Can anyone tell me where I can buy garlic sets? I've tried using the supermarket type and it doesn't work, or should I try buying the organic type? Any info would be great. thanks. mrsthursday
mrs==We tried growing from the huge bulbs sold by West Coast Seeds, and were very happy with the crop recently harvested. These garlic were called Spanish Roja and Musica, red and white bulbs respectively. I had given up trying to grow from the mesh bag packaged seed garlic sown by a large garden store chain years ago...the plants were runty and overrun by weeds. ' This latest effort was planted in October, apparently a good time, in sandy soil with lots of well composted manure added. I also gave the plants several doses of fish and liquid kelp fertilizer during the growing season this spring. Huge bulbs with cloves much, much larger than what you buy in the supermarkets. We really do have a good climate on the west coast for garlic growing. It makes no sense that almost all the garlic grown in North America comes from a small area in western California...plus all the imported stuff from Asia grown with who knows what chemicals. The bulbs mature real well in our dry mid summer weather, too. This is a very worthwhile crop for the home garden, that is , lots of return on a small area of soil! Glen
The "super market" types are a softneck Silverskin garlic grown for their storage qualities. Whether they come from China or California they are in my opinion a poor excuse for garlic. Years ago when I worked in Safeways distribution centre, produce dept [before I ever tried to grow garlic] , I noticed on the boxes of garlic from China the phrase "not for grow". I asked a fellow employee who was Chinese about it and he told me that the bulbs were sprayed to retard sprouting. That is why you get poor germination. If in fact you did manage to get germination, that variety of garlic is avoided by chefs. From what I can find out as a garlic lover, softnecks are a result of years of hybridization to attain good storage life [in this I might be wrong as I have no datta, only opinions]. I do know that they have small cloves, less oil, and are more difficult to use.
I find garlic seed is quite easy to come by, with even small garden shops, DIY stores etc having seed of several varieties in stock. My experience also suggests that it grows very readliy and with a minimum of supervision or care and will propage by itself so that you really only need to buy seed once. The garlics I get tend to be smaller than the commercially grown ones but taste just as good.
amogles- That may be in Zurich but I am afraid that in the Vancouver area garlic cloves in local shops are very expensive if they carry them at all. The softneck garlic which we buy in the grocery stores are in fact a very poor excuse for garlic. Most comes from either China or Mexico. Perhaps in Switzerland this is not the case.