Grey Duck Garlic
Stone Age Garlic: or How Grey Duck Garlic Came to Be
In the beginning, Jane had a handful of heirloom garlic. Two varieties of German Red garlic had been passed on to her from two different friends, Ed and Gwen. Both varieties had been growing in old farmsteads for the last 100 years or so, carefully cultivated by those who love the rich complex taste of hardneck garlic.
Jane planted the garlic and grew it for her own use. As her supply grew she began giving it away to friend and family, always saving some back for the next planting. People came clambering back for more and demanded to know why this garlic tasted so much better than the stuff they bought at the supermarket . Others wanted to buy some for their friends and family. At some point Jane begin to mull over the idea of raising enough organic hardneck garlic to sell some. She had been searching for a small agribusiness that she could start on her farm. That way she could stay home more and play with her grandchildren and her happy cows.
Left: One of Jane's happy cows eats weeds. For more on how our cows help us control weeds read Women vs. Weeds.
Initially, her son John helped her with the garlic. John and Jane planted a large garden plot with their two heirloom varieties plus several new varieties to test out. Everything was going great until John got married that summer. It was a surprise to everyone except John. Needless to say, John’s attention wasn’t focused on the garlic anymore; he had a nice new bride who seemed as stunned by everything as the rest of us. When John makes up his mind he moves quickly.
Soon after John’s wedding, Susan wandered out to Jane’s house and noticed the standing groves of garlic. “When is that supposed to be harvested?” She asked casually. What Susan didn’t realize is how that innocent sentence would significantly change her life. “I don’t know, look it up,” was the reply. Susan paged through a book on garlic planting and found that the ideal harvest time was ….right now. She harvested the garlic and laid it out to dry on pallets in the barn. Later, feeling responsible for the garlic she harvested, she helped to plant.
Below right: The initial garlic plot that Susan harvested. She thought it was a lot of garlic. Little did she know...
That fall Susan had a class where she had to design and write out a business plan. For fun she wrote one out for Grey Duck Garlic. She showed it to her Mom, Jane, who thought the plan looked intriguing. They recruited Jane’s sister Edna, who was bored and looking for a fun business, and started Grey Duck Garlic, LLC. Their primary business goals were: 1) to cultivate the biggest and best garlic 2) to have fun with each other and 3) to research practical ways to farm organically and sustainably.
Like any business we have refined our methods as we learn. For example, our first large scale garlic planting was started using farm tools to poke garlic planting holes. This works but is a little time consuming for an acre of garlic.
Warning: pictures of people using tools in inappropriate ways follow.
Above left: Annabel expresses her happiness at our new garlic planter!
Luckily Chris took pity on us and started designing real garlic growing tools for us to use, like the garlic planter above. We were able to use Garlic Planter I to finish our planting in record time. Using the proper tools saves you a lot of time and trouble. Our new garlic planter, Garlic Planter II, is even easier to use.