# Fresh garlic, made in China. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 15, 2013, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresh-garlic-made-in-china/653024 "2013-03-15T18:33:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresh-garlic-made-in-china/653024/21 "2013-03-16T14:09:59Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#): > > Thanks TP. I guess it is possible. Another question. Given the extensive ground contamination in China, who would buy produce from China? Ever since the melamine contaminated pet food situation, I’ve avoided purchasing _anything_ from China. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresh-garlic-made-in-china/653024/22 "2013-03-16T14:54:03Z")
considering it’s native to central Asia, I’m not sure that I’d get all bent out of shape seeing some that came from there. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresh-garlic-made-in-china/653024/23 "2013-03-16T16:26:39Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > That does it, I am going to just start growing my own damned garlic. Thank Ghu it preserves well enough by hanging in a cool dark area. I’ve been doing this for the past three years. A 4 x 4 foot area produces about as much garlic as we need for the year, plus we get tasty (and hot) varieties from all over the world, that you’ll never find in the supermarket. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2013, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresh-garlic-made-in-china/653024/24 "2013-03-17T04:13:24Z")
What sort of climate do you need for garlic? I’m thinking that the wet Pacific Northwest probably isn’t good since I know what Gilroy weather is like… ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2013, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresh-garlic-made-in-china/653024/25 "2013-03-17T14:43:38Z")
Garlic is adaptable to different sorts of climate (some varieties do better than others depending on where you live). We have relatively cold (and often wet) winters here in Ohio, but if you plant in decent soil that doesn’t stay waterlogged, the crop does well. All the garlic cloves I planted in fall are now up and growing. There seem to be lots of garlic growers in the [Pacific](http://rainyside.com/archives/EasyGoingGarlic.html) [Northwest](http://westsidegardener.com/articles/1997/garlic_lovers.html). ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2013, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresh-garlic-made-in-china/653024/26 "2013-03-17T14:55:12Z")
I grow my own garlic. The supermarkets are flooded with Chinese and Mexican Garlic. Even so, growing your own, you need to buy organic stock. The rest is showered with anti sprouting chemicals. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2013, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresh-garlic-made-in-china/653024/27 "2013-03-17T15:04:06Z")
How much garlic are you consuming that it’s worth the trouble of growing your own? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2013, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresh-garlic-made-in-china/653024/28 "2013-03-17T15:11:59Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > How much garlic are you consuming that it’s worth the trouble of growing your own? I use a few cloves in almost every meal, other than desert. I also roast whole bulbs as a bread spread. Mmmmmmmm. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2013, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresh-garlic-made-in-china/653024/29 "2013-03-17T17:33:04Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > What sort of climate do you need for garlic? I’m thinking that the wet Pacific Northwest probably isn’t good since I know what Gilroy weather is like… This lot: [http://www.reallygarlicky.co.uk/](http://www.reallygarlicky.co.uk/) grow very, very nice garlic in the north of Scotland. Out of the northern season, they source from Patagonia, so I guess the PNW has possibilities. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2013, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresh-garlic-made-in-china/653024/30 "2013-03-17T18:18:03Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > How much garlic are you consuming that it’s worth the trouble of growing your own? Having a garden is never considered a “trouble”. It is a relaxing and beautiful event. And the rewards are awesome! ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2013, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresh-garlic-made-in-china/653024/31 "2013-03-17T19:29:18Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#): > > Having a garden is never considered a “trouble”. It is a relaxing and beautiful event. And the rewards are awesome! Totally agreed. A wee vegetable garden, or a small greenhouse, is a lot of fun to maintain. There’s nothing tastier than, say, a tomato that has been picked minutes before. ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresh-garlic-made-in-china/653024/32 "2013-03-18T03:22:11Z")
We see a lot of Chinese garlic in Australian supermarkets, it does not have the pungency of our local stuff but seems to last longer. I go with the Australia grown even though it costs more, I just assume it doesn’t have as much chemicals in it but could well be wrong. Might try growing garlic, I have taken to growing all my own herbs and the flavour difference straight from the garden or even dried myself is amazing. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresh-garlic-made-in-china/653024/33 "2013-03-18T05:15:43Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#): > > Having a garden is never considered a “trouble”. It is a relaxing and beautiful event. And the rewards are awesome! I wish I could grow vegetables. It seems that everything dies, though. I carefully planted tomatoes from seed last year, petting them and thinning them down to 10 plants, which I transferred into the ground. They lived for a while, and then every single one of them died. I planted two varieties, a full sized and a cherry variety. They all died. O the shame. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresh-garlic-made-in-china/653024/34 "2013-03-18T11:29:35Z")
> [@simple\_homer](#): > > “Number of pigs plucked from Shanghai river tops 12,000”. > > [http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/number-of-pigs-plucked-from-shanghai-river-tops-12-000-1.1198284](http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/number-of-pigs-plucked-from-shanghai-river-tops-12-000-1.1198284) And I’d advise everyone to avoid drinking directly from urban Chinese rivers. Indeed, I try to avoid Chinese processed foods. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresh-garlic-made-in-china/653024/35 "2013-03-18T12:08:58Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > How much garlic are you consuming that it’s worth the trouble of growing your own? Here at least, it’s not much trouble at all. Add some blood meal or slow-release fertilizer to the soil in early spring, keep the weeds down and harvest the bulbs in summer when the foliage starts to die down. Then you just hang and store the garlic till you need it. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresh-garlic-made-in-china/653024/36 "2013-03-18T23:57:35Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Here at least, it’s not much trouble at all. Add some blood meal or slow-release fertilizer to the soil in early spring, keep the weeds down and harvest the bulbs in summer when the foliage starts to die down. Then you just hang and store the garlic till you need it. I have the perfect spot all picked out - about 10 years ago we had a turkeyhouse [like a chicken house but bigger:p] and about a 10x10foot fenced yard that got a good layer of birdcrap that is nicely aged in. Good ground water, light dappled shade. Just looking around for the perfect type of garlic, have it narrowed down to one of 2 - italian red or metechi. [we have an heirloom afficionado locally that sells spiffy stuff, I just picked up some _red_ celery seeds to start!] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresh-garlic-made-in-china/653024.md?page=1)