Inchellium Red soft neck garlic (Monticello harvest) was as pitiful as the Broadleaf Czech.

Inchellium Red is an artichoke garlic that is touted as the easiest type of garlic to grow and as a good keeper. That has been my experience across the 12 years that I have grown this soft neck garlic. Every harvest through those years yielded strong, large bulbs. However, the weather conditions—3 weeks of non-stop rain (unbeknownst to me)—just prior to the week I arrived in Monticello, KY and harvested left the plant leaves wet and susceptible to pests whose reason for existence is to decay garlic and turn it back into soil, eventually. Consequently, I cleaned each bulb until I found signs of that decay from the moist leaves still inside the bulbs after 3 weeks of curing. Each decayed or infected clove was discarded.

Since I could not braid plants—no leaves were braidable, I separated the beautiful, sound cloves, peeled them and pickled them in distilled white vinegar with herbs—dill, winter savory, or thyme that were grown with organic practices..

These 8 oz jars of pickled cloves are available for purchase. Please specify the herb you prefer: dill, winter savory, or thyme. These perfect naked cloves pickled in distilled white vinegar $2 (cost of jar and vinegar) and $20 for about 20 fresh cloves may be picked up, or I can deliver in Monticello, KY and Louisville, KY. Text 502-494-4052 to request naked (peeled) cloves pickled in distilled white vinegar with herbs, 8 oz —$22.

I’ve never had pickled garlic, so I had to try the product. A boiling pickle brine was poured over the cloves in the jar and allowed to cool. This did not cook through the cloves, so the chilled jars yield cloves that taste like fresh garlic with its full flavor and bite—the intensity of that “bite” depends on the type of garlic. These Inchellium Red cloves when RAW and pickled have a bit of a bite that does not linger on the tongue. I liked them paired in the same bite with a carrot, cucumber, or spoonful of another dish to complement and spread out the flavor. I don’t care for especially spicy foods. Someone who does, or who consumes raw garlic often would probably like these just as they are right from the jar.

I was able to find a few bulbs or partial bulbs to save for a SEED braid for the crop to be planted this fall.

And I was delighted to have 5 sound bulbs to design into the only Monti harvest Inchellium Red braid this 2024 season.

Inchellium Red (Monti harvest) 5 bulb braid.

So, although for the most part, this type also did not yield a good crop, I’m delighted to have salvaged seed bulbs and one braid. The Monticello harvest had many lessons to teach me this season.