[Trillium]

Well, I've done it. I've bought too many varieties of garlic for this fall. Not only too many varieties but too many heads as well. Boy, it's gonna stink around here come next spring  
Bought Georgia Crystal, Inchelium, Carpathian, Brown Rose, Music, Tibetan, Asian Tempest, F40 an unnamed hybrid from a local grower, and Red Russian which is its way to me. Now to find space for them all since I got so carried away - 6 big heads of each  :roll:  
The hybrid grower says he makes a lot of pickled garlic which keeps the best. Peel garlic, finely chop it, place in jar and top with vodka. Instant pickling. He puts a spoonful every day on his porridge, along with banana, nuts, cayenne pepper and cinnamon. WOW, what an eyeopener!  

[crowndale]

personally I like brown sugar on my poridge but each to his own  

I have sent off for two kinds of garlic, 2 bulbs each, and thought I was being adventurous!  Mind you I have very little space this year to grow them until the allotment comes through.

[Bagpuss]

Wow, I'm impressed Trillium, I've just got porcelain garlic as recommended by WG and you, I think.

Never heard of pickling it, but worth a try, but not on porridge Uggh.

[Trillium]

I think you'll be happy with your Porcelains Bagpuss; most of them do well in lesser light and colder temps.
My porcelains are Georgia Crystal and Music. Also of the hardnecks are Carpathian (a rocambole) and Brown Rose (marbled purple stripe). The others are all Artichoke Softnecks, which are proven growers in my area. Otherwise I wouldn't bother with them. I was surprised to find how many commercial garlic growers lived near me, and these were all grown for many years by them. I met them at a garlic festival this past Saturday and learned even more.
Crowndale, if you have't much room, prep spots in any flower beds and grow your garlic. That's what I'll be doing with my, ahem, excess  

[crowndale]

Yes, could do  I've grown dwarf runners in the  flower beds this year, garlic would make a change!

[Bagpuss]

I was surprised to find how many commercial garlic growers lived near me,

I never thought of Canada as a garlic growing area.  I've always just associated with the Mediterranean :roll:

It seems a good idea to plant some in flower beds as I am sure the smell will put off some of the unfriendly bugs.

[WG.]

Canada, Argentina and China are major major exporters of garlic.  All have the cold weather necessary for this crop which is native to Siberia.

I think we tend to associate it with the Mediterranean for culinary reasons.

[Trillium]

I know we have major commercial garlic growers here, but my surprise was at how many smaller market growers literally lived within a 20 minute drive of my house - and at the wide varieties available from them. I was thrilled at the idea of not having to order (what I consider) overpriced garlic plus shipping costs from mail order sources just to get variety.
As for growing it in Canada, a few years back garlic mashed potatoes was a HUGE trend here and every other farm field was planted in garlic. Garlic overload was an understatment of the sheer volumes of the buds - little of which sold because the glut was too huge.   Now only the major garlic farms bother to grow it commercially. The smaller garlic farms, under 10 acres, are thriving out of sheer variety. Yet, despite all the garlic we grow, we still import many tons of tasteless China garlic to fulfil our part of trade agreements  

[gobs]

native to Siberia.

Just that is what I recently read about somewhere, the search for the mother of all garlic in Georgia, not US, but Asia.  And so some experts maintain that Georgian garlic is one of the best and I fancy trying it.

Do you know anything about such varieties, Trillium? What is the origin of the Georgian something you bought, if you would know?
Thanks, gobs

[Trillium]

It's still a guess where garlic really originated but one of the popular theories is that wild garlic was first domesticated in a desert area of southern Siberia, which is closely linked to the Asian countries who like to claim it as theirs. It's a proven fact that Egyptian tomb builders were fed garlic to keep up their strength and stamina, but garlic doesn't grow well in warmer climes so it's questionable whether they grew it, or simply imported it. One proven fact is that many varieties produce hotter bulbs after colder winters. And growing weather doesn't get much colder than parts of Siberia. Georgia is a section of Russia and probably cultivated garlic for sheer survival, so it's possible their long growing lineage developed finer tasting varieties. Most people don't realize that a lot of our garlics are actually hybrids (but not F1 type hybrids), hence the varieties of sizes and hot/mild flavours. As for the 'mother' garlic, I suppose you have as much luck digging it wild in the forests as anywhere   The Romans would certainly have brought a lot with them and allowed it to reproduce. Canada could easily get all these hybrid varieties as Alaska was once owned by the Russians, who sold it to the US, who'd trade/sell garlic with Canadians.
As for the Crystals, I didn't see any listed on WG's source list in another thread, and I know that most Cdn sources won't ship out of continent due to agric. regulations of other countries.

[gobs]

thanks, tril, somehow all that just makes me more curious and I'll definitely get some.

[Top Cat]

where does everyone get their garlic from ? the local garden centres or are there specilaist suppliers i should try........  I have never really tried garlic but would live to as use it all the time (we don't like vampires in Wales )

[Sally A]

Got mine from the Really Garlicky Co, I put them in about a week ago, and seem to spend more time replanting them where the dogs/cats/who knows what keeps unearthing them.

[Top Cat]

I'll give them a try ...................maybe you have squirrels who enjoy cooking !

[Sally A]

Dont joke, have had to beat the squirrels off with a stick collecting walnuts.  One of them did a brilliant trapeze act over hanging baskets.