Garlic is among the most consumed vegetables in the United States. It's loved for its culinary flavor and for its many health benefits.
I plant garlic in the fall of every year. My seed garlic comes from Keene Garlic, a family owned farm in Madison, Wisconsin that sells certified organic and naturally grown gourmet bulbs for both eating and planting. Keene and Cindy Hollenbeck have been growing and selling high-quality garlic for more than 20-years, specializing in heirloom varieties and related gardening products.
Here are some photos of the planting process at Keene, enjoy.
Keene Garlic ships across the entire United States. There are two main types of garlic that can be grown – hardneck and softneck. Hardneck garlic grows best in colder climates, while softneck garlic thrives in warmer areas such as California and Texas.
At Keene, garlic is grown on two acres of the farm. A tractor starts by making all the holes. These are three to four inches deep.
The garlic bulbs are separated into cloves before planting and then soaked in a fertilization solution. This garlic variety is Chesnok Red loved for its rich flavor as an all-purpose cooking garlic. And, if you’re a little unsure of the terminology, the entire garlic is called a “head” or “knob.” And each small, individual segment of a garlic head is the garlic clove.
Every clove is planted by hand – one in each hole.
After planting, the area is topped with soil and mulch. Planting is done in October.
This is a mulching machine. The bales of straw are put through the grinder and then dropped over the soil. This will protect the garlic during the cold Wisconsin winter.
And here is Keene after the everything is planted and covered. Growing garlic from clove usually takes about nine months.
Five days after planting, the cloves are checked for root development. The pre-planting fertilization soak primes the cloves for fast root development and reduces the risk of fungal or bacterial infections from the soil.
Here is the field on a cold Wisconsin winter day. The snow also acts as a good insulator and helps to protect the crops.
And come late March sprouts start popping up everywhere.
Here they are just two weeks later. Garlic grows very fast.
By April, the garlic is a half foot taller.
Keene practices foliar feeding, which is a method of applying nutrients directly to the leaves of the garlic plants. Here is Keene spraying each row of garlic. Foliar feeding allows for fast absorption, boosts plant growth, and increases the bulb size.
And here they are in June. These crops are in excellent condition. Garlic plants can grow two to three feet tall during the peak of the gardening season.
Keene and Cindy are pleased with their harvest. Here is a tray of Chesnok Red, German Extra Hardy, and Elephant garlic, which is actually a leek that resembles garlic in growing and in appearance. It has a very mild flavor. It is most commonly found in grocery stores. It is also larger than the other garlic varieties.
The garlic is harvested in late July. Here is one crate of beautiful garlic curing. Curing garlic refers to the process of drying harvested garlic bulbs to enhance their flavor, extend their shelf life, and prepare them for long-term storage. This process takes two to three weeks.
This variety is Romanian Red – large, impressive bulbs with a rich, hot flavor.
The next step is quality control and packaging. Every bulb goes through an inspection process. The entire staff at Keene is trained to check for good quality and feel. Here, every box is checked again before it is sealed and shipped.
There are always about three or four heads in each netted pack, and each one contains at least four to six cloves – some even more.
And this is my seed garlic just before it’s shipped to my farm for planting. I will share my planting process soon. I hope this inspires you to grow your own garlic! This is the time to plant!
Supporting a working farm is a huge responsibility and a tremendous amount of work. And to get all the many projects done throughout the year, I always encourage my crew to "use the right tools for the right jobs."
Among my favorites are the tractors from Kubota, a leading manufacturer of all kinds of farming machinery, tool attachments, and utility vehicles. My Kubota equipment is used all over the property every single day - to mow the pastures and fields, transport compost and mulch, dig holes for trees, maintain the carriage roads, and many, many other important outdoor tasks. The machines are dependable, efficient, and great additions to my farm. #KubotaUSA #KubotaCanada #KubotaTractor #Loan #LandPrideDoesThat
Here are some photos, enjoy.
I am very fortunate to have Kubota tractors. They are used for a multitude of tasks all year long. This one is the M62. It is equipped with a forklift, a front loader, and a backhoe. On this day, the tractor is transporting one of many European hornbeams, Carpinus betulus ‘Frans Fontaine,’ to its planting location.
The Kubota M62 Tractor Loader Backhoe is essential for digging holes. It has a 63 horsepower engine and a powerful backhoe with 169.8 inch digging depth.
The tractor’s stabilizing feet are extended to keep it well balanced and safe.
The backhoe is controlled from the safety of the tractor’s cab. The operator can turn and sit facing either direction to maneuver the backhoe or the loader.
The bucket attachment is used for so many things – from transporting mulch and compost to carrying heavy potted plants to delivering heavy stone and logs.
Here it is transporting mulch to one of the gardens. The tractors are always driven slowly and carefully – I have a 5mph speed limit on the farm.
And here, the tractor bucket is loaded with pieces of heavy sod. The sod is reused whenever possible.
Kubota also makes excellent mowers. This is Adan, my resident lawn expert. He is mowing the orchard with the Kubota SZ22 Stand On Mower.
I also have a Zero-Turn ZD1211 mower. Its ergonomic design and high-back seat make it so comfortable to drive.
This M4-071 is larger tractor with an enclosed operator’s cab. It’s powered by a 73.2 HP diesel engine and has a rear lift capacity of more than three thousand pounds.
On this day, the tractor is used to pull a special agriculture attachment that rakes the cut and dried hay and forms it into windrows that can be baled.
Everyone on my outdoor ground crew is carefully trained to use the powerful machinery.
This is Chhiring Sherpa, my longtime crew foreman. He is an excellent equipment operator and uses the tractors every day.
Here, the tractor is used to carefully transport pallets of plants from the truck to a designated area until they are planted in the ground.
Another bucket full of mulch is carried to its location. These buckets can be lowered to ground level or raised high while in motion.
The tractors are also essential for maintaining the four miles of carriage road around my farm.
The Land Pride PR1690 Power Rake is secured to the back of our tractor in order to rake and grade the carriage roads. When the rake is lowered onto the road surface and tilted to the proper angle, this attachment moves the gravel and road dust to the center, creating a crown. On less used roads, the power rake freshens up the existing gravel as it turns and brings any compacted gravel to the surface.
For this job, the M4-071 is seen with a Land Pride Tow-Behind Aerator working in the field.
And here, the tractor is used with a 3-point spreader to drop the grass seed in one of my paddocks.
After the job is done, the vehicle is cleaned for the next job. It’s a lot of work to maintain a farm – there’s always a long list of chores to complete. I’m glad I can get so many of them done with the help of my trusted Kubota equipment.
I am so fortunate to always have delicious organic produce growing here at my Bedford, New York farm.
As my outdoor grounds crew continues with fall chores, attention is directed toward planting my vegetable greenhouse. I love this greenhouse - its construction several years ago was inspired by Eliot Coleman, an expert in four-season farming. It uses minimal artificial heat - in fact, most of its energy comes directly from the sun, and it successfully grows a variety of cold-hardy crops. And yesterday, my head gardener Ryan McCallister, planted the first seeds of our next growing period.
Enjoy these photos.
This is the inside of my vegetable greenhouse. The ideal temperature when in full use is around 80 to 85-degrees Fahrenheit to keep all the vegetables growing their best. We have a large thermometer at the entrance to the structure, so the temperature can be checked easily several times a day.
Most of the energy in this greenhouse comes from the sun through these giant windows, which can be programmed to open for ventilation or cooling when needed. I also have a grow light system installed for nighttime use.
On one end is the head house where I keep a number of favorite seeds. I am always on the lookout for different seeds when I travel, but seeds are also widely available online and at garden centers. Some of my favorite source include Johnny’s Selected Seeds, Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, Vilmorin, and Botanical Interests.
I reuse markers season to season inside this greenhouse. These are already labeled and ready to insert into the beds.
I spend a good amount of time preparing the soil before planting any seeds. I have 17 wooden garden boxes that fit the entire length and width of the structure. Earlier this year, the beds were tilled, amended with good compost, raked and fed. I use a fertilizer specially formulated for growing vegetables – Miracle-Gro® Shake ‘n Feed® Tomato, Fruit & Vegetable Plant Food.
To start, Ryan uses this bed preparation rake from Johnny’s Selected Seeds to create furrows in the soil. Hard plastic red tubes slide onto selected teeth of the rake to mark the rows. In general, seeds should be planted at a depth of two times the width, or diameter, of the seed. A seed that’s about 1/16-of-an-inch thick should be planted an eighth-of-an-inch deep.
Some vegetables, such as kale, need to be planted a little deeper. Ryan uses a hoe to go over a few of the planting rows to deepen them another inch or two.
Here is a closer look at one of the furrows. All these beds are raised. Raised bed gardening allows good drainage, prevents soil compaction, and provides protection for those plants that may otherwise get trampled.
Next, after Ryan selects what seeds he is using, he makes corresponding markers.
Each packet is placed next to its corresponding marker at the foot of its designated planting row. I like to make sure we keep track of what varieties grow well, so I know what to use again. Ryan lays out all the packets first, strategically selecting what goes in each bed, so every crop is planted in a different location from last season. This is called rotation planting which helps maintain soil fertility, enhances its structure, and helps prevent pests and diseases.
Ryan will plant two beds of spinach. I use spinach every day in my green juice – it’s always picked fresh. Spinach is an excellent source of vitamin K, vitamin A, vitamin C, folate, and a good source of manganese, magnesium, iron and vitamin B2.
Every season, I also plant beets. Beets are sweet and tender – and one of the healthiest foods. Beets contain a unique source of phytonutrients called betalains, which provide antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and detoxification support.
This bed is designated for carrots of various types and colors.
These seeds are pelleted, or coated, carrot seeds. Pellets make seed handling easier for small-seeded crops.
Other vegetable seeds are not coated.
Ryan drops seeds carefully in the bed. These raised beds were designed for easy reach from all sides, so that work can be done quickly and efficiently.
He drops two or three seeds equally spaced. Once the seeds germinate, the weaker, less robust seedlings will be removed in a process called thinning. Thinning allows the best and strongest plants to grow, and gives them more resources like sunlight, nutrients, and water.
Once all the seeds are dropped into their various beds, Ryan uses the back of a small soft rake to backfill all the planted furrows.
And then everything is given a thorough drink of water.
Notice, some rows are left unplanted. Ryan will drop seeds again in a couple of weeks as part of succession planting or staggered planting which allows for continuous harvesting throughout the growing season.
Every bed is planted. It’s the beginning of an exciting new growing season – indoors. In a couple of months I’ll have nutritious and fresh vegetables to eat, share, and enjoy from this greenhouse.
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