What is Persian Star Garlic?
Persian Star purple garlic is a variety with a purple and white striped skin, making this garlic attractive not just for eating but also as decoration and in centerpieces. There are other purple stripe varieties, but this one has the most striking coloration. With origins in the central Asian nation of Uzbekistan, Persian Star garlic is a hardneck variety. This means it will grow a scape, a flowering stem, which is edible. Hardnecks have cloves that form in a single ring in the bulb. They grow better in colder climates than softneck varieties, and they do not store as well. Keep your Persian Star bulbs for only four to six months. Persian Star garlic flavor is less hot than other garlic varieties. Its distinctive garlic heat is milder and more delicate. This means you can eat them raw better than other varieties, but the cloves are also delicious and sweet when roasted.
How to Grow Persian Star Garlic
When growing Persian Star garlic, plant outside in mid- to late-fall in colder climates and as late as early spring in warmer climates. Make sure the soil is rich, amending with compost if necessary. Begin watering your garlic regularly when greens start shooting up in spring. You’ll want to decrease watering as you get closer to harvest time. Because this is a hardneck variety, it’s important to cut off the scapes as they appear. When you see a long, green flower stalk with a white, bulb-like flower at the end, cut it to allow the plant to put more energy into developing the cloves and bulb. The scapes are edible and delicious. They have a subtle and sweet garlic flavor and can be eaten any way you would eat green onions, raw or cooked. Depending on when you planted the Persian Star garlic, be ready to harvest bulbs any time between early and late summer. Look for the lower leaves of the plants to have dried out with a few green leaves at the top. You can check one plant to see if the bulb is ready before harvesting the rest. Let your bulbs cure by drying in a cool place for a few weeks before you use them.
