PURPLE STRIPE garlics are ancestral to all other domesticated strains according to the 2004 Ft. Collins genetic fingerprinting study. Initial leaf growth is epigeal: sprawling leaves stretched out lazily over the soil. Eventually they reach for the sun with slender, paler leaves. They have white bulb wrappers with 8-12 vividly colored, tall, crescent shaped cloves with elongated tips. They store up to 8 months but readily sprout when treated to high humidity. Many cultivars are fertile and capable of producing true seed. One pound of Purple Stripe will yield 50-60 cloves, though this is variable. Purple Stripes are $11 per ¼ lb; $17 per ½ lb; $27 per lb.
Anarres (see description on the True Seed Progeny page)
Kishlyk (see description on the Wild Garlics page.)
Shatili (W6 35683) This variety is from the now mostly depopulated, the highland village of Shatili on the Georgian border with Chechnya on the northern slope of the Caucasus Mtns. It was home to ethnic Khevsurs and Kists and best known for its impressive stone fortresses and towers. It was also a conduit for Chechen refugees fleeing Russian bombardments during the wars in the 1990s and early 2000s. 1 lb. limit
Ozodlyk (see description on the True Seed Progeny page.)
Shvelisi (W6 35657) ❧ From the town of Skhvilisi in southwestern Republic of Georgia near the Turkish border, just a few miles west of the small city of Akhaltsikhe. Consistently productive, it has a rich flavor, excellent raw and sweet roasted. Inner wrapper and cloves are fuchsia colored. It more commonly known by the ironic moniker “Chesnok Red.” “Chesnok” is the Russian (and related languages) word for garlic. If the 2008 Russian invasion of Georgia is indicative of the less than harmonious relationship between the two countries, they have even less in common linguistically. In Georgian the word for garlic is “niori”.
Zemo Mtsara aka Verchnyava Mcara (PI 540356) ❧ White wrappers with vibrant reddish clove coloration and complex flavor characterize this cultivar from Abkhazia. Located NW of the Republic of Georgia, Abkhazia seceded after a war for independence in the early 90s, expelling over 100,000 Georgians (mainly ethnic Svans and Mingrelians) in the process. While Georgia still claims this territory as its own; Abkhazia was recognized by Russia (as well as Nicaragua, Nauru and Venezuela) after the Russo-Georgian War in 2008. This remains a “frozen conflict” The Abkhaz language is distinct from Georgian and is considered part of the “North Caucasian language group.” It has only two distinctive vowels but fifty-eight consonants. Zemo Mts’ara is the name of a village on the Upper Mts’ara River where this garlic originally obtained. “Verkhnaia” is Russian whereas “Zemo” is Georgian for “Upper”. The Upper Mts’ara drains into the Aapsta River, the mouth of which is at Gudauta on the Black Sea. 1 lb. limit
Yuggoth (see description on the True Seed Progeny page.)