Where does the “Music” variety of garlic you grow come from?

This variety was propagated by Mr. Al Music, an Ontario garlic producer. According to the story, this garlic was given to him to try by a fellow Yugoslav countryman. Within a few years, this variety had become the major garlic variety grown in Ontario. We got this garlic through the Ontario Department of Agriculture who published a booklet on garlic growing and was in contact with Mr. Music.

When we started our business in 1989, we tested 25 different varieties that were provided to us by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Food Research and Development Centre in Chambly, Québec. At the time, the Centre had just completed a study of over 250 garlic varieties, from which Music garlic emerged as the most promising.

After a few years, we also agreed on the superiority of this garlic: it is highly reliable, has great taste, firm bulbs, and is highly resistant to disease. It’s the variety we’ve been growing ever since.

This said, there are other excellent varieties that warrant attention. In fact, there are thousands of garlic varieties. We chose Music garlic for its qualities, but also for its large commercial potential, our goal being more about bringing local garlic to Québec tables than about developing expertise in producing and marketing different garlic varieties.