June 21, 2009
The garlic lover’s conundrum
By Deb Scott | Posted on June 21, 2009
Crossposted from Stoney Moss
I’ve loved garlic ever since my best buddy in college, Linda, introduced me to the fresh stuff in the late 1970s. She came from a well-to-do family of Italian heritage. She loved lots of fresh garlic and would double or triple any recipe’s allotment. My family was lower-middle class blue-collar from the mining communities of Arizona. The only garlic we ever had was in the form of garlic salt, and occasionally, garlic powder. My father didn’t care for any herb or spice he could actually taste beyond (non-herb or spice) peppers and chilies so that my mother, faithful homemaker she was, kept the cooking on our table bland. I wanted to emulate Linda and her family and move as far away from my family’s cookbook as I had from my hometown. From that humble introduction to garlic and subsequent reading of all the cookbooks I could get my hands on, I eventually became something of a foodie, although nowadays I try to eat as much locally or organically produced foods – preferably both – as I can manage.
Michael Pollan influenced my thinking most recently – and impacted my buying, cooking and eating habits – as has Bill McKibben, Eric Schlosser and Morgan Spurlock. I’m trying to eat more sustainably. So imagine my chagrin a couple of months ago when I saw the “country of origin” sign at my local cool and hip food store said the fresh garlic was from Argentina. Argentina? I thought I had cast aside Argentinean products when I quit buying imported hot-house flowers. Not that I don’t like Argentina, but it’s a lot of travel miles away from Oregon – and Western Oregon is a fertile place, especially the Willamette Valley, where I live. So why can’t I have local garlic?
Turns out there are a few reasons why and that my question isn’t fresh. And the answers are invariably complicated.
Most fresh garlic comes from China—it’s a huge continent with a varied and regional growing season as well as the cheap labor we all know about. Some of the garlic is organic; my local market – New Seasons – would rather buy organic from Argentina than China for reasons of quality control. They rotate organic garlic suppliers according to season and move from southern countries and states to northern – Argentina, Mexico, California and Oregon – to follow the season cycle. Nearly all processed garlic comes from China – that includes dehydrated, jarred, powdered, etc. Even the garlic center of America – Gilroy, California – can now only claim to be the largest garlic processor in the USA.
Things changed on the scene about 10-15 years ago when California garlic and growers suffered blights caused by large-field monoculture and China came on the scene with cheap garlic. A very recent ruling (May 2009) turned around the illegal-dumping charge that had been placed on China a few years ago, so consumers can expect more, not less, cheaper Chinese garlic on their tables in the coming months and years. If you want organic USA garlic you’ll have to wait for seasonal farmers markets, or grow your own.
Garlic is a slow-growing plant. The Nootka Rose variety my husband planted a few months ago takes 98 days or thereabouts to mature. That is not instant gratification. He planted five plants. We use about a head of garlic every week or two. I haven’t done the math but expect that our meager harvest will last about a month or two, especially if the garlic is cured by the time our home grown tomatoes peak and fresh salsa is on the table most every night. The fall planting, which might be a lot larger, will happen in September.
It’s a conundrum. Garlic has become such an important cooking ingredient it seems impossible to eliminate it from my diet. How can I limit my consumption to summer only like the fresh Oregon strawberries I’ve come to adore?
Kim O’Donnel in the Washington Post, July 10, 2006; “The Irony of Organic Garlic From China.”
Harry Cline in the Western Farm Press, June 7, 2007; “Quality, flavor keeping California garlic competitive.”
New Seasons Market
Garlic, growing, history and more
Comments
I’d suggest canning or freezing it - stock up in the summer when it’s locally available, and find ways to preserve it for the winter. It wouldn’t be the same as fresh, but then you’ll appreciate the fresh when it comes up again the next year. :)
Our garlic is dying back and will need to be dug and dried in a week or so. It was planted last fall, came up, went dormant over winter and started growing again as soon as the weather warmed up. We grow more than enough to last all year. Of course, part of the harvest must be broken into cloves and frozen so we don’t have fresh garlic all year—and some cloves must be saved and replanted.
I don’t know exactly where Jo and I picked up a taste for garlic. We didn’t grow up with garlic in our diets, but now it’s a staple.
Hi Helen, that garlic festival is the renowned Gilroy festival. They still hold it, but there is not much California garlic available anymore. One farm is holding on & marketing their garlic as superior to Chinese, Christopher Ranch: http://www.christopherranch.com/ . They are located in Gilroy. I haven’t looked to see if I can get their processed garlic in Oregon.
Thanks for your suggestion.
Rachel, excellent idea. It’s time for those Oregon strawberries to share my freezer space with garlic.
Hi Marvin, how much do you plant? I’ve read that staying in ground longer than one season, or even past the stalks drying 1/3 of the way up from the bulb reduces flavor. Not the case for you?
I suspect that your taste buds changed about the time all of ours in America’s did. In the late 70s and 80s when fresh garlic became available and an interest in “other” foods and recipes got underway, helped by marketing, chefs, etc. The garlic history part of the last resource link has a great story about the US going to Russia—during the cold war & under close watch—to get garlic starts.
Hello, Deb. We—actually Jo is the garlic planter/harvester—have a 30 foot bed planted with four rows of garlic. I don’t know how many individual plants that is, but quite a few. We grow a hard-neck variety. The variety name was lost years ago as bulbs were given from friend to friend.
I asked Jo why we wait until the tops have fully died back before harvesting. Her answer was, “Because that’s usually when I finally get around to it.” A quick search of our books and online found garlic growing recommendations vary considerably, though most do advise harvesting when the tops are half to two-thirds brown. Gourmet Garlic Gardens says the bulb wrappers begin to break down and one risks fungal and storage problem if the bulbs remain in the ground too long. However, the same site also says bulbs left in the ground longer have more potency and a stronger taste.
It’s almost always very hot and dry here in the Ozarks by garlic harvest time so we’ve never had rotting, fungal or storage problems when harvesting the garlic after the tops have fully died back.
I had no idea but am not surprised. Thanks for the information. It’s hard to grow enough garlic for a year in the city without turning your whole backyard into a garlic plantation. And some varieties (e.g., Spanish Roja) do better in colder climates, I hear. I love garlic and am starting to get into it pretty seriously now that I have more room. I planted 15 pounds last fall in my part-time home in NE Oregon and hope to harvest in a few weeks. One trick I learned in Nepal for filling some of the gap is to plant some cloves (I use the smaller ones) for designated use as green garlic. They’re like scallions but have any amazing fresh garlicky taste - great in salads, soups or sauteed greens. I find it odd that they’re so rarely used in the U.S. Of course, green garlic also takes space in the garden, but when planning for it, you can plant the cloves closer or plant them in-between other things. And if you plant the hardneck varieties, you get garlic scapes, which fill the gap between green garlic and bulbs.
Isn’t there a garlic festival in California? Or is that still too far?
By Helen on 2009 06 21