Therador is perhaps my favourite variety of garlic. I LOVE the taste, it is not sharp or pungent, still intense but with a sweetness to it.

It is a soft neck garlic (the ones you can braid,) an early variety that is easy to grow even in more challenging conditions. In my experience this variety can tolerate fluctuating temperatures better than many other varieties, which is very helpful with our ever-changing climate.

I planted around 200 cloves of this variety the last week of October 2024, all of them from my own garlic. I harvested a handful today, to see if they were ready to be harvested. They look good, but I believe they can grow a little more, so I am taking my chances leaving the rest in the ground for a while longer.

Ideally I’d like for each individual garlic to be big enough to cure in one of these squares. Not all of the ones I harvested today have that size, so I decided to put them two and two together. After harvest the garlic is left to cure for about 2-3 weeks in a warm, dry place (I’m using my shed.) When they are cured they can be stored in room temperature until it is time to harvest garlic next year (sometimes longer.) Never store garlic in the fridge, they will sprout and develop a bitter taste. You should leave the stems on the garlic until after it is cured, for many reasons: to prevent mold, rot and bacteria to find it’s way into your garlic, and to assure proper drying and long-term storage. Hopefully I’ll be able to add the rest of my Therador garlic shortly. I am also growing the varieties Cledor and Otakar, but they will take slightly longer to mature. Are you growing your own garlic? Do you have a favourite variety? If so, what is it that you like so much about it? I’d love to know! Please tell me in a comment.

Maria