Doesn't it grow at "home"?

Haven't seen this, though I usually don't check out garlic since I discovered growing my own - which is 50 times better than imported stuff. Many regions have different garlic that grows well in their area - and lots of the hard neck varieties do really well here in Ontario - juicy, strong, and last through to next summer! Just finished planting my cloves on November 1.

I grow my own garlic but will look for the Egyptian garlic next time that I'm the store and give it a try if I find some.

One year, I ran out of home grown and had to buy some. It was Chinese garlic and a head of it had many teeny tiny cloves. What a pain! Needless to say, I doubled down on planting more garlic. Love the Music variety--nice large cloves so less peeling. I'll resort to garlic powder before I buy any more of the Chinese garlic. Atlantic Spice has California garlic powder and granules.

Never heard of Egyptian garlic, but managed to find this article from 2016: Rising-demand-for-Egyptian-garlic-in-Europe

I'm bumming here because the squirrels or some other noxious little rodents have been digging up all of the garlic bulbs that I planted in October. I've never had this problem before. I'll cry if they steal all of my French Rocambole... my (now late) uncle gave it to me for my first vegetable garden and I've been growing it ever since. :(

I tried growing garlic in a large flower pot one year, and it didn't work, so I don't grow it.

Ontario has good garlic and it's easily grown, but I won't pay $2/head. That's just a rip-off.

The last number of heads of garlic I bought from China were huge cloves. I haven't had small ones in a long time.

I still have 2 sleeves of Chinese garlic that are unopened, they were dirt cheap. I'm hoping that garlic can be frozen. If I freeze the cloves on a cookie sheet and bag them will that work?

Nope, just cannot do the Chinese garlic any more. My taste buds will not allow me. Some things are just worth paying for - or, in my case, growing. One of the joys of the home grown stuff is its long shelf life - four months since harvest and still going strong. I don't know about freezing - perhaps preserve in oil...

The only was to safely store garlic in oil is to peel the cloves, submerge in oil and freeze. Don't leave at room temperature because there is a real danger of botulism. A long time ago, I stored peeled cloves in oil and kept them in the refrigerator but stopped that after there were reports in the news about the botulism outbreaks. More info here:

http://ucfoodsafety.ucdavis.edu/files/250352.pdf

Jasdip, if I remember, I'm going to try growing garlic in a pot this spring. Also will try some in a grow-bag. Generally, garlic is planted in the fall, but I read somewhere recently that some varieties do better planted in the spring. One thing that I know is to not crowd the pot w/ too many cloves. In the garden, best spacing is 6-8" apart.

Planting garlic in spring.

I grow garlic to make black garlic and to harvest scapes.

I am looking for a specific garlic from China to buy. It is a single bulb garlic. The whole bulb of garlic has only one clove. Very quick and easy to peel.

I also grow elephant garlic.

dcarch

Apparently the demand for Egyptian garlic isn't for fresh garlic, nor is it because it's good. They sell the dried stuff in Europe.

I meant isn't it grown in enormous quantity in the States? I was just wondering about air miles.

D'arch there is someone local to me (Maine) who grows single clove garlic. I meant to ask her if she had any extras. I believe she has been selecting for size. I will investigate.

Update. The Egyptian garlic all went into the trash. When I separated the bulb, the cloves were miniature slivers, and everything was soft. Next time we go to that store I'm going to mention to the produce manager that it's not worth buying it.

BUT we were at a family function yesterday and I was sitting with one of hubby's brothers. I adore him, and happened to ask if he grows garlic. He had 300 heads this year and brought some with him to give to his brother and SIL who he was staying with. He gave me several heads as well. Yay!!! He grows the hard-necks and he said they keep well.

I've got a bunch of my Chinese garlic in the freezer now, so I won't have to buy garlic for a long time.

D'arch - my neighbor has some single head garlic left. I am going to plant a dozen or so...

My brother-in-law who gave me a number of his garlic heads was talking about the single cloves of garlic that he grew this year. I think it can happen with the first year of growth. Each time they're planted they split.

lindac: There is so much garlic grown in Gilroy that the air in the whole area actually smells like garlic. : ) Garlic is grown throughout the Central Valley of CA, and harvest time can be odiferous.

I realize that not all fellow-forum folks are from the US, but, why would those in US need to buy garlic from China or Egypt?

I have also tried to grow garlic, but the gophers got it all.

LindaC, and CAKate the stores here only stock garlic from China. Obviously If I had a choice between U.S. grown garlic and Chinese, I'd buy the U.S. I'm Canadian.

I live on the SF peninsula, just 50 miles of Gilroy and I assure you Gilroy garlic is harder to find than Chinese garlic in our local stores.

Ten years ago, while I was in SF I met an agricultural engineer for the state of California. He told me about how his team personally gave tours to Chinese agronomists hoping to grow garlic commercially in China. The American agronomist said he and his colleagues were surprised at how quickly the Chinese scaled their operations.

Years ago I attended a Fancy Food show in SF....and the Gilroy growers were there promoting up a storm. I traded Blue Cheese for a braid of garlic!! Lasted me most of the winter!

I don't think there is any hope for garlic growers here in the USA when China can grow garlic, ship thousands of miles to here, pay tariff, pay middleman and still ten times cheaper. There will be many more third-world countries starting to follow China's foot steps and can grow garlic even cheaper than China.

Unless our garlic growers learn from other growers. and start using high tech automated agriculture techniques.

Charitable buying can produce lazy growers.

dcarch

I get my Gilroy garlic from Costco in 2 lb. bags. I love this time of year, because the cloves are very juicy. I use a lot of garlic. Homemade bacon takes 30-45 cloves per month and garlic mashed potatoes eliminates a large skillet-covering's worth per batch. I doubt I could grow enough in our tiny yard for my usage needs. Less often I purchase other varieties of garlic that are grown elsewhere.

I believe garlic rust is one problem that is hurting growers in California. In wet years (El Nino has been accused of exasperating the problem), rust can greatly reduce supply and farmer's profits. And, of course, there is the field worker shortage.