Lars,
I used to go to the Garlic Festival for years, until I moved to Oregon. Now, I just get crab and salmon... I used to live in Temple City. I just loved to eat just about everything there.

Lynn

Lars, when there's an event like this, it never hurts to call around at the last minute. There may be waiting lists right in the nearest and liveliest, but if you're just looking for a decent place to sleep and are willing to drive for fifteen minutes, there may be cancellations or even unbooked rooms. Another strategy, if comfort is more important, is to look for suites. Sometimes, the least expensive rooms are overbooked but there are suites still begging for full price customers.

I find what you've said about finding quality garlic interesting. Sometimes the garlic in the grocery store is a little sad looking, like any kind of produce can, but the next week there's a new crop and it's very good. I haven't had any problems finding good, organic garlic. Maybe I'm missing a level of quality that I don't know about?

Lynn, do you mean Templeton? We went through Templeton when we visited Paso Robles last September, and visited a winery there, as it is adjacent to Paso. Temple City is in the San Gabriel Valley east of L.A., I think.

I would rather have Crab and Salmon - two of my most favorite foods, but Templeton has a Pino and Paella Festival, and I missed that this year also. We want to go back to Paso, but will wait until October, for the next olive harvest.

In the past, I have bought garlic when passing through Gilroy, and I definitely notice a difference in quality from the grocery store, even though I am careful about what I will buy there. Garlic is harvested only once a year in Gilroy, but it keeps for a long time if stored properly. It keeps better when it is on a braid, and I store it in a dark cool place. The garlic I get at the farmers' markets is as good as what I get from Gilroy, but the braid I received today has huge heads and huge cloves, and I can tell they are juicy.

Lars,
Temple City, San Gabriel Valley.

We have crab a couple times monthly. We are 5 minutes from Winchester Bay. Right now, they are catching salmon, and crab.

Lynn

I second the suggestion for calling around. I know I book my boss' trips with extra days on it, and give them up when I have the solid itinerary. I'm sure others are happy to get his unused nights! Can't hurt. Waiting lists are great too. So many people say no to that, I've ended up getting rooms for the nights I wanted after saying yes.

As it turns out, I have to be at home that week-end because the county is going to spray my back yard (and everyone else's in the neighborhood) for some kind of "Oriental fruit fly", according to a flyer I just received. The flyer says that I do not have to be there as long as I leave my gate unlocked, but my gate will not stay closed unless it is locked, and I do not want to advertise having an open back yard. I had teenagers steal mangoes from my back yard in Venice when I left it unlocked. The gate used to stay closed without locking until a small earthquake tilted the wall between my house and the neighbor's enough to make the latch no longer catch. I built a device to make the lock work, but I have not done the same with the door catch. It seems that every little earthquake we have in my neighborhood makes the wall tilt a bit more, ever so slightly. It's reinforced with steel, and so it should not fall over, but it does angle a bit.

The county says that it will be using an organic pesticide, but I still plan to harvest a lot of lemons and limes (and herbs) before they spray. My herbs are all in pots, and so I might take them into the garage before they come.

I grow my own. I planted somewhere in the neighborhood of 150-200 last fall. They are mostly hardnecks. Some did well and others not as well as I would have liked. Some of that will be planting stock for next year and some I will give away. We are still trying to find the balance in the amount we grow, how much we want to devote to each variety, etc. I think that I would like to try some more softnecks as I would like to do some braids. The current crop is hanging to dry on the dining room chandelier which invites questions about vampires but I just think of it as French Country decorating.

I won a Gilroy garlic festival recipe contest once, lol. I got a Gilroy t-shirt and a boxful of garlic tools ...peelers, storers, slicers...

I grow my own. I'm down to 14 kinds from 39...about 500 bulbs. It's a grand experiment. The goal is garlic that has big cloves, peels easily and stores until May. So far I've harvested four kinds... really early for me.

Our spring and summer have been so hot I actually have basil going crazy. Too bad my tomatoes are just blooming.

I've never been to the Garlic festival, although I have relations near Gilroy. I have memories of going on visits and the whole town smelling of garlic. Now I only know it for the Outlet Mall. Is the event worthwhile or should I just stop by in the off season?

I definitely think it is worth going to, if you are a short driving distance. There will be a wine pavilion and a lot of arts & crafts vendors. Also, there should be some interesting cooking demonstrations. It's true that you can quickly get your fill of garlic, and I had a similar experience at the Tofu Festival in Little Tokyo (downtown L.A.) one year - there is just only so much tofu one can eat in one afternoon, and so single ingredient festivals do have some drawbacks, but I still enjoy festivals for the entertainment.

There are also some good artichoke restaurants in Castroville, not far from Gilroy, such as the Giant Artichoke Produce market, although I have not been there for a few years and do not know if it has been kept up.