My aunt from close to Kitchener, Ontario let me have some of her garlic. I peeled some garlic and she let me have the unpeeled amount. It has a unique flavor. The stuff from the grocery store just doesn't compare. She grew it herself. You Canadians can definitely grow fantastic garlic. I'm being serious. Have a great day, everyone.

I'm not surprised but I'll bet you can say that about almost all vegetables and fruits. Most garlic and other things you buy in the store were grown in a controlled environment and picked before they were ripe. Either that or they were grown in Brazil or Argentina and picked before they were ripe so they will travel better. Think about the strawberries you get in the store, they are only half ripe and they are big and have very little flavor compared to home grown strawberries picked at peak ripeness. Betcha the garlic you got was the same principle.

It's just about impossible to get quality fruits and vegetables anywhere these days except from a local fruit stand. Is the tomato on your McDonalds hamburger a nice deep, ripened red? Nope. I have lived in Minnesota 20 years and I have never seen a ripe peach in a grocery store. Never. Go to Florida, and pick an orange off a tree and compare it to what you buy at the local super market and you won't even think it's the same fruit.

Good soils and fresh fruits and vegetables are far far from the lives of most people these days. the unique flavor you experienced was probably your first experience with what good garlic actually tastes like!

If you would look into garlic growing you can grow garlic anywhere in the U.S. There are many types and varieties that will grow from north to south. Like Bernie says anything home grown is 100 times better than you get in the store. I have grown garlic for 7 or 8 years. It is easy to grow and it doesn't take up much space. Most of the garlic in the stores comes from China, believe it or not, especially the garlic that comes in a sock or a tube.

Thank you for the replies.

Store-bought is almost invariably a silverskin type. Silverwhite being the Gilroy, CA cultivar.

Grown mostly for is consistent yield, adaptability and the longest storage life of all the garlic.

Northern growers can grow the many different hardnecks which are known for their exquisite flavor.

Southern growers are limited to the silverskins, artichokes, asiatics and creoles.

One producer in California harvest close to 8 million pounds which is most of USA demand. Unfortunately there is more and more coming from China...until this pandemic hit. More and more of the imports have had hepatitis found in them, because of the way human fertilizer is used on the crops in a certain country, so always beware of fresh squeezed garlic on your meals.
The California producer is scaling back so expect slight increases in price.

hard neck is the only way to go

Ok, I am dense. What is the difference between hard neck and soft neck?

Hard necks bolt and send up a central stalk called a scape. When harvested and dried the scape is hard.
Artichoke and silverskin are called soft necks and do not send up a scape and when harvested and dried the tops can be braided.

Many growers cut the scapes to concentrate growth into the bulb. The scapes are delicious on their own.

The scape is reproductive and will produce bulbils at the top. These tiny bulbils can be planted but will take two seasons to size up unlike planting cloves.

And some of the asiatics and turbans fall in between being weakly bolting. Whether they send up a scape depends on the climate.

With garlic it is all about vernalization or winter cold.

The softnecks; silverskin, artichoke, creole, mostly developed in the mediteranian and middle east so are more adapted to warmer winters.
The hardnecks northern europe to asia.
Asiatics and turbans are, well, asian and fall somewhere in between.

All types are the same species just divergences from the original wild type which is a hardneck. Much like cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, kale and collards are all the same species originating from a wild brassica growing wild on the spanish coast.

If they would do well in our heat. Even our winters are to warm for most of them. I'm going to try to find one that will.

Ever see wild garlic growing in farm fields?
Small bulbs , and a red outer skin on the bulbs.
Plant with other hardneck and they do cross polinate.
Some times you get a larger bulb that resembles an onion , and sometimes you get a segmented bulb.
Stronger flavor , just not as large as the ones bought in the store.
I like to plant both wild and any kind of hardneck together. let them cross polinate and find a stronger flavor .
Takes about 3-4 years to get larger bulbs from the first planting .
Helps to have a patch of mixed that you let go a few years also.
Plant the bulbs for stronger tasteing garlic.

Thank you for the explanation, warrior. I think I know what softneck is. Still connecting the dots on hardneck.