Garlicana is a very small farm located in the southern end of the Cascade Mountains in Oregon. Here a diverse array of garlic and shallots are grown without the use of toxic chemical fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides or fungicides and careful attention is paid to sustainable soil practices. The farm specializes in less common varieties and developing new varieties through traditional seed breeding methods.
February
It’s been a very dry winter here in Southern Oregon. It’s not unusual for January to be dry and cold but thus far, this has been exceptionally dry. Given what’s going on in the world, there are more pressing things to foist one’s anxieties upon but drought is a concern. The mountains are barren of snow. Seldom i have i seen such clear turquoise water flowing in creek and rarely as low in winter. It was nice to get a break last year from catastrophic wildfires that now seem like an annual inevitability, but it is certain that without significant precipitation, a smoky summer is the least one can expect. If not for the mulch layer on the garlic, the soil would be dry enough that i’d have considered irrigation. The mulch also moderates the frequent occurrence of massive fluctuation between day and night temperatures.
While the pace here is slower in these months, i have been going to market with root crops, hardy brassicas (hurray for savoy cabbages which look great after temps in the teens) and storage crops. Most of the culinary garlic is holding up quite well. One winter activity is to make garlic powder. Thus far, over 115 lbs. has been dried down to around 40 lbs. I actually have spreadsheets documenting the wet/dry weights by horticultural group going back to ’09. The powders are available by the jar or in bulk. Currently i’m running batches of smoked garlic for powder. I am ruminating on what garlic varieties merit introducing this year, coming up with names, descriptions and occasionally absurd stories to go with some. The site will be updated to include new offerings. I am still sending out seed orders. Most varieties need vernalization but Silverskins, Creoles and Artichoke do not require long cold periods to do well. Check for varietal availability if you are ordering.
January
Last year the first flood was in late December and i hadn’t finished planting. While there’s been abundant precipitation in the northern part of the state, it’s been light here and it hasn’t frosted hard enough to kill off the chickweed growing in the cover crops in the field. The mild weather was conducive for planting, a process that usually takes a month from the start of clove popping to the last straw mulch. This was the smoothest planting season in recent memory thanks to both the weather and friends and neighbors who showed up for planting days.
I have seen only a single coho appear in the creek thus far and a hopeful bald eagle perching on a snag overhead. I do not take for granted having had a season without nearby wildfire, dense protracted smoke and i wouldn’t mind a winter off from multiple flood events but i am not one to predict winter weather. It’d be nice to see the return of coho and steelhead though. It’s such an amazing sight and it brings out people in this rural community, convening at spots along the creek where the fish really have to jump.
While much of the country is covered in snow, where the weather is mild, it’s not too late to plant. Particularly Silverskin, Creole and Artichoke types, as well as shallots. I still have stock of many varieties and culinary stock is available too along with varietal garlic powders. Indeed, the process of peeling, slicing and drying another hundred plus pounds of garlic has begun. Inquire if anything interests you.
December
Thus far it’s been a mild Fall with a few light frosts and not a lot of rain. While this hasn’t been ideal for the salmon which need considerably higher flows to make it up here to spawn, it’s been pretty nice weather for planting garlic. It’s always a relief to finally get cloves in the ground, a process which i am seldom able to start until after the last outdoor farmers’ market. At this writing, half the garlic has been planted. It’s satisfying to see the moonlight reflected on the fresh straw atop the finished beds. I don’t expect to complete planting till late in the month.
I will have a table at the Sagra del Radicchio + Cider festival in Portland on December 7th. I’ll have many garlic varieties, shallots, black garlic, varietal powders, etc. There are many things to taste at this event but the mandate of chefs preparing the dish at the Garlicana table is to make it memorable, no subtlety.
November
Autumn has arrived. The leaves have turned all shades of yellows and reds, nights are cool while days are mild. While leaves are dropping, their bright colors lighting up the grounds at night, heavy leaf fall will come after the first hard freeze which, light frosts aside, has yet to occur. With all storage crops in, the last of the cover crops sown, it’s planting time. On warm days it’s hard to be inside popping and sorting cloves. This task takes far longer than the actual planting and i’m rather picky about what goes into the ground and what gets ground for powder. I generally set aside more than i need for planting. I’m also scaling back by a few thousand cloves so there’s plenty of seed stock still available including the ever popular Creole types that are better suited for warmer climates. Please check for availability before ordering.
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There have been numerous inquiries about the artwork on this site, most of which is by Fiona. This is but a glimpse into her outstanding repertoire. Primarily a print maker, her work can be seen here.
If you have queries, contact me. Try calling if you don’t get a quick response to email. It’s a landline so i won’t get your texts if you try to do that. If the contact form doesn’t work, just email directly to garlic@garlicana.com (i actually prefer that to the contact form) and let me know.
Please read the Contact/Order page before asking for prices, shipping information or the address.
When you send in your check, if there is neither a form nor piece of paper that includes who you are, your email and shipping address, i will neither send your order nor cash your check. Preferably there’s an order form with the varieties and quantities listed as it takes me time to search through emails to find your order on the computer.
At this point, while there is no True Garlic Seeds available, there is True Seed Progeny. Until consistent farm help can be found, there’s simply not the time to sort them out. That said, i intend to make available some small volumes of promising varieties derived from TGS that i have not necessarily named. I generally trial new accessions for several years. There are so many that it’s kind of a process of deselecting them. There are varieties that have useful traits but aren’t charismatic enough to come up with names and continually offer and yet, they are fertile and worth growing to make crosses. These accessions will be derivatives of varieties that have been pledged to OSSI, thus all offspring will necessarily remain in the public domain. If interested, inquire after harvest this summer. There is no list of these a quantities are limited to 1/4 each.
A few years ago Garlicana did an online presentation for the Culinary Breeding Network’s Winter Vegetable Sagra. There was a whole week of presentations on garlic available here.
