Andrew Kurtek Heirloom Garlic Grower

Andrew Kurtek has been working hard since last fall

—make that for the past 3 to 4 years—to bring Seed Bank shoppers this year’s harvest of specialty garlic for planting and eating. And there are still a few months to go before his famed garlic hits the shelves.

Missouri born Kurtek is growing garlic varieties from all over the world, forty four varieties in all, which is no easy feat.

The veteran organic garlic farmer has been a regular at the Petaluma Farmers’ Market for over 20 years, but this year you’ll only find his organic gourmet garlic, including seven varieties from Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Catalog, at The Seed Bank in Petaluma.

“You have to have a lot of patience to grow garlic,” he says. It takes years, sometimes as many as four or five, to acclimate imported seed garlic to your growing area. And each growing season is eight to nine months long, from fall until late spring.

Kurtek will replant garlic varieties up to three or four times, using the best cloves (or seed garlic) from each year’s crop as he strives to get the varieties accustomed to local growing conditions. The goal is to produce the largest and most flavorful garlic possible, with the longest shelf life possible, he says. His garlic stays fresher much longer than the standard garlic you find at grocery stores, he adds.

Kurtek has 5,000 garlic plants growing on a quarter acre in West Petaluma, and he does all his farming himself and by hand, from tilling to planting to weeding to harvesting. He plants early, mid season, and late season varieties to ensure a bountiful crop regardless of weather conditions. Garlic isn’t happy in cold climates and doesn’t like its soil saturated for too long. Kurtek was a little nervous this rainy season, but his crop made it through just fine.

Andrew and his garlic

Garlic is fertilizer greedy, he adds. He uses a mix of weathered eucalyptus leaves from his property along with some wood ash, potash or oyster shells. The mixture adds to the garlic’s sweetness, and the dried eucalyptus leaves—he swears—keep the gophers away.

Come May and June, Kurtek will be harvesting Baker Creek Heirloom garlic varieties such as Okalahoma, Kaskaskian, Red Toch, Lorz Italian, Inchelium Red, German Extra Hardy, and Brown Tempest. Other organic specialty types you’ll find at The Seed Bank will include Kurtek’s own Purple Haze, a huge, hearty, purplely garlic great for roasting, as well as Chinese White, and Thai Fire.

A bulb of Kurtek’s garlic represents years of labor and care as well as some of the best tasting garlic you’ll ever enjoy.

“I just truly love the flavor of garlic,” says Kurtek. “I don’t even think I’d want to live without it.”

Stop by The Seed Bank in late May and early June for Kurtek garlic—great for roasting, recipes, and as seed garlic for planting.

Sue Capella is a home and garden writer based in Northern California.