Visiting The Garlic Farm on Isle of Wight

A couple of weeks ago we went on a day trip to the Isle of Wight, Hampshire to visit the Literary Festival, and during our day out we just had to visit the Garlic Farm which has been on my list of places to visit for years. I love garlic, it's a kitchen staple and has so many health benefits like lowering blood pressure, fighting against bacteria and bugs, lowering cholesterol, helping prevent against brain diseases like dementia and Alzheimer's, and it's full of antioxidants.

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Did you know that Isle of Wight is the biggest producer of garlic in the UK? The Garlic Farm is open daily 10am-5pm and has 50 acres of garlic, and produces 150 tonnes of garlic per year - this garlic is sold to delicatessens and fine food shops across Britain and supermarkets, Waitrose in East Cowes and all of the Island’s Co Op stores. Wow. That's a lot of garlic!

The Garlic Farm is a fun day out for the whole family - you can explore the restaurant which is full of delicious food and drink including garlic beer; the Education Centre where you can learn about the benefits and history of garlic and the Garlic Farm; and Taste Experience where you can go all out and taste what the Garlic Farm has to offer! In the summer months you can also have a tour around the farm.

We first header to the Taste Experience (shock, where all the food is!) and tasted the chutneys, pickles, garlic mayonnaise and ketchup, garlic oils, garlic vinegars, and even garlic jams! There was also a selection of raw garlic which is grown on the farm, all 16 varieties of it - we sampled little bites and I absolutely loved the Elephant Garlic which is grown wild in the UK. It has a kick but a more soft flavour than some other garlics we sampled. Elephant garlic is the biggest garlic, sometimes growing bigger than a grapefruit! We also tasted black garlic which can be used for dips, and also desserts like ice cream! It's sweet and very very soft in flavour.

We then ventured to the Education Centre where I learnt the centre of origin for garlic is in Kazakhstan and it travelled with early man. There are activities for kids like making your own garlic bread and educational trails to embark on.

Our next stop was the restaurant and shop - you can buy all the garlic products you have tasted and more: from jams and pickles, to raw garlic, planting garlic, garlic beer, garlic jam, cook books and guide books from the shop. You can also buy products online - good for us as it may be a little bit far to pop to the Isle of Wight every time I want an Elephant garlic clove to roast! The restaurant is always busy so expect there to be a little bit of waiting time - in which case you can pop to the little cafe hut and have a cup of tea and cake or snack whilst you wait.

The restaurant is very cosy and has a delicious menu: it took me ages to be able to pick what I wanted because everything looked so good! Safe to say that 99.9% of the menu has garlic in it. We went for Garlic & Anchovy Fondue (Bagna Cauda) which is warm garlicky fondue, vegetable crudités & island baked bread; and Whole Roasted Garlic Bulb with Warm Ciabatta & Farm Salad to start; and both decided on the Highland Salt Beef which is Garlic Farm-reared bourbon & honey glazed beef, jacket potato wedges (we swapped for chips), sour cream & chive dip, garlicky pea shoots.
The meal was absolutely delicious - and it made me obsessed with roast garlic, so much so that I think every meal I can wedge roast garlic in to I do! It's like a garlicky pate which is incredible spread over bread and butter. The highland beef was so soft and flavoursome - I'm getting hungry just thinking about it now. We would highly recommend allowing time to visit and eat at the Garlic Farm Restaurant.

I really enjoyed our trip to the Garlic Farm on Isle Of Wight - what a fun day out! If you like garlic then it's definitely a place to be - even rain wouldn't damper our moods on the wonderful Garlic Farm!

For more information on the Isle of Wight Garlic Farm visit: The Garlic Farm