German White (Extra Hardy) is in the porcelain group of hardneck garlic seed types with white skin and a little purple striping. It has four to six cloves per big garlic seed bulb, medium maturity and good storage life. It has a strong, pungent flavor yet not too hot. Yield will generally be about 4-5 times the weight planted depending on soil, weed control and care.
German White or German Extra Hardy
Currently the main variety I have is German White also called German Extra Hardy. This variety originated in the northern Germanic region of Europe. Thus it is a good variety for the upper USA and southern Canada areas. Over the years I grew several varieties from different garlic seed suppliers. I settled on German White because of the big garlic seed size, multi use flavor profile and a happenstance of crop failure. In the spring of 2019 Southeast Michigan along with most of the middle Midwest had many weeks of excessive rain. It was horrible for the full time farmers and I couldn't even walk into my little garlic field until mid June. I lost all the varieties I had to that point. It was so stunted by the continuous wet conditions that I just plowed it under when I could. I took extra time to put drainage tile in that field and another one susceptible to flooding.
When I finally was ready to plant another crop the suppliers I'd previously used were all sold out of what I wanted. I found a grower in New York with a good supply of German White so I bought all they had. The German White seed garlic I have to sell is descended from that source along with German White seed from other quality growers to help restore my crop. This big garlic seed is a producer!
Music is another member of the porcelain garlic group. You'll often find beautiful purplish skins under the white outer wrappings. It has 4-7 large cloves per bulb which makes for big garlic seed planting or culinary peeling. Music garlic has a well-developed flavor that's not bitter and doesn't disappear when cooked. It's medium hot and has a true garlic flavor that sweetens when baked or roasted. Yield is similar to German White.
Music
A new addition to my hardneck garlic field is the variety Music. Also a member of the hardneck big garlic seed porcelain family with some similar traits to German White. Music is a popular variety grown just east of me in Ontario, Canada. Music was brought to Ontario by a Toronto taxi driver Al Music, a garlic enthusiast, from Italy in the 1980s. Music planted the garlic on his farm in Norfolk County, Ontario eventually sharing it among others. I tried to find out what was the original Italian variety called but found nothing.
It's really fun to grow because of the big garlic seed, larger plants and great scape production. I'm excited about sharing this one with you.