Frequently Asked Questions

Boars Rock Farm grows and sells certified organic Music Garlic, it is a porcelain hardneck garlic. There are two types of garlic: hardneck and softneck.

Hardnecks have cloves growing around a hard central stalk. This stalk forms a curling scape (or flower stem) on top, and requires growers to cut this off as soon as it curls to redirect the energy to the bulb.

Softneck garlic forms more cloves, with big ones around the outside of the head and numerous small ones at the center. Softnecks also tend to keep longer once harvested than hardneck. Hardneck garlic tends to have more flavours and that also reflects where they were grown. The strength and character of the flavours vary from mild purple stripes to musky Porcelains, to hot and spicy Rocamboles. There are many different breeds, but you should grow a breed that is compatible with your area.

This is photo of our Music Hardneck Garlic drying in our barn.

Garlic scapes are the thin, curly, green stalks that grow from the bulbs of garlic plants. If left unharvested, the scapes will eventually bloom a little flower as the garlic fully matures. But most garlic farmers harvest this delicacy in late spring to early summer so the energy can go back to the garlic bulb in the ground. These are meant to be eaten….because they are so good. Also there are some people who can not eat garlic because of food intolerance and illness. For those who follow The FODMAP Diet, garlic scapes are finally on the choices of foods they can eat. The resulting scapes taste like a unique blend of onion, scallion and garlic. However, scapes are usually less fiery and have a fresher, greener taste than the actual garlic bulb. The texture is similar to an asparagus, or green bean.

Fresh scapes unfortunately have a short season because garlic farmers try to get them off the plants as soon as possible (the longer they stay on the plant, the smaller and less tasty the bulb). They are also not available in many generic grocery stores, so it's a good idea to stock up when you find them. Here at Boars Rock Farm, we grow up to 100 thousand garlic plants and have always offered scape lovers the opportunity to come out and pick all you want for free, as long as you help us pick a bag or two for our production process.

Paul's ancestry comes from Scotland and the clan Maclaren which dates back 1000 years. ‘Creag an Tuirc’ translates from Scottish Gaelic as ‘The Boars Rock’. Boars Rock was an ancient rallying place of the clan Maclaren to gather and they would chant “For Boars Rock”. When Paul first bought our farm, he saw a very large boulder in a fence row and climbed up and shouted “For Boars Rock!” It was meant to be a rallying point for all our future endeavors. Interesting enough, Boars Rock in Scotland is the site of Rob Roy's grave.