About the Farm

Techniques

We follow all the standards for soil health, fertilizer usage, crop rotation, and other natural management of the USDA National Organic Program but are not at present certified-organic, as we do not yet sell more than $5,000 of produce per year. Although we hope to grow beyond that threshold in the future, and will gladly become certified-organic at that time, right now we are two folks with full-time non-farming jobs, so our farming has to stay small scale. The site we lease at present was previously managed by Against the Grain Farm, a certified-organic operation now based in Zionville, NC, so we know from personal communication with them that previous years’ management were also fully organic. In general, we follow the recommendations of ATTRA’s guide for organic garlic production. For any other details about our fertility and pest-management programs, feel free to ask further questions!

History & Climate

Richard began growing garlic in the North Carolina High Country in 2002. Although the farm has experimented with nearly twenty different varieties over the years, we have gradually culled-out the lesser performers for this region. The five varieties we presently grow have all adapted extremely well to the NC High Country (the cooler end of USDA Zone 6, at roughly 3,100’ elevation) during cool, warm, wet, and dry years alike. Having sent garlic to friends and buyers in environments as diverse as eastern Massachusetts, northern New Jersey, the foothills of NC, and Central New York, we can say with some confidence that with proper care, these varieties of garlic can perform well in USDA Zones 4-7.