Sturdy plant, good keeping qualities, good flavour
Received from Filaree Garlic - 5 bulbs per pound, 9.8 cloves per bulb. Although listed as having 4 to 5 rows of clove per head, the ones I received had either just 1 row or a second partially filled row. The cloves, however, are extremely large and heavy. Inchelium Red is an artichoke type and, hence, should store well for 8-10 months.
As its name implies, this is indeed an early garlic. The bulbs are smaller than normal but the flavor is very sweet with no aftertaste. One of my favorites.
One of my favorite hardneck varieties that I've been growing for a few years now. It stores well and the large cloves are easy to peel. I also look forward to harvesting the delicious scapes that appear in late spring, usually about the second week of May, although in this cool-season year they showed up around the 1st of June. Cut the scapes after they have made at least one loop. This practice is said to allow all of the energy to go back into the plant and help it grow bigger bulbs. Only hardneck varieties of garlic will grow scapes.
From the Filaree order I received, there are 8 heads per pound, 3.75 cloves per bulb. Although the bulbs are mid-sized (2-2.25" in diameter), the 3-4 cloves inside are large to extra-large. Paper white outside, cloves are purplish brown,
This turned out to be the best garlic I have ever tasted. The white cloves are enormous in size and only get 4-5 cloves per bulb but the flavor is the strongest with a very nice and long lasting garlic aftertaste. Will be trying to grow more of these in the future, not sure about storage life, haven't been able to keep it long enough to find out. Makes the best garlic butter and anything you want a nice stronger garlic taste with.
