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When buying stuffs in kitchen I usually look at the labels and see where the products comes from. I'm not really much of buying China products as well so I'm very careful.
I think this has a lot to do with where you are buying the garlic.
We buy garlic at Costco, they sell it in the produce section and it is always California grown. We live in California though, I'm not sure how it is in other states. The Chinese garlic I have seen is small and inferior looking compared to the big healthy cloves on a California bulb, pretty easy to spot.
Good idea. Is it practical? What are some of the potential issues? Maybe there aren't any, but I wonder if there are any.
Like I said, it doesn't take up much space; you could grow quite a bit in a Rubbermaid-type container or in several pots.
The biggest disadvantage, I think, is that, since it is a 9-month crop, it does take a while; I plant mine in October and harvest it in July.
One big advantage is that you wouldn't be stuck with the one or two varieties the grocery stores sell; there are dozens of different types of garlic, ranging from the very mild to the very spicy.
Here are a couple of places I found on-line that sells garlic for planting.
Both sites say their garlic is US-grown and the second site said this:
Quote:
Absolutely none of our garlic planting stock is from non-organic or Chinese seed stock.
I was surprised to see that neither one of the sites I linked to offer that many different varieties because every September we have a "garlic festival" at our local fairgrounds where growers sell their garlic and there is usually something like 60 different varieties offered there. You could probably do a little more extensive search and find other on-line sellers with more variety; I just did a quick search and posted those links to show how easy it is to find different varieties to plant, and both those sites also have a lot of information about growing and harvesting.
Also, last year, I was complaining about the prices at the festival (around $8.00 a pound), but I see that first site I linked to is much more than that (I didn't check the prices at the second link yet)!
I think this has a lot to do with where you are buying the garlic.
We buy garlic at Costco, they sell it in the produce section and it is always California grown. We live in California though, I'm not sure how it is in other states. The Chinese garlic I have seen is small and inferior looking compared to the big healthy cloves on a California bulb, pretty easy to spot.
Gilroy, CA or nothing for me, personally. I can't grow garlic at home. I doesn't do well here. So I insist on Gilroy garlic.
With all the problems China has with rice and tea contaminated with heavy metals due to pervasive and awful pollution due to unfettered capitalism, why would anyone trust garlic from China? However, if you go to the grocery store these days, many times it can be very difficult to find garlic that ISN'T from China. What gives?
Written in '07, this situation has only seemed to get worse:
When it comes to food, I definitely buy American as much as possible.
I pay no attention to where it is coming from. Oh, I do try and buy American, in fact, I try to buy produce from as close to local as possible, but if I need something, including garlic I will buy it, regardless as to where it was grown. Luckily here, our local farmers market has fresh garlic, grown right here in NWA but it is pretty pricey.
It's easy, it doesn't take a lot of space, and can be grown in containers on an apartment balcony.
Problem solved!
I just planted our a couple of days ago. I can't wait for fall to see if we get any or a lot. The whole family is anxious to see what happens. We are huge garlic fans around here.
I just planted our a couple of days ago. I can't wait for fall to see if we get any or a lot. The whole family is anxious to see what happens. We are huge garlic fans around here.
Can you plant it in the spring and harvest in the fall where you are?
I've always planted in the fall for a summer crop, but maybe it grows faster in Arkansas?
I love garlic, too, and since I find the older I get, the more I seem to be losing my sense of taste (to some degree), I like to go with the stronger flavored varieties.
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