HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen-Agriculture 2000, 2000-03-15, Page 37THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15, 2000. PAGE A-13
Grower says garlic breath fashionable
Top crop
The health benefits of garlic are getting a good deal of press these days. Seeing the potential
for increasing consumer demand, Doug and Corrie Sholdice have expanded their operation
bringing in two partners. Daughter Alix, then two, promoted the industry in this photo taken at
Toronto.
By Bonnie Gropp
Citizen staff
It's centuries old, but with a push
from health care professionals and
consumer demand garlic is becom
ing the taste everyone’s looking for.
“I like to say it’s fashionable to
have garlic breath,” says Doug
Sholdice of Brussels, who began
growing the flavourful bulbs 10
years ago on a whim. Also in the
insurance business, Sholdice was
visiting a client when seeing garlic
Growing
Garlic resembles onions when growing.
growing wild, became intrigued.
“They gave me some bulbs and
advice and that’s how it got started.”
That first time was a six-foot row
in the garden and though Sholdice,
who also custom feeds beef cattle,
admits he wanted to expand, he is
somewhat surprised by how big the
crop has gotten. ‘We planted about
50 acres this winter.
A labour intensive crop, Sholdice’s
wife, Corrie said the early years
were tiring. The garlic, which is
planted in the middle of September,
grows similar to an onion. It pro
duces a seed pod about the middle of
June. When this comes up and curls,
which is called the scape, it has to be
removed to make the bulb grow big
ger. This is done manually, as was
the early July harvest in the begin
ning.
“It is physically intense,” says
Corrie. “A lot of people have tried to
grow garlic but they seem to come
and go. They find out it’s a lot of
hard work.”
The job has gotten easier for the
Sholdices with the introduction of a
harvester, put together by Corrie’s
brother, Ray Rammeloo, who along
with Gerry Wheeler has gone into
partnership with Sholdice on the
venture.
They also own a modified potato
planter and spray equipment. “It is
relatively new to have this mecha
nized,” Sholdice says.
While there are hundreds of vari
eties of garlic, Sholdices specialize
in two, Legacy and Music. The for
mer has about eight to 10 smaller
cloves in the bulb and is richer tast
ing than many other kinds.
Music has six larger cloves per
bulb.
Once harvested the bulbs can be
stored in garlic keepers or any place
that’s cool and dry, dehydrated or
crushed. The important thing is that
they not get moist. Otherwise, says
Corrie, “they should keep until
spring.”
The scapes too are edible. They
can be chopped up and stored in the
refrigerator, freezer or dehydrated to
be used in salads or stir frys.
“They’re an ethnic delicacy that has
n’t been discovered here yet,” says
Sholdice.
Even for garlic lovers there’s only
so much that can be consumed by
any one family. Fortunately for pro
ducers, demand is growing, driven
primarily by garlic’s connection to
health benefits.
According to information from
David Wees, a teacher of horticulture
for the Farm Management and
Technology Program at McGill
The curled part of the onion is
called the scape. This is an eth
nic delicacy delicious in salads
and stir fries.
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there is probably no other plant with
as many medical uses. Garlic, Wees
says, lowers blood pressure and cho
lesterol levels and prevents blood
clots. It also has potent anti-bacterial
effects.
The health benefits are -attributed
to the compounds in garlic. Wees
says it is sulfur-containing chemicals
that give garlic its smell and flavour.
He cautions against the garlic tablets
which have the odour removed as
this also eliminates the sulfur com
pounds that have the medicinal prop
erties. “Eating real garlic,” he states,
“instead of pills is cheaper and gives
you a lot more of the desirable
'active ingredients’ and it is also
much tastier.”
Such endorsements have enabled
the Sholdices to see the future in gar
lic. Though they used to market at
roadside stands, they now grow their
garlic for Perth Garlic Farms Ltd.,
Stratford.
Begun three seasons ago, Perth
Garlic contracts about 400 acres, dis
tributing to major domestic and for
eign markets.
Sholdice says the potential for
growth is wonderful. “Canada
presently produces approximately 10
per cent. As long as Canadian
importers can compete there will be
growth.”
Presently China has been the
biggest competitor, dumping (sell
ing for less than their production
costs) on the Canadian market.
Sholdice says that the Garlic
Growers Association of Ontario is
working to address this problem and
has been successful in getting an
import duty applied to garlic during
the six months Canada markets its
product.
The biggest risk to the industry is
the fact that there is no crop insur
ance available. Hail or a moth that
infests the crop could be devastating,
however, Sholdice says, in the 10
years he has been growing garlic
there has never been a problem with
either.
Growing garlic has become a proj
ect the Sholdices enjoy, with their
four children, Alix, Ryan and twins
Meagan and Jordyn, also totally
involved. As advice to potential
growers he suggests starting small.
“Unless you have the equipment, it’s
so labour intensive that you will bum
out if you don't ease into it.”
After that, it’s a product which
these days pretty much sells itself.
“Once you get the marketing figured
out you’re away. Ontario-grown gar
lic is the best and if people look on
the sign at the store to see where the
garlic is from and buy local product
I think it’s a crop with a future,”
Sholdice says.
M.G.M.I