Tochliavri

Artichoke Group Softneck – Non-bolting

There are many cultivars in the Artichoke Group. Whilst a few Artichoke cultivars have an excellent flavour most are warm to hot taste and a more vegetative flavour. Much of the commercial crop in Australia has been or is similar to the California Early and California Late cultivars.

Originally collected in 1988 from Tochliavri in the Republic of Georgia this garlic travelled via Germany (and the Gatersleben Seed Bank) to the west. Probably imported on more than one occasion, the Tochliavri seen in Australia today may originate from John Clifford, Garlic Farm Sales, Victoria. It is now grown in SA and supplied via Diggers Club.

General Information

Other Names	Red Toch
International Names	Tochliavri, Red Toch
Flavour	Very good. Raw mild to medium, not much heat but with a complex mellow spicy flavour. Cooked fragrant aroma, starts with a slight bitterness but finishes with a very nice flavour and without a great deal of heat.
Storage	Good. Medium to long.
Growing location	NSW, Victoria, SA, Northern Tasmania and Southern WA. Likes dry heat.
Growing requirements	Grows best in regions with hot dry summers and cold winters. Quite easy to grow as long as the winters are not warm to hot and the maturing season not too humid
Planting and harvest	Mid-season planting and mid-season harvest.

Bulb

Shape	Generally lumpy and round, teardrop to flatenned shape. Medium to large typically 6 to 7cm. In warmer areas tends to become elongated almost oblong shape.
Skin colour and texture	When first dug they are white, some having a few purple splotches. They dry to white or slightly off white. Skins are a bit coarse and tough on the outside and hard to break into but thinner and finer as move toward center wrappers

Clove

Number and layout	10-18 in two to three layers. If allowed to grow on too far the larger outer cloves subdivide into many small cloves. Some years, especially in warm winters the bulbs tend to have an outer layer with a large wide clove either end, a middle layer with 3 large cloves & an inner layer with a few small cloves. There are usually no double or triple cloves.
Size and shape	Various sizes and shapes with typically a couple of medium to large, a few medium and a few small cloves. The outer cloves are fat wide and rounded with no sides concave inner surface. The inner cloves are thinner, taller and some have pronounced edges. Average weight of 7 gm for the large outside cloves and average weight of 5gm for next layer cloves.
Skin colour and texture	Varies depending on the season typically creamy white but some years can be pale mauve, tan to dark tan. Outer clove skins are quite thick and hard adhering tightly to the cloves and difficult to peel but once split they peel more easily. The inner clove skins are thinner and a bit fiddly to peel

Plant

Size and shape	Substantial but short to about 60cm mature, strong pseudostem, wide and spreading. In less ideal conditions can grow narrower and weaker but still deliver a good bulb.
Leaves	Broad, mid to pale green at 45° to pseudostem and typically fold in middle.
Young plants	Less than 12 weeks the plants can already be quite substantial but almost no height to the pseudostem.
Matures	Pseudostem becomes soft and easy to squeeze at the base. All the leaves close together at the top of the plant.
Scape	None
Umbel and beak	None
Bulbils and flowers	None