Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Garlic Yield

I had counted on a yield of close to 10x when I started this venture last spring.  After harvesting all of our garlic, our average yield for year 1 was 4x.  Since we are planning on planting 25 pounds of each variety ourselves, we were left with only 30-40 pounds to sell.  So, we wound up making enough to make one tractor payment and replace the fluids in the tractor, but was so far off the mark, that it is really depressing.

1/2 the garlic hung to dry
After a few days, much thought, and discussing it with the family, I've come to the conclusion that this is just like any other business.  There are start-up costs, learning curves, and you can't be successful right out of the gate.  So, things are in motion for year 2.  We have a bigger plot, with better soil that is growing the second round of buckwheat right now.  We have 100 pounds of quality garlic to plant.  We have found several avenues to sell our garlic next year.  And we are excited to try some new things.

We will definitely be mulching the garlic for weed control.  We will attempt to use a potato plow to harvest the garlic much faster.  We will try washing the garlic with water before hanging to cut down on the time it takes to clean the garlic for sale.  Hopefully we can get our yield up, harvest faster, clean faster, and make a profit next year.  I need to figure out a faster way to bunch/hang the garlic, but I have 10 months to figure that out.

Some other things that we will be doing next year is growing a pumpkin patch for friends and family.  We want to have a fall gathering, take everyone on a hayride around the country roads, and send all the kids home with pumpkins to carve.  We are also in the planning stages of growing a large plot of corn. We haven't decided if we will grow field corn to feed our chickens or sweet corn to feed our families.  And we are looking into growing pigs instead of meat chickens in the spring.

Needless to say, there will be plenty of activity next year.  Now we start shifting gears and thinking about firewood again.
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2 comments:

  1. RivenfaeAugust 27, 2014 at 7:04 AM

    I have been wanting to grow garlic for my family what would be a good company to buy from and the best time to plant?

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  2. UnknownAugust 29, 2014 at 1:18 PM

    Rivenfae - If you are looking to grow enough to a supplement income, you'll probably want to start with 20-50 pounds and different varieties. To 20-50 pounds, most places that you would buy from are sold out in early spring. This time of year, if there are any garlic festivals near you or farmers markets, you could probably get enough poundage. Out of all the suppliers I've bought from, Keene Organics out of Wisconsin had the highest quality bulbs and were extremely friendly. http://www.keeneorganics.com.

    If you are looking at buying just enough to grow for your family's consumption, then you will probably just need 1/2 pound - 1 pound of bulbs. You could easily get this amount at a farmers market. If you can't find any, email me at sales@coachmanfarms.com and I can supply you with one of the varieties we grow or a pack of all 4 varieties.

    As for planting time, anytime from mid-October - mid-November, depending on where you live, as long as the ground isn't frozen. My great-grandad and dad both planted on October 15th each year.

    Hope that helps.

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