Purple Stripe garlic - Chesnok Red

Purple Stripes have beautiful, elegant bulbs with vividly coloured wrappers and tall, slender cloves. Chesnok Red and Persian Star are classic examples of the Purple Stripe variety. They have 8 to 12 cloves per bulb, are easy to grow, and keep well. If the scape is left on the plant it produces bulbils that are intermediate in number to the Rocamboles and Porcelains and are a mixture of large and small bulbils.

Marbled Purple Stripe and Glazed Purple Stripe have recently been reclassified from sub-varieties of Purple Stripe into varieties in their own right. For more about this see the Garlic Family Tree. Both Marbled and Glazed have fewer, fatter cloves than garlics of the standard Purple Stripe variety. Marbled Purple Stripes have good potential for commercial garlics. Glazed Purple Stripes have delicate wrappers, requiring careful handling and timely harvesting.

Red Russian is a name that is used loosely as many garlics have reddish wrappers and originate from the former USSR. We have five Marbled Purple Stripes which we consider to be typical of the Red Russian type: Khabar, Kostyn's Red Russian, Linda Olesky, Metechi and Wenger's Red Russian. Khabar has a more slender stalk which makes curing easier. The others with their thicker stalks and often huge bulbs are well suited to sandy soils. Linda Olesky is somewhat milder than the other Red Russians.

Purple Stripe, Marbled Purple Stripe & Glazed Purple Stripe Varieties

                   These are the strains we grew in 2019

Chesnok Red

Chesnok Red is a standard Purple Stripe with a clear, bold flavour in a colourful, eye-catching bulb. Chesnok Red is listed in the Seeds of Diversity Canada catalogue of heritage varieties. Chesnok means garlic in Russian.

Duganskij

Probably a Marbled Purple Stripe. It came to us from L&O Farms. Duganskij is listed in the Seeds of Diversity Canada catalogue of heritage varieties.

Gaia's Joy

Gaia's Joy is probably a Marbled Purple Stripe. It has a beautiful energy. It came from Poland via the Plant Introduction Station at Washington State University.

Gourmet Red

Gourmet Red came from Oregon via the Plant Introduction Station at Washington State University. Probably a Marbled Purple Stripe.

Khabar

This garlic is smooth and mellow with good heat and strength, good raw and baked. A Marbled Purple Stripe from L&O Farms. It has a slender stalk for the size of its bulb and cures easily.

Kostyn's Red Russian

A Marbled Purple Stripe that we received as a present from Gary Swann of Port Alberni. His uncle, Kostyn, had been growing this fine garlic for many decades.

Linda Olesky

Linda Olesky is a Marbled Purple Stripe given to us by Bob Klappstein. Medium strength, it is easy to eat raw. Sizes up like a Red Russian type.

Metechi (Red Russian)

Metechi is a well known Marbled Purple Stripe. We got fresh stock from Golden Acres Farm in 2011. We classify it as a Red Russian type. It has a clean sharpness and a good flavour.

Northern Siberian

A Marbled Purple Stripe. It came to us from L&O Farms.

Persian Star

Persian Star is a lovely garlic - fun to grow, an elegant flavour, and beautiful looking. Persian Star is a standard Purple Stripe and is listed in the Seeds of Diversity Canada catalogue of heritage varieties.

Purple Glazer

Purple Glazer is a Glazed Purple Stripe, originally from the Republic of Georgia. It has fewer cloves and they are not as elongated as the standard Purple Stripe. Purple Glazer is listed in the Seeds of Diversity Canada catalogue of heritage varieties.

Red Rezan

Red Rezan is a vigorous, mid-sized Glazed Purple Stripe that we got from L&O Farms.  It has a delightful, long-lasting flavour. Red Rezan is listed in the Seeds of Diversity Canada catalogue of heritage varieties.

Wengers Red Russian

Wenger's Russian is a Marbled Purple Stripe - an excellent Red Russian garlic given to us by Bob Klappstein. Nice heat, strength and flavour.