Where do you buy your seed garlic?
 

I want to order early if necessary as I am sure some places sell out of the most popular varieties. The one place I looked at so far starts shipping at the end of August. I also want the biggest bulbs. Easy online ordering is a plus. Any recommendations would be appreciated.

In this area we have two garlic festivals, one in September, one the beginning of October. The vendors have great quality and you can pick out what you want. You might check and see if there is something similar nearby. Last year one vendor offered really large bulbs (not just Musik) and they did spectacularly for me - a little more expensive but worth it!
When you order you get what they send with little choice on size. That is not to say there aren't good places, but I have never ordered online.

Here is a link to a Garlic festival in Connecticut. Don't know if it is in driving distance for you or not. Looks pretty interesting! [URL]http://www.garlicfestct.com/[/URL]

Good luck!

In CT you aren't that far from Saugerties,NY and they have a wonderful Garlic Festival

[url]https://www.google.com/#q=Garlic+Festival+Saugerties+NY&hl=en[/url]

I've been there several times, and you haven't lived until you've had garlic ice cream,garlic cookies,garlic french fries,and on and on.

More to the point are the many booths where garlic growers from alll over the lower Hudson Valley are selling a fantastic variety of garlic bulbs.

Another plus for me and whoever I go with is that the drive back up to the Albany area goes through mile after mile of Orchards,all with stands selling apples and peaches and plums and pears, and it's where I first bought and tasted Honey Crisp apples,all those years ago,and was an ASAP convert.:D


Carolyn

Everyone keeps on harping about Honey Crisp apples.. I cannot believe they're *that* good.. compared to some Nordic varieties.

[QUOTE=NarnianGarden;580532]Everyone keeps on harping about Honey Crisp apples.. I cannot believe they're *that* good.. compared to some Nordic varieties.[/QUOTE]

I wasn't harping,I was enthusiastically praising it and am very interested in the new improved Honey Crisp which I haven't tasted yet.;)

Please name some Nordic varieties for me and I ask since there's a small village near me where many familys from Finland settled and I'm wondering if they brought any scions with them and propagated them here.

Carolyn, who is 1/4 Swedish but knows when they came to the US from Uppsala, Carlson by name, they bought nothing with them other than their suitcases,their traditions,their foods,their language,but when here they were told they were now in America and should only speak English.Still,when my mother was talking on the phone with her mother, Hattie Wigand,nee Carlson,I could hear a few words and I think one of them meant money,maybe penga?.;)

The Saugerties festival was where I first discovered hardneck garlic. All the farmers had samples of the varieties they were selling and it was great being able to taste them side-by-side.

And yes, garlic ice cream must be experienced!

If you can't hit a garlic festival and want to get an order in early, I bought new Music stock from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange last year and it did well. Some of the farms that sell on line will not take advance orders and if you don't jump on once ordering goes live, they sell out.

I also ordered from a seed vendor on the west coast once and had almost complete crop failure. I had previously ordered shallots from them which did really well, but I don't think the garlic liked it's cross-country trip.

Carolyn, I wish I could recommend some from here that are available in your neighborhood.
One of the best is Antonovka, a Russian one that's sturdy and strong, it's widely used in Canada as well.
My parents have a White Transparent - it's a lovely sharp aroma, (if only little insects leave it grow and develop in peace! this year we have an infestation)
[url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Transparent[/url]

and there are plenty ones with name Cinnamon, no idea if they are available over there.
Another wonderful variety that we call Syysviiru, meaning Autumn Stripe, very nice red striped small fruited cultivar.

Those come to mind at this moment, I'll check for some more.

Honey Crisp is known and available here in supermarkets - probably not grown in Finland, but imported from Central Europe. I am curious, but cannot remember ever trying it.
Pink Lady from France is another one that's marketed with grande fleur and much fanfare, and - imho, doesn't taste anything special. But, commercial ones hardly ever do.
Granny Smith was wonderful in my childhood - now it has become more and more like mushy cardboard...

Garlic ice cream - that's something I've been hoping to try. Sounds exotic enough, almost as exotic as chocolate dipped insects...

Ja, Carolyn, Du har rätt - pengar betyder 'money' :)

I like garlic but I am drawing the line at ice cream.
Hot peppers yes garlic no.

Worth

I am pretty new to growing garlic but I bought my seed garlic from Baker Creek last year. It did really well and I was pleasantly surprised to dig up mostly good sized heads.

I've already put this years order in since last year I waited too long and ended up with only a few choices to choose from. Definitely order early regardless of where you decide to order from.

I ordered from Oregon Trail Garlic last year and the two varieties Bavarian Purple and German Red did very well for the first time I have grown garlic. I saved a bunch of good sized heads to plant next year. After reading up on other garlic varieties, I wanted to try Spanish Roja for next year and since Oregon Trail didn't have it, I ordered from Filaree Garlic Farm. Both of these companies were recommended as seed sources in the garlic book I read. I still have the book around if you would like some other sources that were listed.

George

[URL="http://www.oregontrailgarlic.com"]http://www.oregontrailgarlic.com[/URL]

[URL="http://www.filareefarm.com"]http://www.filareefarm.com[/URL]

Narnian,
I wouldn't bother with supermarket apples.
I have gotten so I wont eat them unless they are less than 3-4 days off the tree.
They change taste almost as fast as sweet corn once picked. Ok not that bad but you get the idea.
A fresh honey crisp is beautiful as are many others.

Supermarket apples are cold stored for up to a year under nitrogen. :no: Taste like it too.
Oops long way from garlic. Sorry

[QUOTE=Nematode;580790]Narnian,
I wouldn't bother with supermarket apples.
I have gotten so I wont eat them unless they are less than 3-4 days off the tree.
They change taste almost as fast as sweet corn once picked. Ok not that bad but you get the idea.
A fresh honey crisp is beautiful as are many others.

Supermarket apples are cold stored for up to a year under nitrogen. :no: Taste like it too.
Oops long way from garlic. Sorry[/QUOTE]

Brother I remember a whole bedroom with fresh picked apples in it.
You know what I mean I dont have to explain it.

Garlic too.

Worth

I was just thinking about garlic as well.I found a website that had like 200+ varieties,but I don't know if they are still in business or not.I was out looking for general information,as I don't know much about garlic and figured maybe I should learn a little.

the website is [url]http://www.wegrowgarlic.com[/url] and looks to have every variety known to man.(not really,but they list lots of different garlic).Sad if they are no longer in business.

[QUOTE=Nematode;580790]Narnian,
I wouldn't bother with supermarket apples.
I have gotten so I wont eat them unless they are less than 3-4 days off the tree.
They change taste almost as fast as sweet corn once picked. Ok not that bad but you get the idea.
A fresh honey crisp is beautiful as are many others.

Supermarket apples are cold stored for up to a year under nitrogen. :no: Taste like it too.
Oops long way from garlic. Sorry[/QUOTE]


Yep :( I know. I hardly ever bother with apples from the grocery store - unless they are locally grown, in which case they may have some taste left.

Pears on the other hand.. seem to hold on much better. I was surprised to find a certain variety that is both beautiful and tasty. It's sold in one supermarket chain only ..

You're so lucky to be in an area where there are garlic festivals. Too easy to pick yourself something nice.:)

Thank you everyone! That garlic festival in CT is a little more than an hours drive, and I have to get directions for the one Carolyn mentioned in NY to see how far that is. I work every other weekend and changing that is near impossible. That means I will have to sit down with a calendar to see if either one is on my weekend off. The only problem is that if I wait until then to get it the online sources will likely be sold out of the most popular ones.

The is a place called The Garlic Farm within 15 miles of me! Who knew, lol? Never heard of them until I found them while searching the internet for seed garlic. I emailed them for information. Can't wait to see what they have.

I tried getgarlic.com last year and was very pleased. Good sized heads with large cloves and excellent customer service too.

I never realized there were [U][I]so many[/I][/U] varieties of garlic. Has anybody ever tried any of the creole garlic strains?

The Garlic Farm grows one variety. I think it's German White, a good choice but Northern White is better imo.

Ireland Farms, the source I gave you on the other thread has been the best vendor at Saugerties, and also the CT Garlic Festival. They will not be at the CT GF this year and I'm quite sure it is because the date is so late that they have had to save garlic for that event for the lasy few years, and there is always a mad rush to their booth when the fest opens on saturday.

The reason the CT fest is held so late is that they want it after but not too close to the Bethlehem Fair, which is too bad. It's a fun event and there is always good large garlic cheap.

Garlic takes a year or two to acclimatize to your conditions. NY state conditions are close.

Growing large bulbs requires virus free stock, and good soil with frequent deep watering helps. 8" spacing minimum.

If you want to try something unusual, try ivansnewgarlics.com you might ask him specifically about large bulbs.

I've gotten good stock from Filaree Farm, Hood River, WeGrowGarlic

[QUOTE=swamper;581622]Garlic takes a year or two to acclimatize to your conditions.[/QUOTE]

Interesting. Can you expound on this statement. tx

Also check that you are getting hard neck varieties which grow well in the North. I think a lot of the unusual named ones may be soft neck which are not meant for cold climates. Here is PA we are told to plant them around the Columbus Day weekend to be harvested the next July. I have planted the end of September out of necessity because of travels. I mulch them with straw over the winter. Others will have to explain the soft neck garlic as I have never grown it because I understand it will not do well here.

Just pulled all my garlic yesterday. It was a mixture of some I had had for a few years and new Red German, White German and Musik I got at last year's Pocono Garlic Festival. One of the vendors was a young man, who had the largest bulbs I have ever seen of German White and Red. I had only seen that size in Musik. I bought a couple and have pulled the largest garlic ever despite less watering and feeding than usual. I plan to get more from this young man this year.

I grow creole garlic, it tastes great raw and gets very mellow when cooked. Perfect for raw in salsa.

It does ok for me, I think I just don't water & fertilize it enough. I never dug last year's out of my raised bed, I'm curious to see how it comes back. I've grown it from saved cloves I never bothered to cure (as in cut off the top, tossed in bags in a cupboard, replanted 6 months later, it grew fine). I don't know, seems like garlic!

[QUOTE=swamper;581622]

I've gotten good stock from Filaree Farm, Hood River, WeGrowGarlic[/QUOTE]

When was the last time you ordered through WeGrowGarlic? It appears that their website's last update was 2012,and their mailbox is either full,or not operational.

I really enjoy browsing all the different offerings...

[QUOTE=MarianneW;581783]I grow creole garlic, it tastes great raw and gets very mellow when cooked. Perfect for raw in salsa.

It does ok for me, I think I just don't water & fertilize it enough. I never dug last year's out of my raised bed, I'm curious to see how it comes back. I've grown it from saved cloves I never bothered to cure (as in cut off the top, tossed in bags in a cupboard, replanted 6 months later, it grew fine). I don't know, seems like garlic![/QUOTE]

Nice. I never really gave it much thought. Always like a small garlic patch, but moreso, interested in a different flav for the palate - as local grocery has the generic soft neck, but also elephant, however, seems dry and not very pungent. have a nice little tucked away spot for October planting.....

Well, as luck would have it, the 2 Garlic Festivals mentioned here are 2 weeks apart, and I work every other weekend, both of which are on my weekends to work. So, I placed an order with Filaree Farm as that seemed to be the name that came up as a recommended source the most frequently. It was a toss up between them and getgarlic.com. I still plan to get a few from my local garlic farm, also, where I can pick my heads of garlic out myself. Thank you all for your recommendations!

Well, I visited The Garlic Farm today, which is local, and was able to find several heads of seed garlic in the 2.75-3.00" range, which I was very happy with. The variety they grow is German White. At least that is what they grew this year. It might be the same year to year. I received an email from the owner, Gary, in response to my question in which he stated "this year’s seed is a very large, extra hardy German white.( this years harvest was one of the largest crops in 20 years ) We grow several strains of German white"... He did not elaborate on the strains, but the 2.75- 3" heads I found is more what I was looking for. At least for 12.00/lb, lol, which seems to be the going rate both locally and on the internet. Agway already has their seed garlic in they tell me, so I will look there and maybe by buying early I can find some nice large heads of Music and if I am lucky, maybe I will see some Northern White I can try at SWAMPER's recommendation. If I can get 3 inch heads locally, I see no reason to buy 2 inch heads over the internet, much less 1.75" heads. I might consider buying the 3" heads locally and selling them online for 15.00/lb. Think I could get it? :lol:

If I don' t get good sized garlic bulbs from this I should just give up. :) The smaller head is my largest head of garlic this year.

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I think you will be fine.

Worth