ottawa foodies

Anyone know where one can find garlic that's a bit more local than china? My local loeb, loblaws, fresh fruit co, and even a market vendor are all selling garlic from china. Cavendish had garlic from argentina, but that's not particularly local either.

Is this a recent development, or has it always been this way and I've been too dazed to notice?

Does anyone preserve garlic when it is in season?

regards,

jp

Landsdowne Farmers Market (as usual)

Certain vendors specialize in garlic, and carry multiple varieties, but my preferred option is Rideau Pines Farm. They were even selling popcorn last week.

At the end of the season, pick up enough heads to last the winter. Hang them in a mesh bag, and they should last the winter (if you don't eat them all).

I agree with Jape on imported garlic -- when did we start having garlic from China? I guess everything is from China these days.

Each year in the beginning of September, my mother buys her garlic from Ron, the owner of the Green Door Restaurant. He grows organic garlic out in his farm in Lanark County for the use at the Restaurant. The harvest time is in the beginning of August. He does sell some to the public later on.

I must say it is the best garlic I have ever tasted! The cloves are big, juicy, and flavourful. You don't need many cloves in your cooking. You should check them out at the Green Door in September.

Ditto here...I also suggeest that if you're not groing your own garlic then you should purchase enough in August to last the year. Another source are the garlic festivals, like those in Carp and Perth.

How do you recommend storing garlic so it lasts a whole year? Do you have to freeze it?

I ask because the grocery store stuff that we keep in a bowl seems to dry out in just a few weeks.

Read this : www.gourmetgarlicgardens.com

Personally, I've frozen whole bulbs of garlic in the past and broke off a few cloves at a time as needed - it worked fine! (I do this with ginger as well)

As far as storage goes, cool, low-light & dry are important. My fresh garlic from the farmers market lasted a number of months in proper storage.

Thanks for the link! Very interesting. That page claims freezing whole bulbs negates any of garlic's health benefits. I think the low-light thing might be the key for me. I've just been putting the garlic in a bowl in full light. Might explain the rapid deterioration!

Chimichimi - Thanks also for that posted link. I've never "preserved" garlic in any format, but I have bought local garlic in the Fall at a Farmer's Market (chain) and kept it in the kitchen. I too am thinking I need to now put in a darker spot. Because up til now I found it deteriorated before I used it all. :-(

Good thing I read the link though, because I always thought that garlic in oil was an ok thing to do... BIG NO NO! I might try the garlic in salt & vinegar thing though, does anyone know if it changes the taste or consistency of the garlic over time? Does it get mushy? Outside of that, I'll just have stick with the garlic chains, and eat more of this "health" food.

No prob - to answer you about pickled garlic, it does become soft, but not mushy, it also loses a lot of it's "heat", and some intensity of the garlicky flavour.

The local garlic is starting to be harvested. I saw some today out at Acorn Creek Farm. We always get at least one braid of garlic since I can't seem to grow enough in our own garden (and I have 36 plants). As for keeping it for a long time, that really depends on the type of garlic and the conditions. Usually we get "Musik" (a hard neck, red variety) which we have successfully kept and used until late spring/early summer. The braid is always hung out of direct light or heat with good air circulation. Other types of garlic haven't lasted as long in the same location (not because we've eaten it all!). If you do want to plant garlic, make sure you source locally grown bulbs for seed crop since they will be hardy to this region. It is planted in the fall and is always our first sign of spring (well before the asparagus). The 2 local garlic festivals are great sources for info and the growers are always willing to talk about their product.

F&T - why can't garlic be packed in oil? I keep a little jar of minced garlic in the fridge to use when I don't have a fresh bulb around.

It is a low acid food and a potential source of botulism since it is grown in soi. The oil therefore, would not kill the botulism bacteria nor the spores as the pH is not below 4.6.

Monty - I assume that you have a commercially prepared product... I am familiar with those. Gardener Mom is right on the money with her reply... a fact I didn't know until I checked out the link that Chimichimi posted above. Who knew? Good thing I never followed thru on this idea, a homemade concoction could kill you!

To directly respond to Fresh Foodies' question: "I ask because the grocery store stuff that we keep in a bowl seems to dry out in just a few weeks."

It is because once the garlic bulb is separated from its long stem, and that's what we get from most grocery stores, then it will dry out quickly. But if the long stem is intact with the bulb, hang in a dry and dark area then you will have fresh garlic to last you through the winter.

The photo attached above is the garlic we got from the Green Door Restaurant. They are so pretty that we used them as part of the x'mas decoration.

So, let me get this straight. They're locally grown, they look pretty, and they last longer. I think I'm sold on this! :-)

As for botulism, recall that cooking destroys the organism as well as the toxin. So don't worry about storing oiled garlic in the fridge if you are going to use it for cooking. Do worry about it if you plan to use it for topping a salad. Though technically the same probably applies to raw garlic ...

www.bt.cdc.gov

For the safety of everyone reading this, I have to disagree with you zym. From the site you posted: "Heating to an internal temperature of 85°C for at least 5 minutes will decontaminate affected food or drink."

That's fine and dandy, except that heating most foods to an internal temp of 85°C (185°F) and maintaing that for a full 5 minutes will result in a horrendously overcooked meal. Therefore, if your food tastes good then the oiled garlic is most likely still unsafe!

Yup, I'm voting in favour of better SAFE than SORRY, or in the case of botulism, "Better well fed, than dead".

I guess I'm the only person who fries his garlic with his onions before putting anything else in the pan

Well if you pan fry your garlic for several minutes then you're probably safe! :-)

I find that browned onions are yummy but browned garlic is not, so I usually add garlic later in the cooking process.

Here is another link specifically about the botulism strains of bacteria. It includes quite specific info on what can happen with improperly stored and treated foods.

edis.ifas.ufl.edu/FS104

garlic is having a bad year. too much rain and humidity in the air. the two factors that cause them to be moldy. this year's weather condition has disallowed garlic a chance to dry out properly after harvest. one farmer lost all his crop. no garlic at all. 20,000 of them!. it's hard being a farmer-- sigh.

This kind of ties into Peter's topic on buying local entitled "No More..." www.ottawafoodies.com

I purchased some local garlic over a month ago at the Carp Farmers' Market, and because I chose to buy by the bulb, I paid $ 2.00 vs the $ 1.00 or less I could have paid for it in the local supermarket (Loblaws had some on the weekend for 79 cents), but the grocery store only had a product produced in China.

I finished the garlic off this past weekend, and I must say it was quite good. I could have paid less than the $ 2.00 per bulb from the local farmer (Acorn Creek Garden Farms) had I wanted to purchase a greater quantity (such as a braid). I however wanted to hold off on that purchase until later in the Fall, I find the later I buy it, the longer into the Winter it lasts. Overall I was very happy with my purchase, and the quality of the product, and I felt a lot better supporting a local farmer than I would have buying a mass produced, internationally shipped item, from a country (China) that I have less and less faith in as someone I want providing my food stuffs.

I hope, that I will still be able to find a good quality locally grown garlic braid between now and Thanksgiving... I think I need to make another trip to the Carp Farmers' Market sooner rather than later.

Food&Think I think antifiller's comment pretty well explains why the garlic is so expensive this year. We had a record amount of snow last winter then rain, rain, rain this summer making for some very moist soil. Due to the poor growing conditions the garlic crops did not do well. The local farmers can't churn out the amount of products the mega farms can produce. However this is one of the biggest challenges of trying out a 100 mile diet - if a crop fails then we are out of luck. Hopefully next summer the growing conditions will be better so we can buy TONS of garlic-:)

We grow our own and have had good luck with storing in a burlap rice bag in the closet...don't know the brand but it has an elephant on it. Have tried the basement but it was too damp....we are able to keep our garlic about a huindred cloves good for around 50 weeks.

Good Luck

CB

The burlap bag CB is talking about is from my absolute fav basmati rice .... No. 817 Elephant Brand Basmati Rice.

This rice aquires some of it's flavour from the burlap sack.

Rince 4-5 times with cold water, soak 20-30 minutes, add to twice as much boiling water (some like to boil the soaking water), simmer 10 minutes and steam for another 7-8 minutes.

Oh the nutty goodness !!

CdnBacon - Thanks for the burlap rice bag tip... I think I will try that out. My plans are to go looking for garlic this weekend. I would much prefer to buy locally and try to keep it over the winter, rather than have to resort to garlic from China.
:-(

My wife turned one of those bags into a purse (it comes with a zipper along the top). She did a lot of work decorating it. Gets lots of compliments / questions from other women when she is out shopping.

There's a place in Greely that grows and sells garlic. I see the sign every day on my way to work. I don't know the name of the farm, but the sign is at Parkway/Old Prescott, pointing East and says "Garlic 2.5kms".

Google suggested it might be Gourmet Acres:

www.yellowpages.ca

The location and description seems right, but I am still not sure if it's the correct place. In any case I'm going to check it out tomorrow, and I'll report back.

I just moved to Greely and I'd love anyone's input on food-related information about the area...

Maybe it is Gino's Garlic Farm?? I have bought from him and it is in the Greely area.... could drive to it but don't know the name of the road....

mmmfood - Ottawa's Countryside Visitor's Guide advertises a cranberry farm in Greely 2283 Stagecoach Rd. open mid September to mid October (they advise you call ahead) I haven't been, (I had no idea there was one in the area!) but it looks intersting! I will add them as a vendor....

Anyone interested in China Garlic vs. Local Garlic check this out. ---> www.ottawafoodies.com <---

Alley Cat - Saw that you added Upper Canada Cranberries as a Vendor. I'm looking forward to more info... might just have to make a trip out there myself.

Their web site says to call ahead www.uc-cranberries.com Tel 613-798-6232 Hopefully you will make it out there and we will hear more about it!

foodntrave:

Gino's Garlic Farm is located at:
2687 Blanchfield Road, Osgoode, ON K0A 2W0
(613) 821-3792

So it's not the same one I was thinking of, but it's out there anyway...

maps.google.ca

I didn't get a chance to visit the garlic place in Greely this weekend. But I will one of these days!

Alley cat: Yes, when heading south on Stagecoach, the big "Cranberries" sign can be seen from the road. Not a big fan myself, but maybe I'll get some for Xmas to bring to dinners.. Thanks!

FYI - the glebe emporium sells terra cotta garlic keepers ($12 for a large) to keep garlic cool, dry and aerated. I picked one up yesterday and I love it - I call it the garlic house (it kind of resembles a little house). We buy garlic from the Landsdowne market to get us through the winter and normally have no problems with storing it - an occasional clove with be a bit spotty or brown but overall works pretty well.

Jules - I've always wondered about those garlic keepers... and whether they worked or not. Next time at the "Emporium" I'll check them out more closely. Thanks.