Beekeeper's Sicilian

aka WISCONSIN BEEKEEPER, previously listed by WI JO D as WISCONSIN SICILIAN and IA NE M as SICILIAN WINTER HARDY, I received the seed from OR DR A but I understand the Sicilian family [the beekeepers] lived in Whitewater, Wisconsin - 60 miles Northwest from where I'm growing it. SSE member WI JO D (Don Johnson) met the elder beekeepers in the 90s, and confirmed they were Italian immigrants. Don also confirmed my earlier speculation in past Yearbooks: The family of the older lady (in her 70s in 1990) brought this cultivar from Sicily when she was a girl! Therefore we are now certain this Sicilian strain has survived our very cold climate for at least 90 years. It should be noted that in 2014 - remember the Artic Vortex of minus 40 - less than half the plants emerged in the spring. Also perhaps of interest, in 2014 (and 2015, but not in 2016) I observed a few plants with partial bolt and bulbils wrapped in the leaves, which is possible for an A. sativum, (this variety is correctly classified as an artichoke type). I'm growing out the bulbils to monitor if there are any epigenetic changes in the bulbs grown from the aerial seed [see pictures of the bulbils in online exchange]. For my curiosity I'm growing out the plants obtained from the aerial bulbils in 2014, 2015 and 2023 separately. OR DR A lists it as an artichoke, even though it does not develop tiny cloves, layered in the traditional artichoke fashion. But Avram says the plant has the characteristic leaf architecture and simple flavor. IMPORTANT NOTE: For the purpose of Fall plantings, I have been selecting the cloves when breaking bulbs apart.. it's obvious to observe how this plant develops what I call "OUTIES vs INNIES" .. In the past I thought that OUTIES are always larger than INNIES.. not so sure now! Actually, notice the pix of a single INNIE.. from the 2015 strain > I found this massive INNIE as the single INNIE in a bulb, surrounded by OUTIES. BUT more relevant, are OUTIES producing larger bulbs than INNIES? The jury is still out. For the 2024-25 season, I have planted an equal amount of each. (see online exchange for the comparison pix). Interesting note: the plants grown with smaller aerial bulbils properly spaced, produced full size bulbs the first year. This is of TWO garlic strains I am listing for KUFI Farm org, but I still grow a large collection, representing all 7 garlic types: porcelain, rocambole, purple stripe, creole, turban, artichoke structure and silverskin. Note: special pricing because we feel that you will give additional care to this special plant. Also see the additional listing UZBEK FERTILE GARLIC.