• Big bulbs that produce big cloves
• Sweeter and milder than smaller garlic
• Easy to grow
• Get four times the quantity at harvest time

Elephant garlic is a crop on the vegetable plot to turn heads. More closely related to the leek this variety acts more like a garlic in taste, smell and the way it grows.

Plant your Elephant Garlic in autumn or winter. It needs that guaranteed cold spell in winter to break the bulb into separate cloves. We recommend you choose a site that has well-drained soil and is in a sunny position. Make sure they are 20cm (8in) apart to give them room to grow. They look dramatic and impactful reaching up to a metre (3 1/2 ft) in height.

They will also produce a lovely purple flowering head which ought to be cut when it emerges to get the best bulb for eating.

The flavour of the Elephant Garlic is milder and sweeter than that of the traditional garlic. This lends Elephant Garlic to roasting whole.

Try basting it with olive oil and then roasting it in the oven where it will give you a creamy-textured vegetable or eating it raw, grated into a salad.