Chesnok Red Hardneck Garlic - (Allium sativum)

Chesnok Red Garlic - Sweetheart Favorite

Chesnok Red is an easy growing, true medium hardneck garlic that stores well and wins people over with both its magnificent, full-flavored fresh and roasted flavors that are strong, complex and richly garlicky without being overpowering. It regularly wins acclaim and awards as one of the best tasting baking garlics.

A delicious treasure from the Republic of Georgia in the former Soviet Union, this is a Purple Stripe type with the heavy purple striped wrappers of its namesake. Very attractive, it can grow to be rather large in excellent soil. Cloves are easy to peel.

Chesnok Red is a robust and very hardy grower. Great producer in most states, doing well in even with warmer winters but will produce larger heads and cloves in cooler winter areas. 

Details

Averages 8 – 10 cloves in a circular pattern per head. Large heads can have up to a dozen cloves. Excellent keeper, lasting up to 8 – 9 months in cool, dark storage.

Uses

Full flavored without being hot or aggressive, has a mellow aftertaste. One of the best, most dependable baking and roasting garlics. Actually tastes sweet after slow roasting!

What is Hardneck Garlic?

Garlic is divided into two main types – hardneck and softneck – based on whether or not each variety develops flower stalks, the hardiness, clove formation pattern, and flavor. 

The “neck” in the name refers to the long flowering stem – called a scape – that grows upward from the bulb, only found in hardnecks. Also called garlic spears, stems or shoots, they are cut while they are still young and tender and used as a vegetable and a seasoning due to their fresh, delicate garlic flavor. Slowly but surely scapes are gaining in popularity. Cutting the scapes also helps the bulb grow larger, better-developed cloves. 

The garlic found in supermarkets or grocery stores is usually softneck – Artichoke is the variety for sale as bulbs and Silverskin is braided.  

Hardneck garlic has a more complex flavor profile, being richer, spicier, and generally more ‘garlicky’ with subtle flavors reflecting where it was grown. The strength and character of the flavors vary, from mild purple stripes to musky porcelains to hot and spicy rocamboles.

Purple stripe and rocambole types are the hardiest, best for gardeners who live in the northern U.S. Gardeners living in mild climates should have good luck with porcelain varieties, especially if they vernalize, or pre-chill their garlic for 4-6 weeks before planting. 

Growing Tip

It is important to remove the scapes from Purple Striped garlic varieties as soon as they appear, otherwise, the scapes can compromise the size of the developing bulbs.

Minimize your spring weeding by planting a cover crop of cereal oats in the fall - about a week after planting the garlic - and letting the oats mature until the first frost kills them, creating a thick layer of beneficial mulch. The oat residue crowds out early spring weeds while adding needed nutrients for the maturing garlic. 

Because of their short roots, garlic can’t compete very well with weeds, so you must either pull the weeds or prevent them from growing in the first place. Oats give the additional benefit of providing additional nutrients to the garlic right as they resume growing after the winter, making for bigger and tastier bulbs. 

Our article - Grow Great Hardneck Garlic at Home - walks you through the details of how to grow the best and most delicious garlic you’ve ever had!

Learn More

• Grow Great Hardneck Garlic at Home
• Peel Garlic in 10 Seconds
• Korean Pickled Garlic
• Honey Pickled Jalapenos with Garlic

Shipping Restrictions

U.S. shipping only, Cannot ship to certain counties in Washington or Idaho

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