Subject: Re: Garlic Farming

From: [email-masked] (Gretchen W Jurek)
Date: Mon, 01 Jan 1996 18:16:14 GMT

[email-masked](Bernard "Butch" Garcia ) wrote:

>In <[email-masked]> [email-masked] (Barbara
>Nelson) writes: 
>>
>>
>>Anyone out ever grow garlic for resale? Like, a farm? Please email me
>>your experience if you have. We would like to buy some property and
>>grow garlic for resale....Please where is a good area? Idaho?or?
>>Thanks, Barbara

>            Ill tell you this barbara. I live in california near the
>Christopher garlic ranch. in an article i read about garlic growing and
>such, that to grow garlic well you must have the right amount of rain
>and the rain must stop at a certain time.Christopher Ranch grows their
>garlic starting in october or november, this is the time when the rains
>come, about May they hope and pray for drought, if it rains past May
>the garlic is ruined. You can try your luck in idaho but garlic is
>picky about water.

I have a hunch that the writer, 
Butch, lives near Gilroy, Calif., the self-anointed Garlic
Capital of the World... and is right about the needs of garlic.
Idaho is OK for growing spuds, oats, and alfalfa under
irrigation, as we did on our place in s.e. Idaho for the few
growing months in the year. Also there is a lot of dry-farming of
grains on a massive scale.The mediterranean climate of coastal
and inland California is more like what a lot of our food crops
need, and no long, blizzardy, below-freezing winters like
Idaho's. Not much grows well in frozen ground...I left Idaho in
1956, and have lived in California and Italy ever since...

---

From: "M. Counides" <[email-masked]>
Date: 1 Jan 1996 13:52:02 -0700

I just raise family and friend garlic (in Idaho), about 160 feet of it. we 
have wonderful results.  Garlic likes sandy fertile soil. Garlic likes 
fall rain.  Garlic is a happy hibernator.  Garlic wants to dry out before 
harvest in summer.  

For really great cultural info and a catalog with garlic varieties galore

Ron Englander
Filaree Farms
Washington State  

I can't give you a city name since I have temporarily lost my book.
He has also written "Growing Great Garlic" if you don't want a catalog.

---

From: [email-masked] (Gretchen W Jurek)
Date: Mon, 01 Jan 1996 18:55:02 GMT

>the garlic is ruined. You can try your luck in idaho but garlic is

I grew up in s.e. Idaho, and had a lot of irrigating to do to
water our crops...spuds, oats, alfalfa, for the few growing
months in the year. I now live in northern Calif., and can tell
you that the reason that Gilroy has a Garlic Festival is that
garlic grows well around there. The writer near the Christopher
Ranch knows this, and is probably near Gilroy..."mediterranean"
climate. Rains all winter, is dry all summer. Almost always above
freezing. The same cannot be said for Idaho!   Gretchen