Elephant garlic explained

The important thing to know about elephant garlic is that it isn't really a garlic (it isn't really an elephant either, but I'm assuming you guessed that).

Botanically and historically, Allium ampeloprasum is a mysterious plant which has only become widely known in Britain in the last decade.

Today you'll find it offered in the autumn catalogues of most seed companies - Marshalls for instance sells two grades, the standard Jumbo and the extra-large Mammoth (www.marshalls-seeds.co.uk, tel: 01480 443-390).

Elephant certainly looks like garlic, with the obvious difference that its cloves are very much bigger. But to use it in the kitchen as a straight substitute for garlic is a bit of a waste.

Its flavour is subtly different and a lot milder - many people eat it raw in salads or sandwiches. In cooking it imparts a flavour that's certainly reminiscent of garlic, but richer and sweeter.

Said to be more closely related to leeks than to garlic, it's nonetheless grown in much the same way as the latter. Elephant garlic is delightfully easy to raise - if anything even easier than proper garlic - and seems subject to few if any serious problems.

The cloves are planted at any time during the autumn. It prefers a long growing season, so I like to take advantage of any spell of workable weather from late September.

Since it's a relatively new crop, you'll find plenty of contradictory advice in magazines and websites concerning its cultivation.

That's because there's always a temptation to universalise one's own experience into rules. So let me be clear - the advice given here is merely empirical.

These methods have worked for me over the last 10 years or so, but it's worth experimenting to find ways that suit your specific climate, soil and so on.

Having said that, elephant garlic doesn't seem too bothered about conditions. Last year I grew it in a spot that's slightly damp and partially shaded and had my best crop yet.

I plant it 9'' apart, with 18'' between rows, and with the tips of the cloves only just below the surface. There's not much else to do until June or July.

Knowing just when to harvest can be slightly difficult. As soon as the foliage begins to brown and flop a little, I very carefully fork up one bulb to check that it's formed recognisable cloves and that the papery covering of the cloves is dry. If so, the whole crop comes up to dry in the sun.

This reveals dozens of small bulbils attached to the roots. In theory these can be sown to produce new plants, but that's harder than it sounds - they rapidly develop a bullet-proof exterior which inhibits germination. If planted immediately before they have a chance to dry out, the bulbils will sometimes grow.

It's worth trying, because elephant garlic "seed" is expensive. But in any case, you can keep back some of the best-looking, completely covered and undamaged cloves for replanting in the autumn.

Mat's harvest - September

Harvesting: Potatoes, apples, pears, runner beans, French beans, cabbage, marrows, summer squash, nasturtiums, chard, mooli, beetroot, kale, cucumbers, courgettes, sweetcorn, raspberries, blackberries.

Tubs: Potatoes, parsley, lettuce, mixed leaf salads, dill, rocket, basil, garlic chives, cucumbers, courgettes, tarragon.

Greenhouse: Tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, peaches.

Store: Onions, garlic, elephant garlic.