In the bitter cold of February, it is the lone brave soul daring to pop out of the ground through the snow and ice. It powers through the spring, always the biggest and greenest member of the garden through May, usually at least a foot higher than all other growth. Then, the relentless heat of summer kicks in, and it decides to throw in the towel, fading slowly from green to yellow.
By the summer solstice, there is a secret growing below the ground. It will sustain the flavor and aroma of the kitchen for months and months, almost single-handedly. As autumn swings into gear and the trees are at their most colorful, it longs to return to the soil in anticipation of that bitter February cold.
Of course, I’m talking about garlic. As we approach our garlic harvest in a couple of weeks, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on this humble plant and how much it means to me as a farmer and as a person.
How I Fell In Love With Garlic
Growing up, I wouldn’t say we had the most vibrant kitchen. Not to say that we didn’t eat healthy, just that the number of fresh items could be few at times, and the flavors mild. Even then, fresh garlic had its place, pressed into a paste and added to stir fries, soups, and really most everything.
For me, garlic existed totally separately from the tomatoes, peppers, and green beans that grew in small amounts in our backyard garden. Vegetables like those were meant to be grown at home, but garlic?
Garlic was best suited for “agriculture”, that unknown entity that resulted in a little barrel of garlic at our grocery store. Any attempts to grow it yourself wouldn’t be worth it, as this agriculture system could make it more cheaply than you ever could. Plus, it’s not like it was “fresh” in the sense that a tomato is, so what could be gained from having it in your own garden?
How wrong I was. The first epiphany came as I was researching for my first garden as an adult with my own little backyard. Somehow I stumbled upon some information on growing garlic, and I was stunned to know that not only could garlic be grown right here in Western PA, but this was exactly the type of environment it was supposed to grow in.
Here I was thinking that garlic was best suited for some faraway land, and any attempt to grow it in my backyard was a waste. If anything, it was the other way around! It was then that I decided to buy some seed garlic, pop it into my backyard in October, and see what happened.
I was hooked. In early July, I pulled that first bulb out of the ground and gave an audible “wow!”. There it was, a bulb of garlic, just as beautiful as the very best bulb in the fancy grocery store, and this all happened in my backyard. And the flavor and texture? They were so much better than anything I had ever had. Not only did this vegetable love growing where I lived, but it tasted better too. Why wasn’t everyone growing their own garlic?
Why Garlic Is So Wonderful
I don’t believe that first garlic bulb is solely responsible for my choice to get into farming as a career. However, I do know that after that harvest, I started to read more and more about how you can not just grow your own food, but food that is healthier, tastier, and more sustainable than what is at the grocery store.
While today I grow lots of vegetables and herbs that fit that category, there is still something special about garlic. After this season, I will plant seed garlic that I grew, meaning that I don’t have to purchase anything from anyone to grow garlic every year. This is because next year’s garlic simply comes from this year’s cloves, so all you have to do is save some of what you grow!
Also, using garlic in the kitchen has only grown since getting into farming. We use it almost every day, and we usually use more than what our recipes call for. We continue to find new ways to use garlic and new ways that it enhances our food. Few of our crops are so versatile.
Finally, as a farmer, the uniqueness way that garlic grows is a true joy. It is a loner, the one crop that must be planted in the fall, and the only crop growing in February. When all other vegetables either wouldn’t stand a chance, or are simply dormant, garlic happily pushes forward.
Good Dirt Farm’s First Garlic Harvest
This year, garlic is really symbolizing my first year as a full-time grower. There are highs and lows, the good and the bad. I didn’t plant as much as I wanted (seed garlic is expensive) and our yields might not be as high as we hoped this year. In the same way many of my plans for growing and selling haven’t been realized due to poor timing, pests, weather, and my own foolishness, nothing about this year’s garlic harvest is perfect.
And yet, the beauty, life, and bounty of the farm is everywhere. Each week, I seem to have a greater variety and greater number of crops to harvest, and each week, the farm seems to explode with more and more life and diversity.
As I pulled a few heads of garlic this afternoon to get a gauge on when to harvest, I found myself repeating the same exclamation from my old backyard. When growing your own garlic, it’s hard to say much more than “wow!”.