SO, WHY GARLIC?

Hello From Colgan Farms!

SO, WHY GARLIC??

Today is a beautiful day and as I ponder the purpose of this blog I find myself reflecting on my journey; not my "Life's Journey", but on the path that led to my decision to start a garlic farm.

As I said in "The Long Road Home,” it was the brainchild of friends I hadn’t seen in 25 years. I don't know why it took me so long to realize that farming was in my blood, but here I was chasing my proverbial tail, searching for my purpose, when all I had to do was sit still and look around me!!

I spent a lifetime trying to follow the adage, "Do what you love and the money will follow,” but arriving at the age of retirement and looking into the financial hole I’d dug, I realized that hadn't worked so well for me and I didn’t have a clue how to escape. A lifetime of working and I couldn’t afford to retire, so NOW I was motivated by money. Feeling guilty about putting money ahead of purpose, I decided I would just try to make enough to supplement my retirement income and once I retired, I would go back to the idea of "doing what I love."

SO, WHY GARLIC?? My quest for money began by looking for ways to capitalize on five acres of some of the best soil in Cayuga County. To this end, I started researching the broader topics of small scale farming, growing vegetables for profit, and organic farming. That quickly narrowed to a search for profitable plants which­ led me to ginseng, mushrooms and garlic.

With the goal of retiring in 2016, and hot on the trail of money, time was the key factor in eliminating ginseng. Initially, it looked like a good option: easy and profitable. But while intriguing, ­­it takes up to six years to harvest a first crop.

Then I looked at mushrooms which were very interesting but eliminated for a few good reasons: start up can be costly and heating my barn through the long cold winters of the northeast would be expensive. Also, mushrooms are labor intensive. Since they need to be taken to market fresh, harvesting is an on-going chore which would require steady marketing. Oh, and one small influential detail, I don’t really care for mushrooms. So moving on!

 My search then took me into the world of garlic. I was drawn to it immediately for several reasons.

1. There's a market for organically grown, hardneck garlic. Many growers have already paved that path so stepping onto it, thanks to their efforts, looked relatively simple.  Garlic is harvested in July so when I started looking for seed in September for my startup venture I was surprised to find most of the suppliers were already sold out.
2. The trend in "farm-to-table" among restaurants is gaining ground and there's a growing demand for organically grown produce.
3. I don't know if it's garlic growers, organic farmers, or people living off the land and doing what they love, but farmers I talked to along the way were supportive and enthusiastic; “the more the merrier” was the general reaction. That said, while encouraging me to go for it, they also shared the pitfalls and hurdles; as with any new business, there are those.
4. Did I mention that I love garlic?

 At every point, garlic, specifically organically grown hardneck garlic, looked like the answer:

• Make a decent profit on one acre … check
• Startup cost manageable … check
• Grows best in a climate with long cold winters … check, check and check again!!!
• Plant in the fall, harvest in July. Really? That means I can leave my garlic growing through these northeast winters and head to Myrtle Beach? Checkcheckcheck … say no more!

I think garlic farming is a bit like a new exercise program … too much too soon can have a negative impact. As I continued my research, I felt that surge of energy that comes with new beginnings: If I can run a quarter of a mile I can surely run 5! Right? Wrong!! A lot can go wrong and pretty soon you’re back on the couch with a torn Achilles! And so it is with starting a garlic farm, a lot can go wrong before you ever have the chance to get it right.

So with hours of research behind me I was at the starting line with a view of an acre of garlic at the finish line. I was confident that I could run this race, and anticipating retirement, I was ready to take the proverbial leap of faith. Sometimes, those leaps of faith are well grounded in wisdom and good advice, however, so my “leap” was more like a short step. 

My short term goal was clear: find a way to supplement my Social Security so I could retire in 2016. Initially, I was planning to launch this plan by planting an acre of garlic in my start-up year. In the end, however, I knew that my Garlic Gurus were right and I relied on the advice they offered:  GO SLOW! It’s a great crop and it can be profitable, BUT a lot can go wrong and you can lose a whole crop when it does. And so it is, with the help of family and friends, I planted 5150 cloves of garlic in the fall of 2014. That sounds like a lot but it was only 1/16th of an acre. And that doesn’t sound like much … but it is!

 I learned a lot in my 1/16th of an acre classroom:

• Go slow,
• A lot can go wrong,
• Weather matters and you have no control,
• Growing produce for market is HARD work,
• People want to help you succeed,
• Hardneck garlic is called “Gourmet” for a reason,
• Seed for an acre of garlic is not cheap,
• It takes as much time, money and effort to grow bad garlic as it does to grow good garlic!!

We, The Garlic Goddess and I, harvested our first crop in July. There was some loss but most of what was planted grew. I broke even on my start up investment by selling some of my harvest to a few local restaurants and to family and friends; the rest is being saved to use as seed. The goal is still to plant an acre of garlic but for now, small steps. This fall Colgan Farms will grow to ½ an acre. And The Garlic Goddess and I remain hopeful for retirement in 2016.