Gourmet Garlic: Artichokes

Reader Contribution by Andrea Cross
Published on November 3, 2014
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The last of my series of posts discussing the different types of gourmet garlic will explore the Artichoke variety. Artichokes are a family of very large, very prolific softneck garlic. Due in large part to their size, and thus high yield, Artichoke strains such as ‘California Early’ are grown on a large scale for commercial processing into products such as garlic powders, salts, and as the garlic component in many packaged foods. Less commercial cultivars are also available, with popular names including ‘Inchelium Red’, ‘Lorz Italian’, and ‘Susanville’. Like Silverskins, Artichokes are also commonly used in garlic braids.

Cultivation

Artichoke garlics are attractive to commercial growers not only due to their size, but also because they are relatively easy to grow. They tend to thrive in more southerly climates due to the comparatively mild winters, but we also get good results up here in the lower half of Canada. Growers in more northerly regions can still grow Artichokes fairly easily, but may find that the overall bulb size is somewhat diminished and that the plants have a tendency to bolt.

Bolting under stress very rarely produces an actual scape, but may produce a small cluster of large bulbils within a pseudo stalk, up to a few inches above the bulb itself. Otherwise, growing Artichokes reduces some of the intense labor associated with growing garlic, since there are no scapes requiring removal.

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