If you like garlic from the store, try planting some garlic from the store. At least it's cheap to try. ;)

IMO, it's not too late to plant either. I planted in Jan once when a store-bought head started sprouting and it grew and headed up just fine. If your ground is already frozen, you could plant cloves in ~4" pots, water and mulch them. The garlic will root and come up about the time the ground can be worked, at which point you can transplant them.

I plan to try some from the store, but I was kinda wondering, if there was something along the same taste lines as store bought, but tasted better...as does everything home grown.
tammy

I have some second generation store bought garlic going and it looks pretty darn nice compared with my main crop which is a purple stripe. PLUS, the heads I grew from the store bought garlic seem to be storing a bit better than the purple. Some of the purple is already sprouting and there is no sign of a sprout on any of the grocery store variety. I am thinking that whatever stores the longest is the best for my use.

Thanks still kris for the info on the store bought. I did find some nice size heads at the grocery store last night and bought a few. I am going to choose the largest cloves and put some out this weekend. I figured I would try the store bought since it is so late in the yr, and then maybe try and obtain some named varieties next summer.
Tammy

You are welcome, Tammy. You might as well try that, eh? What have you got to loose and you have lots to gain (and learn) that way.

Garlic is garlic. The difference is in the varieties.Flavor is the same.
I have been planting, store-boughts, from ealy september till december. They are all up. Some are ready to be used as green young garlic. I will plant some more in JAN/FEB.

Cyrus_gardener, are you saying all the varieties taste the same?
Tammy

tammyinwv, I really like the taste of the garlic in the boxes also. It is grown in California, I checked out their website and they never say what kind of garlic it is. I planted some in a pot and it sprouted right away and is doing well, I also planted some of it outside and mulched it. You being in zone 6 just plant it, mulch it and see what it does. I am betting it is a pretty good producing garlic if it is grown commercially and I hope it will survive my winters. I guess everyones taste-buds are different, I planted a few different varieties to see if I find something I like even better!

Tammy,
So far in my life I have not noticed a measurable difference in garlics tasts, pungancy and flavor. To me garlics are not like melons, squash ...or tomatoes. They are more like onions. Threrfore, the differences are very subtle. That is how I think about it anyway.
Having said all that, I, myself like to try different varieties too, just for the heck of it. Mybe I will discover a difference in taste and flavor too.

Hi Tammy,

This site (see link below) contains a lot of excellent information on garlic, and they describe dozens of different varieties and sell by the bulb. Great people! Like all places they are sold out now, but you can place orders next August for the 2011 season.

http://www.wegrowgarlic.com/catalog

It's not too late to plant, but supermarket varieties (California Early and California Late) are probably all you will find now. I put out a few extra rows of garlic last year on Dec 13th and they came out beautiful.

TomNJ

Thanks TomNJ, I did check that site out recently and emailed them. As you said, they are sold out. Then I decided to just go ahead and try some store garlic.
The garlic I found was nice size loose heads. I have never seen anything other than the boxes before. But I prob wasnt looking either.I picked out the largest cloves from these (which were MUCH larger than those in the boxes). I then planted these. So we shall see. If there's not an apprieciable difference (and I dont know that I would want any difference since I do like what I have bought in stores), then this is certainly the easiest and probably cheapest route for me.
Tammy

Tammy, Have you tasted that loose garlic? At the grocery stores where I live it tastes old and never shows any signs of life. I read somewhere that a lot of garlic is imported from China and they use a growth retardant on it to keep it from sprouting. I have only attempted to plant grocery store garlic that is labeled as organic and grown in America. Sometimes the cheapest and easiest isn't always the best. Then again who knows, not much is true 100% of the time, you might have the best crop ever grown. Good luck.

generator, I did use it for cooking recently and never noticed any difference. I believe it was in chicken parmesan dish. I guess I will find out next yr if it sprouts. But then again, cant I take a clove now and put it in the fridge to test?
tammy

Sure,try the fridge or plant a clove in a pot and see what happens. If it grows you can eat it.

I shop vegetables, fruits and GARLICS at Asian (Chinese Korean) market. They sell garlics in big pile, both loose and in mesh tubes. I have been planting the same for two years now and have had no problems. They all come up fine.
I have done the same with shallots.

You have to look for firm ones with biggest outer cloves.
Plant only the outer ones and use the inner ones for cooking.

IF you are concerned that store-bought garlics might be treated with sprout inhibiter, get some organic ones from whole food stores.

I agree with Cyrus, I don't see a huge difference with garlics in terms of taste.

There is a difference, but in the end they all taste like garlic. The pungency is probably more related to the soil/environment they grew in than variety. Having said this, I am not a raw garlic eater, some folks are. These folks probably do notice varietal differences, but for those of us cooking with fresh garlic I doubt any real difference is going to be noticed. Kind of like tomatos if you think about it. Eat them fresh and you can easily taste differences, but cook them into a stew or sauce and those differences become much less pronounced.

What I look for in the garlics I grow is that they produce medium to large cloves reliably for me. The store bought is hit or miss. When I get a bunch of heads where a lot of the cloves are tiny I find it annoying as it just means more time spent peeling them. For me in Wisconsin Musik and Siberian work well.

Cyrus,

"Garlic is garlic. The difference is in the varieties. Flavor is the same."

There is a difference in flavor between different artichokes, purple stripes or Rocs. I have several artichokes and I can tell them apart just from the flavor. I have some that are very mild with a bit of sweetness and some that will burn you stomach after you swallow it. There is a difference.

Cooked down I'm not sure I can tell but have been told that a few of the Purple stripes go better with some foods. For those of you that just use it to cook with and don't really care about what it really taste like then go get that sh!t from China for .20 a bulb. Do you know how you can tell a garlic from china ??? The basal plate has been hollowed out.

You guys would be amazed at the complexity of different flavors between various bulbs. Even my garlic powder made from different varieties has a different flavor. So, I guess I'm saying that if you think all garlic is the same then you don't know much about it.

-bloo

This is my first year growing garlic. I bought some "Red Toch" garlic at a local farmers market back in September. The grower recommended it as a fairly mild flavored garlic that stores very well. I ate some and planted the rest. I'm looking forward to my first garlic harvest next year.

OK, my fellow gardeners, maybe there are subtle differences in fresh, raw, uncooked garlics. I am not trying to deny it or say otherwise. But for all practical puposes, when garlic is used in cookings, it will be as hard as brain surgery to tell the difference TO ME, of course.
Like most gardeners, I like to have varieties, regardless of taste. Right now I have three or four different garlics growing in my garden. I can see some differences just by looking at the green tops.
But I look and strive for the variety with most productivity, i.e. bigger bulbs, eassy storage, so forth.

I like this. Now is the best time to talk about ALLIUMS. Because they are the ones that are growing in gardens rigth now. I have garlics, shallots, onions, leeks, flat chivese and onions from seeds. They deserve my praise (along with cabbages) that keep the gardena alive.

One thing that I guess we must consider is that everyone's taste is different. What one person loves, someone lese will undoubtedly hate. I hope to try some of the other garlics next yr. But I found it is a little late to obtain them this yr.
I got out some of those loose garlic a couple of days ago to cook with, and they are starting to spout some green from the centers. I never eat them raw,only cooked in dishes. I couldnt even tell a difference in these large loose bulbs and the smaller boxed ones in taste.
Tammy

if you cook garlic the volatile oils are cooked out and it is milder. i think that when cooked most garlic would taste similar.

however, raw is different. i grow several varieties and while i can't id any garlic by taste, it is apparent that different garlic varieties do taste different. typically this is hotter vs less hot, instant heat vs delayed heat. i don't really care that much about how they taste as all garlic tastes good to me, raw and cooked. i grow different varieties for the diversity of the results, size and storage.

tom

Tammy and everyone,

You are really missing out on some wonderful flavors by not eating the better garlics raw. It really is different from what you buy at that store. One thing I must remember is that not everybody has access to so many different varieties that I do, I currently grow 26 of them. I must also remember that not everybody has had the opportunity to taste the many different garlics raw..I highly recommend it.

I still have some wonderful Silver Rose, Inchelium and maybe some Khabar. I will offer to everybody the chance to get whatever I can stuff into a $4.95 flat rate box. All you'll pay is what it costs me to send it.

This Silver Rose is a Silver skin variety and has a very long shelf life. You can plant it on the spring if not eaten first. The flavor is a bit warm and spicy. Khabar is much warmer. You may contact me at tweedman@gotvc.net or see my page

Here is a link that might be useful: my page

bloosquall, I just had to tell you I stopped by your site above. I found it a very enjoyable read. Especially the Vet story. It is also very informative. Lots to learn there.
Tammy

I took bloosquall up on his generous offer of a box of garlic. I sure am glad I did. I have now had the pleasure of eating several different kinds of top quality garlic raw. Thanks again bloosquall! There is a definite difference in the taste of different garlics. Tammyinwv, if you haven't already tried it, I recommend the silver rose as a step up from the grocery store garlic you mentioned.

I realize I'm chiming in on this topic late but...there are definately many different tastes in garlic and different kinds that are good for different uses, like raw, cooked, powdered, storage, etc...

I just spent the last summer studying garlic, how to grow it, medicinal qualities, types, and I am amazed at garlic! We planted a few hundred heads and are looking forward to our crop next year.

Did you know that about 75% of the garlic in the US now comes from China?!?!? We are their biggest customer. Chinese garlic is known as "elephant garlic" or "white garlic" or "common garlic". One would never realize it but it's used in many many spices and flavorings in processed and restaurant food. The growing conditions of Chinese garlic are supposed to be up to US standards but in reality unknown, however the US requires it to be irradiated to be imported to the US. This is supposed to kill bacteria and other pathogens which is laughable because garlic is by it's very nature has antibiotic like qualities. Garlic is an interesting thing because it's actually (for lack of a better word) alive. When you crush it and let it sit for about 15 minutes the enzymes mix and it becomes (again for lack of a better word) activated or more potent. It's these properties that give it taste and health qualities. Irradiation kills these properties of the garlic leaving it dead and lacking health benefits. Irradiated garlic will not grow or will grow poorly.

Currently there are no hybrid garlics or genetically modified garlics but big business is busy trying to accomplish this. I'm sure you could guess who. They are having trouble because of the "alive" property I mentioned earlier.

Garlic is used in huge amounts in the US, mostly in the commercial spice industry where they use it in processed foods and restaurant food. We eat lots of tasty things that we'd never guess has garlic in it.

The Chinese have killed US garlic growers because they just cannot compete. The numbers have dwindled and dwindled for decades. It's a very labor intensive crop and in the garlic industry US companies pay fair wages, overtime, provide insurance, workman's comp, pay government taxes, etc... whereas in China they pay don't pay these things not to mention the long hours and pitiful low wages they pay their laborers. Even with the expense of irradiation and shipping it halfway around the globe it's far cheaper than what the US can produce. I am just one person but I make sure I buy US garlic for this reason.

Anyway, it's great that you'll try to plant some common garlic, and I hope you will consider some other varieties too. There's a big garlic world out there and many to choose from.

Crushing(not cutting/slicing/mincing)and waiting about 10 - 15 minutes brings out a full flavor and "power". If you don't like the smell of garlic on your fingers from prep, just rub them on a steel surface under water until the smell goes away. Works with onions too.

As far as medicinal uses, non irradiated garlic is currently being used all over the world to sucessfully ward off H1N1, the common cold, other bacterial and viral infections, heal cuts and wounds, treat stuffy sinuses, to treat cancer, as an anti fungal, I could go on and on. I'm certainly not saying it's a cure all, I'm not recommending it for any specific use, I'm saying it's a very interesting plant with an unusual way of attacking foreign invaders in the body and that there are some folks that claim to have success with it.

I've read many of the garlic bulb sites on the web and spoken with many of the companies. By far my favorite is Gourmet Garlic Gardens, I've added the link below if you're interested. They have fabulous varieties to choose from and will gladly help you if you have any questions on what variety is best for your needs and area. There's a lot to read on this site! There are many other bulb sources who are great out there as well, this just happens to be my favorite.

G.O.

Here is a link that might be useful: Gourmet Garlic Gardens

Wow, GO, thanks for all the information on garlic. I took bloosquall up on his offer, and plan on trying what he sent raw today. Is it too late in my z6 to plant them out, or should I wait till spring?
Tammy

G.O.

You certainly spent some times reading Bob's website. It is the most informative that I've ever found for sure. Does it say somewhere that the Porcelain is the one researchers use for testing and mainly the Rosewood Porcelain. Great post, Thanks

-bloo