Just a short post, i’m sure joel will embellish on. This summer we discovered “Ontario Garlic”, in an effort to buy more produce closer to home, we were in St.Jacobs Ontario at a farmers market. We got talking to one of the farmers about his Ontario garlic, he was really passionate about it and had some very strong opinions on the stuff imported by grocery stores from china. He told us that he couldn’t sell his garlic as cheaply as they could, it was impossible to even produce for that much let alone package and ship it across the globe. Next time you buy garlic from the grocery store in the little mesh bag, notice how white it is, and how uniform in shape and how they stack perfectly together. They look manufactured, and i’ve notice they taste manufactured as well, or they don’t taste at all. Ontario garlic is big and bulbous and uneven and has a purplish color to the outter skin. When you bust it open to get a clove they’re HUGE, gigantic and they smell awesome. Joel has managed to find a ‘garlic guy’ at the St.Lawrence North market who says he has enough ontario garlic to sell at the market through to spring. Another reason to ‘shop local’, and talk to the people you’re buying from, you’d be really surprised at how passionate someone can be about garlic.
Ontario Garlic
Ontario Garlic
a clove of ontario garlic, wish i had something in the photo for scale, it's HUGE. It has a sweeter flavor to it too.
imported garlic
Unfortunately my Garlic Guy ran out a week ago. It seems the word got out and when people heard about limited Ontario Garlic, they hoarded. I missed out although still have a few bulbs.
It’s not all bad news – he still has the equivalent from California. Not as green as local but certainly far superior to what we receive from half a world away and seems closer to what I consider “the real thing” (does this make me a garlic snob?). He also has fairly good to great tomatoes (especially in the summer). I am blanking on the name but will fill it in the future – his both is in the third row of tables from the east wall and he is close to the North end of the market.
Dana’s photos are great – to understand the size note that each bulb is 20-50% bigger than the average bulb and usually contains 4-6 cloves as opposed to the foreign “equivalent” of 12-20. I also find our version to be sticker when peeled.
The difference is very real and is well worth trying!
My Mom grows this same stuff in the backyard, started from a bulb from St Jacobs years ago…will bring some back in a few months!
Another update: I recently found ntario Garlic in Loblaws on Queens Quay. It was overpackaged in a mesh bag and shows that effect of age – however it was the real deal. When I find out more about this supplier I’ll let you know.
This topic continues to get a surprising amount of views on the site and there is a real opportunity for Garlic Growers in Ontario as I see it.
I read an article a few months ago in The Star which talked about Ontario garlic and the fact that grocery stores are stocking Chinese-produced garlic. I picked up some of the Chinese-made garlic at the store because I had no choice, but I was immediately suspicious about the fact that the 4 bulbs were all the same size. I ended up throwing them away because they dried out. I have found Ontario-produced minced garlic in a jar, which costs more but I would rather use that, knowing that it’s Ontario-grown and definitely superior to these foreign-produced imports. I will have to check out St. Lawrence Market as well as Loblaws in Queens Quay as mentioned above, but the Loblaws in Newmarket carries the foreign stuff.
I’m growing some garlic and I can’t wait for it to be harvested! There are some grocery stores around here, Hamilton, that have some of the over-packaged Ontario garlic still, but it’s beginning to sprout.
About 10-15 years ago, when it was garlic season in Ontario, that’s what was in grocery stores. Not true anymore, and very sad.
Millie,
Awesome to hear – don`t forget to eat the scapes as they grow – my favourite part! Local garlic is filled with sad stories on how international importing and bad policy failed to protect locally. The less we buy from afar by supporting farmers or growing it ourselves, the better chance we have at bringing it back.