Garlic ‘Extra Early Wight’ (Autumn Planting)

What You'll Need

A garden fork or trowel • Well-rotted garden compost • Concentrated Slow-Release Onion, Garlic & Shallot Feed Granules • Horticultural fleece if birds are a problem • Horticultural grit if you have heavy soil

Prepare Your Soil

Choose an open, sunny position with fertile, free-draining soil. Garlic dislikes sitting in wet ground, particularly through winter. If your soil is heavy, work in plenty of organic matter and horticultural grit to improve the structure and drainage, or grow your garlic in a raised bed or container. Avoid planting in freshly manured ground.

Planting Your Garlic

Keep the bulbs whole until you're ready to plant, then carefully separate them into individual cloves, leaving the papery skins intact. Plant each clove with the flat base down and pointed end upwards, spacing them around 15cm apart. Cover the cloves with around 3–4cm of soil, leaving approximately 30–40cm between rows.

Protecting Young Shoots

Birds can sometimes pull up newly planted cloves or emerging shoots before they've rooted securely. If this becomes a problem, cover the crop with horticultural fleece or suitable netting until the plants are well established.

Watering & Feeding

Keep your garlic adequately watered during dry weather, particularly in spring as the bulbs begin to develop and swell. Avoid waterlogging the soil and stop watering during the final few weeks before harvest to help the bulbs mature.

Watch for Scapes

As a hardneck garlic, ‘Extra Early Wight’ produces a flowering stem known as a scape. Remove it while young so the plant can concentrate its energy on developing the bulb. Don't throw it away – the tender scapes are edible and have a fresh garlic flavour that's great in stir-fries, omelettes or pesto.

Keep It Weed Free

Garlic doesn't compete well with weeds, so keep the area around the plants clear. Weed carefully by hand or hoe lightly between the rows, taking care not to damage the developing bulbs.

Growing in Containers

‘Extra Early Wight’ can also be grown in a large container with good drainage. Give the cloves plenty of space and place the container in the sunniest position you have. Container-grown garlic will dry out more quickly, so check it regularly during dry weather.

Good Companions

Garlic takes up relatively little room above ground, so it fits easily into a productive vegetable plot alongside crops such as carrots, beetroot and leafy salads. Just make sure neighbouring crops don't crowd it as the bulbs develop.

Making the Most of Your Bed

Quick-growing radishes and salad leaves can be grown nearby and harvested while your garlic is still developing. Leave enough space around the garlic for plenty of light and good airflow.

Crop Rotation

Garlic belongs to the onion family, so avoid planting it where onions, shallots, garlic or leeks have recently been grown. These crops can be affected by some of the same soil-borne pests and diseases.

Planning Ahead

Where practical, leave three to four years before growing onion-family crops in the same ground again. Because ‘Extra Early Wight’ is harvested early, the cleared space can be used for later-sown salads and other quick-growing vegetables.

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Fresh Garlic for Early Summer

One of the pleasures of ‘Extra Early Wight’ is having freshly harvested garlic while many other varieties are still developing. Its fresh flavour works particularly well with the lighter dishes of late spring and early summer.

Make Crispy Garlic Slices

Finely slice the cloves and gently sauté them until golden and crisp. ‘Extra Early Wight’ holds its shape particularly well when cooked this way, making it ideal for scattering over pasta, vegetables, salads and stir-fries.

Use It Fresh

Try finely chopped or crushed cloves in dressings, marinades, garlic butter and sauces where its fresh garlic flavour can come through clearly.

Enjoy the Scapes Too

Don't overlook the young scapes from your hardneck garlic. They have a fresh garlic flavour and can be chopped into stir-fries and omelettes or blitzed into pesto – giving you something to harvest before the bulbs themselves are ready.

Understanding Your Garlic Bulbs

Garlic is supplied as a whole bulb made up of individual cloves. Separate the bulb just before planting and plant each clove individually. Each healthy clove can develop into a complete new bulb.

Bulb Size & Clove Numbers

Garlic is a natural product, so bulb size and the number and size of cloves will vary. A bulb with fewer cloves isn't necessarily smaller or poorer quality – it may simply contain fewer, larger cloves. The approximate clove count shown on the product page is therefore a guide rather than an exact number for every bulb.

Hardneck Garlic

Hardneck varieties typically produce fewer, larger cloves arranged around a firm central stem. They also produce the characteristic flowering stem known as a scape, which can be removed while young and eaten. Hardneck garlic generally doesn't store for as long as softneck types.

Softneck Garlic

Softneck varieties generally produce more cloves of varying sizes and don't have the rigid central stem found in hardnecks. Their softer, flexible foliage can be plaited once dried, and they generally have a longer storage life than hardneck garlic.

Your ‘Extra Early Wight’ Garlic

‘Extra Early Wight’ is an early Turban hardneck with Chinese origins that was developed in France. It produces large white bulbs and is particularly valued for its exceptionally early harvest. You'll receive 2 bulbs, with approximately 8–10 cloves per bulb.

When Your Garlic Arrives

Keep the bulbs whole until you're ready to plant and separate the cloves immediately before planting, leaving their papery skins intact. If you can't plant straight away, keep your garlic somewhere cool, shaded, dry and well ventilated until you're ready to get it into the ground.