Bogatyr Garlic Packs a Punch

Bogatyr Garlic Packs a Punch

  • Hardneck garlic

  • Classified as a marbled purple stripe garlic

  • Great for northern climates but also widely adapted

  • A hot and spicey garlic!

  • Easy to peel cloves

This is one of the prettiest garlic varieties we grow. I love the bright purple stripes and hefty, dense heads. Originally from Russia, this garlic keeps for a long time for a hardneck variety- 7 to 9 months! Medium sized heads are made up of a few, large cloves, usually 4-6. Bogatyr is closely related to another popular Russian heirloom- Metechi.

This is a great variety for garlic and honey fermentation! Garlic is known in Russia as “Russian penecillin” for its anti-biotic properties.

Thanks for reading Giving Ground Seeds- notes from the field! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Hardneck vs. Softneck Garlic Varieties

Bogatyr is a hardneck garlic. We offer both hardneck and softneck varieties of garlic, and many people ask us- what is the difference?

-The cloves are of hardneck varieties tend to be larger than softneck, but there are less cloves per head. They also tend to be easier to peel.

-In most four-season climates you can grow either hardneck or softneck varieties, but hardneck varieties tend to be more cold hardy for far northern climates.

-Softneck varieties store much longer than hardneck.

-Hardneck varieites have a more powerful flavor.

How to grow it:

Plant individual cloves in fall, Sept-Nov, root side down, about 2 inches deep. Cover with straw mulch to help protect cloves from deep freezes. Harvest when leaves begin to dry down, around mid-July. Hang to let cure for 2-4 weeks in a covered location protected from direct sunlight.

To learn more about growing garlic, check out our lengthier but still concise guide- Ten Steps to Growing Great Garlic.

Back to News