Is This the Best Garlic in the World?

post by: Debbie Fields September 28, 2010

Field’s Farm does a lot of stuff well.  There’s the interesting potato varieties and all the different brassicas (broccolis + cauliflowers), which number somewhere around 12.  But maybe the best thing at Field’s Farm is their garlic.  Field’s Farm grows Georgian Crystal Garlic.Of course I am going out a limb saying its the best in the world because just doing a brief Google search I found there were more varieties of garlic than I ever imagined, but it is the best garlic I ever had.  I do not even have to taste garlic to know it is great.  I only need to see that it has purple stripes, if it does it will taste great.  (Some bulbs won’t get the stripes, but still taste great.)  The thing that really sets this garlic apart is its massive size.  It is as big as elephant garlic but is as pungent and flavorful as your good traditionally sized garlic.  Elephant garlics appeal, like the Georgian Crystal is that the large cloves are not so annoying to peel and prepare.  Elephant garlic has about as much flavor as a potato though, never caught on and has disappeared from the market.  Field’s Farm is popularizing the Georgian Crystal and other Oregon organic farms are picking up on it, but Field’s is the only grower at the Bend Farmer’s Market that has it.  Central Oregon is a great place to grow garlic, it keeps a long time, maybe even to spring, so do yourself a favor and stock up on it.  I couldn’t imagine my lacto-fermented vegetables without a roughly chopped clove or 2  added.