Garlic

Looking for a source for some GOOD local organic Garlic.
Please feel free to share....I LUV GARLIC

I'm not certain, but I think Henry's Farm is going to be part of the Evanston winter market - I go there just for the garlic, I love the dense purple-y stuff. Nichols is there, too - IDK if their stuff is organic, but it's pretty good.

I think Nichols farm is part of the indoor Green City Market. IIRC their stuff is not organic, but it is not sprayed. Very nice easy-to-peel garlic.

Any good sources people wannna share?
Local = Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, Kentucky and Missouri.

Last night I was cooking a stew and found out that all the garlic bulbs I had purchased at the Evanston Farmers Market were bad, meaning slightly yellowish, soft, and with an unpleasant aroma. They were not purchased at Henry's or Nichols, but at the stand of a supplier I had never tried before.
So I drove to the closest supermarket, Dominick's on Ridge avenue near Pratt, and to my greatest surprise the had 2 full baskets of very fresh garlic in bulbs, grown in the U.S., not in China, for something like 1 dollar for 2 heads.
Back home I rapidly found out that the skin was unbroken, the internal skin was pinkish, and the meat of each clove was firm, very white, and without any trace of green germ.
The aroma and taste were both delicious and confirmed the freshness.
What a pleasant surprise.

I have tried those before but I am looking from organic garlic fresh of the farm.
Grown indoors or out.

Hi Nichol's Italian garlic is fantastic. He is at the Green City Market. Unfortunately it is not 100% organic, but a lot of his stuff is not sprayed. I have never gotten a straight answer from them about whether they use conventional weed killer though. Yes there is weed killer that is ok'd for organic production, but it is expensive, and is not as effective as roundup is, which is by far the most common weed killer used in this country. BTW- The biggest customer for roundup and similar weedkillers is the average homeowner who uses it on his lawn. Henry Brockman also has very good garlic. He came to the indoor farmer's market that was held two wseeks ago in Evanston. His farm is near Peoria. Henry told me that his sister will be making a few runs up to Evanston in the near future. He said that his sister only brings a station wagon load of stuff with her when she comes. Henry is not exactly sure where her drop off point is in Evanston, but he suggested that I sign up on his site http://www.henrysfarm.com and I will receive notification as to when she will make deliveries to Evanston in the near future. BTW Henry is organic, but he is no longer certified organic. There was too much paper work involved he said. Hope this helps, Nancy

If you are in the city- check out greener grocer - http://www.greengrocerchicago.com/products.html

I got some local(ish) organic garlic with my box from Irv & Shelly's last week.

Hi all,
I will be offering up for sale 11 different varieties of garlic next summer. Is there any interest in being on an email list when the garlic is ready? There are hot, medium, mild. Some take a while to build up in flavor and some kick you right away. Our family grows garlic on our small farm using no chemical fertilizers or pesticides. We are not certified organic so we cannot say we are but we follow organic practices.
If there is any interest please email me at naturalgarlic@gmail.com with your email address and I will add you to our list. When it becomes available I will notify you. We ship priority mail or "will call" if local enough. BTW. We are a small family owned and run farm in south Will County. We are not affilliated with any other business. Your email information will never be sold or given to anyone! Give it a try. I assure you that you will not be disappointed.
Thank you in advance.
Jim

Hi,

Do you sell your garlic by the bulb or by the pound? How much does it cost?

Regards,

Cathy,
We will be pricing between $1.00 to 2.50 per head depending upon variety and size. As far as pricing per pound is concerned, I would work with a restaurant or store buyer to see that he or she is happy. This is also dependant on variety. Some varieties have 7 or 8 heads to a pound and others as little as 3 or 4. I am not talking about Elephant garlic here. We will probably have 750 heads of garlic total to sell this year both hardneck and softneck varieties. We are still in the process of building up our selection and volume.
Regards,
Jim

Sounds interesting, I would like some more info. on the farm, growing process of the Garlic and what types ya going to grow.

ndgbucktown wrote:I got some local(ish) organic garlic with my box from Irv & Shelly's last week.

I love Irv & Shelly but I've moved back to going to shop more frequently. I've made about 5 trips to the Dill Pickle Co-Op since they opened a week ago last Saturday. I picked up a nice head of organic garlic there.

Cbot,
We are a very small 10 acre farm that is operated by my wife and I. We got into this with the idea of being as self sustaining as possible and we are about 40 percent there. We are building the soil quality using green manures and compost. Besides garlic we are raising wheat, Eqyptian onions, tomatoes sweet corn and field corn (field corn for the chickens and goats we will be getting this spring). We will be offering goats milk and cheese sometime this summer also. Eggs probably more towards fall. We haven't yet decided what other market veggies we are putting in this spring but potatos and onions are on the list. We mulch and weed intensively by hand. The varieties of garlic we have in the ground include Italian late, Boradleaf Czech, Chet's Italian, California late, S&H Silver, Nookta Rose, Okrent, Chopaka Mountain and Red Toch.
Hope to hear from you this summer,
Jim

Sounds good, Will have to search the different types you are growing this year and pick a bunch. I love my garlic soft and stinky!
Check out this read from Mr. Garlic out of Canada >> http://pioneerplus.ejournalism.ca/?q=node/2668

Fresh Market in Wilmette off of Skokie Blvd. had organic garlic last time I was there.

ndgbucktown wrote:I got some local(ish) organic garlic with my box from Irv & Shelly's last week.

Just checked out Irv & Shelly's for the first time thanks to your post--placed an initial order and looking forward to it! thanks!

Growing garlic is pretty easy. Here's an excellent site which describes various things about the process, including descriptions of various types and varieties. Don't know if they ship to the US, but maybe if you had a friend in Canada...

Geo

Geo wrote:Growing garlic is pretty easy. Here's an excellent site which describes various things about the process, including descriptions of various types and varieties. Don't know if they ship to the US, but maybe if you had a friend in Canada...

Geo

Thanks for the link, Geo. I just had a newly purchased bulb start to sprout a few days ago, so I broke it apart and put the cloves that were showing green in a bit of water. They developed roots so quickly, I got a pot and have now planted them and have them sitting in a window. All this was just based on instinct and previous experience with onions, but I'm pleased to now have guidelines. There are several things I would not have imagined, including how to judge harvesting and which bulbs would keep.

The garlic cloves are growing at a phenomenal rate. I'll probably replant them in a larger pot outdoors once spring comes, but I'm glad to have the guidelines for moving forward.

I love "playing with my food"!

Hi Cynthia,

Glad the site was useful. I've got 3 different varieties slumbering under the snow in my tiny back yard here in Montréal. Hope they grow well next year!

Geo

GopelT wrote:Cbot,
We are a very small 10 acre farm that is operated by my wife and I. We got into this with the idea of being as self sustaining as possible and we are about 40 percent there. We are building the soil quality using green manures and compost. Besides garlic we are raising wheat, Eqyptian onions, tomatoes sweet corn and field corn (field corn for the chickens and goats we will be getting this spring). We will be offering goats milk and cheese sometime this summer also. Eggs probably more towards fall. We haven't yet decided what other market veggies we are putting in this spring but potatos and onions are on the list. We mulch and weed intensively by hand. The varieties of garlic we have in the ground include Italian late, Boradleaf Czech, Chet's Italian, California late, S&H Silver, Nookta Rose, Okrent, Chopaka Mountain and Red Toch.
Hope to hear from you this summer,
Jim

Hows the stuff coming along so far? Let me know when its done and I will take a ride over and grab a bunch!

This place is not as local as you’d like, but take a look at the site. It is worth a visit for anyone going to Galena (and soon Lake Geneva).
http://www.GalenaGarlic.com
Owner Laszlo Marton gets an A+++ for customer service. We stopped in his store for the first time during a July visit to Galena. He greeted as soon as we walked in with icy bottles of water. He and his staff poured us vinegar shots. He has great music playing in his store and we had a great time visiting. He discovered we’d be dining at Fried Green Tomatoes and he called his friend, “Inch”, the manager and requested he set us up with a great table and a complimentary bottle of wine (our choice). (Marton supplies the restaurant with all their garlic, spice rubs etc.)
I’ve already polished off my aged balsamic and it was mighty tasty.

Scored some organic local grown Garlic in Forest Park IL at Thorn Creek Nature center harvest fest.
http://www.villageofparkforest.com/index.php?submenu=NatureCenter&src=gendocs&link=NatureCenter

Good garlic is hard to find!

'tis the season. Get yourself some good varieties and plant your own.

dan

gonefishin wrote:'tis the season. Get yourself some good varieties and plant your own.

dan

Good idea!

teatpuller wrote:

gonefishin wrote:'tis the season. Get yourself some good varieties and plant your own.

dan

Good idea!

Yeah was reading up on the planting and growing of Garlic. May stick 8-10 bulbs in the ground the next few days.

All my go-to seed companies are sold out of garlic! Maybe I can find some at the farmer's market.

I use previous years crop and supplement by ordering from http://www.gourmetgarlicgardens.com/assorts.htm.

There has been a lot of crop damage on garlic farms this year, so supply may be short when you're looking to buy. However, that may change...so check back at any supplier you have.

The website Gourmet Garlic (linked earlier in the post) has some good information on preparing soil, planting, growing and harvesting.

dan