Have you ever been to a tropical country and eaten your favourite tropical fruit, be it pineapple, mango, or banana, and noticed how incredibly awesome it tasted? If you have, the “yum” moment was probably closely followed by an “ah-ha” moment when you realized that the imports we receive here in Canada can’t possibly compare in flavour since what we get is picked weeks before it reaches peak ripeness. The same goes for lots of food…which is why it’s so great to eat local food when it’s available. Being eaten so soon after being picked bumps up the flavometer rating no question.

Now with the fall having fallen, and winter on its way, a sadness always has set in for me since I’m seeing fewer and fewer local foods available on my co-op shelves, and fewer produce vendors at the local farmers’ markets. I’m always a bit sorry at this time of year that I didn’t devote more time to preserving the local harvest when I had a chance.

But wait! Lo and behold, there’s still lots of garlic!

If you’ve ever tasted locally grown organic garlic you’ll understand my excitement. Just like the mango off a tree, this stuff’s flavour dwarfs imported garlic BY FAR.

Although garlic can be stored throughout the winter, you won’t find it in your health food store for much longer, given the limited supply of these delicious gems. So if I were you…I’d be stocking up right about now. PLUS it’s a great holiday gift for those of us wanting to coverty convert our friends and family to locavores and organic advocates (shhh, don’t tell my mom)

Where to Get It…

Farmers’ markets are probably your best bet at this point, as health food stores may be losing suppliers. The Cutting Veg, an organic garlic farm located in Brampton, Ontario, still has a good supply of garlic. And when I say “garlic” I mean 7 varieties originating from all over the world! It’s part of their Global Garlic Project to keep genetic (and flavour) diversity alive.

OK, enough of the beating around the garlic scape. Here’s a little shameless promotion for my friends at the Cutting Veg:

Local, Organic Garlic Available: Have you secured your winter supply of local, organic garlic?  Grown on The Cutting Veg Organic Farm in Brampton, 7 varieties of Organic Garlic are still available for order, specifically:  Italian, Korean, Persian, Sicilian, Ukrainian, Yugoslavian, and Russian.   For more information about the specific varieties, or to download the order form, please visit http://www.thecuttingveg.com, or contact Daniel Hoffmann at daniel@thecuttingveg.com.  Set yourself up for a winter of good health, and fabulous flavours with local, organic garlic from The Cutting Veg.  Also, local, organic garlic makes for great holiday gifts!

yeahhhh, garlic! 'nuff said