagus Cheese Bruschetta Baked Bruschetta Marinated Artichoke Bruschetta Stuffed Zucchini Flowers Broad bean, Herb and Egg Salad Fettucine with tomato, sausage and fennel sauce Creamy Capsicum Dip
Interesting Facts and Myths? There is an all-garlic restaurant in Stockholm where they offer a garlic cheesecake. Another all-garlic restaurant in San Francisco offers garlic ice cream. (The name of the place is a nickname for garlic...The Stinking Rose!). Yet another all-garlic restaurant in Helsinki, Finland, not only serves garlic cheesecake, but garlic beer. Onions, garlic and asparagus are lilies. Chicago got its name from the American Indian word for the wild garlic that grew around Lake Michigan - "chicagaoua".