There’s almost no describing how pleased this morning’s delivery made me. Pretty happy! In two sturdy cartons, by FedEx Ground, 80 lbs of certified organic Music garlic, looking so fine! :) This shipment comes from a farmer named Warren, who grows a huge amount of garlic about 200 miles (320 km) from here—I’ve chatted with him about garlic, read his garlic literature, bought garlic from him before, a quirky and fun garlic grower indeed! And you certainly can’t have enough garlic… Possibly the WORST part of this mildly crazy tiny farm transition (moving farms from last year to this) was not being able to plant garlic last fall. On EVERY LEVEL, good garlic is GREAT…and if AT ALL POSSIBLE (it’s easy to grow!), you must have it around at all times! This season’s spring-planted garlic experiment did work out OK, but there wasn’t much of it, in number or in size. Now, we get to go again… Cool!
(By the way, if you’re really into garlic, this is the, um, BEST GARLIC SITE EVER: Gourmet Garlic Gardens! It has everything…)
When’re you planning to plant your garlic?
Have you grown Music before? I just ordered some this year for the first time — I’m used to growing German white and red, which both grow fabulously in my climate (northern california). I’ve heard Music grows well, but itsn’t quite as spicy as other varieties. I’m looking forward to it.
right on!
Laura: I’ve only ever grown Music, it’s the most common variety up here (Ontario & Quebec, at least), it’s reliable, great taste, lots of heat. I haven’t compared it to other varieties, I’ve tasted here and there, but not enough to remember differences. Dunno how it will do where you are, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t?! It’s funny, garlic is maybe my single favorite thing to grow, and it’s the one crop I haven’t made an effort to try different varieties. Like, at least 2-3 varieties of everything else, and with 500 tomato plants, I grow 30+ varieties, one year over 60… Odd.
Adam: Mid-October, or soon after, and maybe hold some to November. Fall seems to be warmer in the last few years, so I figure, later is better so they don’t start emerging before freeze-up in Dec or even, a couple years ago, Jan! I’ve planted to the end of November, and really no difference that I noticed with a month earlier, same season.
Mmmmm…. the first thing that came to mind was garlic jelly. Oh how I love garlic!
Ooh, I agree: garlic must be around at all times. Yum!
What fun, Mike! And that garlic looks fabulous. What will you do with such a big crop? And thanks for the link to the primo garlic website!
That’s super exciting! I need to get my garlic ordered. I like buying from gourmet garlic gardens as well!
I got an email today saying mine had been shipped from Territorial Seed…can’t wait!!! Kim
Can you provide contact info for your garlic supplier? I’m in MA and looking for more music seed this year.
Thanks,
David
Rainbow Harvest Farms
Johnny’s Selected Seeds has a decent supply at the moment, including Music.
Thanks Paul, I was hoping to by direct from a new england farmer as the catalogs (including johhny’s) are all so insanely expensive. Any idea where the garlic is grown that Johnny’s sells?
Just got my order yesterday of Chinese Pink, Duganski, Italian Late, and Susanville! Half planted, other half going in later today! Kim
I am a beginning market farmer in Quebec and I would really be interested if you could give us more info on who sold you this seed garlic.
Regards,
Lova
That Music looks big! We had a wet year here in MB (to say the least) and my garlic didn’t fare as well as it did last year. How many cloves in those heads? it looks to be more than 4.
FYI: Garlic can’t be legally sold across the US-Canada Border.
[…] at growing garlic I had know idea of how much to actually grow, and when I read that the folks at Tiny Farm Blog ordered 80 lbs I was blown away and now feel quite inadequate. Oh well, now time to see if I can […]
Grew my first crop of garlic this summer… also did Music. This fall I’ll be tripling my planting because I’ve already run through most of my harvest. The garlic scapes were a lovely tasty bonus!
Don’t know much about garlic farming but enjoy your blog posts. Now potatoes, dry beans, strawberries..sugar beets, we have some background living on a farm.
I believe this is the site your looking for: http://www.ecosophyfarm.com/garlic.html
Warren Leitzel, Ecosophy Farm, 123 Blue Heron Drive, Woodward, PA 16882
I just did a search with ” Warren & Music Garlic.” Price comparison, say to Johnny’s:
5 lbs. Johnny’s: $84.50
Warren’s: $60.00
Maybe you can get a discount with a purchase of a greater amount.
Very nice blog I must say… I will be following your posts. Very interesting.
Already learned a few growing tips from you. Thank You.
http://animalidsystems.blogspot.com
i’m hoping everything is okay on the little farm….you haven’t posted in a long time
As a market gardener and host of a CSA I have seen first hand and from other farmers as well that Music Garlic is one of the preferred garlics to plant here in central NC. Planting in December works well for me. Buying locally is the next best thing to growing your own. Great to keep garlic in the kitchen for flavor and health. Nice blog, thanks for your efforts.
I had a high percentage of Music bulbs that have produced only 2 or 3 cloves per bulb this year. They are massive cloves though. No one around here seemed to know if that was a ‘normal’ occurrence in years of stress but I’ve just had a reply from the “garlic guru”, publisher of The Garlic News, and he says that it is very common for Porcelain-type garlics to produce only 2 or 3 cloves in years of stress. If one plants those massive cloves, they will (if next year isn’t a year of stress) produce a 4- or 5-clove bulb. Good news! :)
I’m curious…across Canada…what are you selling your garlic for? I’m selling it for $6.00/lb, chemical-free (ie: non-cert org) in Winnipeg. A friend who sells at the biggest farmers’ market outside Wpg is selling her cert org Music for $6.50/lb. I saw on one BC website it was going for $10/lb!!
I’m waiting for my garlic to be delivered. Can’t wait to get it planted – it’s one of my favourite crops. :-)
WOW! That harvest looks beautiful! I love garli,. My favorite recipe is finely chopped garlic(preferably a whole bunch) olive oil, pepper, salt all mixed together then spread on a loaf of bread and baked until light brown. Yummy!
We need another post Mike, we are going through withdrawl!
[…] at growing garlic I had know idea of how much to actually grow, and when I read that the folks at Tiny Farm Blog ordered 80 lbs I was blown away and now feel quite inadequate. Oh well, now time to see if I can […]
[…] it gets cold enough they stop growing. Most of garlic’s growth is in the spring which is why some people plant it then. I’ve never done that but I don’t think the flavor would be as good or that the garlic […]