[brianh]

Hello Everyone

I'm new to this veg growing, having moved to house with a bigger garden recently.

I ordered garlic and elephant garlic from Marshalls last year but it didn't arrive till the new year, and they substituted the garlic variety as they'd had probs with the one I picked. I planted it all about 4/5 weeks ago and the regular garlic is romping away already and looks promising, but no sign at all of the elephant garlic popping it's head out of the soil at all.

Is the elephant garlic usually slower?

[DD.]

I planted both at the same time last year and they all came up at roughly the same time.

Don't know if you've tried elephant garlic before, but having tried it last year, I'm not bothering again - it's practically tasteless, something which others have agreed about on this forum.

Welcome, by the way!!

[wellingtons]

... I planted four different types of garlic, one of which was elephant.  The others escape me but I think one might have been Albigensian White.

Anyway that's irrelevant, cos they all came up well before the elephant garlic ... so don't panic!  I think I planted mine in October, and from memory it was a couple of months before the elephants came up.

[WG.]

elephant garlic - it's practically tasteless

You'll get more flavour in a good leek (which is a close relation of elephant garlic)

[Annie]

My elephant was so late coming up I had a little dig,they hadn`t rotted but had only just started sprouting 4 weeks after the others were above soil.So just be patient.It`s the first time I`ve grown these so I hope they aren`t tastless.

[wellingtons]

... 4 ... for fun!  Like I grow pumpkins predominantly for fun ...  

[DD.]

My elephant was so late coming up I had a little dig,they hadn`t rotted but had only just started sprouting 4 weeks after the others were above soil.So just be patient.It`s the first time I`ve grown these so I hope they aren`t tastless.

Sorry, mine were, whisky_golf agrees as have others when this came up before.

[Annie]

Even raw?

[WG.]

Even raw?

It'll have some flavour but nothing like normal garlic.   Try it basted with olive oil, roasted and spread on toast, or simply as a veg along with a pot roast.

[Annie]

That sounds OK as I have grown ordinary garlic as well.Come to that i still have loads to eat from last year.

[Oliver]

elephant garlic - it's practically tasteless

You'll get more flavour in a good leek (which is a close relation of elephant garlic)

Elephant garlic is a total waste of time. But is some does emerge, peel it and drag the clove on some lightly toasted bread to eat with a (fish or other strongly flavoured) soup

[brianh]

Thanks for the answers - I'll be patient and wait for it to pop up. As for the taste I've never had it before, so was looking forward to trying it, thinking I would eat it as a roast vegetable. Have only got one short row of it so if it's not a success I'll chalk it up to experience and not bother next year.

[Trillium]

I agree with the others on elephant garlic - very mundane taste for a higher price. I've read sources that say it was introduced for an upscale market of people who wanted garlic that didn't stink. Huh? It's so mild, that it's almost not there, unlike the extravagant price. Tried it once, never again. Leeks give a bigger bang for the buck, as we say here.  

[muntjac]

dump the blooming garlic keep n efalump . think of all that manure