Tough year for garlic in the upper Midwest. A couple of our garlic sources had crop failures. For this reason, 'Music' will likely be the ONLY garlic variety we have available this year (2025).
Allium sativum
Origin: Italy (via Canada)
Improvement status: Cultivar
Life cycle: Perennial (grown as a biennial)
Weight and price options:
1/2 pound: $15
1 pound: $28
5 pounds: $130 ($26 per pound)
Music is one of the best-loved hardneck garlics available today. It came to the US via Canada, but originates in Italy — where garlic is of course a critical ingredient in so many dishes. Each bulb features just a few (4-8) enormous cloves, making it easy to use in the kitchen. Considered a porcelain-type, it is notable for producing tall, sturdy, delicious scapes (flower spikes) which emerge and grow into a tangle of coils before straightening out to flower. The long scapes of Music make it an excellent dual-use garlic for gardeners and market farmers (we like to pickle the scapes).
Music is spicy when raw, but mellows to a deep, rich, classic garlic flavor when cooked. Many chefs prefer Music over every other garlic variety. Some sources say its exceptional flavor is due to higher-than-usual concentrations of allicin, an organosulfur compound present in all garlics and believed to be responsible for many of garlic's health benefits.
This garlic was grown by our close friend Clint Freund of Cultivating the Commons in Amery, Wisconsin.
GROWING TIPS: We recommend planting between September and late November in most of the US. Here in Minnesota and Wisconsin we typically harvest garlic in July. About five heads of 'Music' equals one pound.
