Colin Boswell

About Garlic

Isle of Wight Garlic began in my mother's kitchen garden in the early 1970s. The hot summers of 1975 and '76 effortlessly produced quality garlic, bright and white, superior to the miserable imported garlic that was to be found on shop shelves around the country.

We trialled a number of garlic types but found that the best results came from garlic originating in the Massif Central in France. This Auvergne garlic became the basis of what is now Solent Wight, a selection that consistently produces garlic that has real strength and bouquet and keeps well in a modern centrally heated house until at least February and often up till June the following year.

Isle of Wight Garlic soon gained national fame when our MP, Steve Ross, announced in an Agriculture Debate in the House of Commons that he had a constituent who was exporting garlic to France - it was sold in Marks and Spencer's store in Paris.

Roger Woddis was prompted to write in ''Punch Magazine'':

      Gallic Garlic freaks at dinner
      Are now often heard to say
      ''Merde! This is our native product
      What we want is ail anglais''