The Lucknow Sentinel, 1996-03-13, Page 32Pop **arm ProgroissC R
Farmers catching en to
by Andy Bader!
There was a time when a:ll
garlic stood for was its foul
smell and warding: off. evil spir-
its, Today, especially in Ontario,
garhe has become "very trendy"
says one local producer.
By trendy, Stan Christie of
Flat Creek .?arms of RR 1
Mitchell, notes that more and
more research alludes to the fact
that garlic is beneficial to one's
health, and is .therefore becom-
ing more popular as .a crop.
"It hasn't been anything too
hard so far, We put it in, the
ground and it grows," he says
with a simple shrug of his
shoulders,; admitting that their
approach to growing and bar=
vesting it is really no different
than anything else they cash
crop on their 700 -acre. spread
west of Russeldale.
"People will eat anything that
grows out of the ground if
there's a market for it," he. said.
Christie, who operates the
garlic -growing business with his
brother Jack and friend- Warren -
Hain, said things. began in 1993
when am a former ueighb .
now living,in Stratford = need-
ed" some land to grow the prod-
uct.. fie and his brother had
sortie and decided to give it a
chances, planting approximately
one-third of :au acre. The har-
vest was totally re -planted on
three acresthe following year,
with' the first marketingand sale
of the product taking, place last
summer on the 10 -acre parcel of
land they planted the previous
October, This year, they. planted:
18 acres, and Christie admits he
has no way of telling how big it°
will get.
"1" hope it doesn't go' by the
wayside, but z don't mind work -
ng if we're getting paid for it,"
he said, "So far, it's been okay,"
Having the three partners is a
key element in making it sue -
'trend
r
cessful, as is their wherewithal
to tailor certain pieces ,of equip-
ment to their relatively now
operation, such as ,a "spoon"
planter Stan --a t
��o�-
plc � arca: dt�
maker by trde- builtAwo years
ago to make life somewhat° ` •
er. Vari-
ety"Music" hard neck, vW -
ety of garlic they grow is a
European strain known . for its
good size and largecloves,
which generally number five or
six. The -cloves are simply
arli cgrowing market
ripped off the bulband used for
seed if they are toe small, or the
entire bulbs are sold,
scallyone month prior to
the„. harvest each July, the
r•se es, or flowers, are .picked
calf each bulb by hand in order
for the garlic to fully ?omen -
trate on growing, Christie
explained. The tedious job of
p*eking off the seapes. "is the
worst part” of the .entirebusi-
ness, he laments, but with the
assistance of a number of sum-
mer students, the .soapes were
picked off in just three days,
They,. too, were sold.'
In July, the garlic is harvested
over a three-week period; then
dried in wooden pallets before
the tops are clipped off, once
more by hand.,
Selling for approximately $2
a pound, the group has success-
f `city soldtheir product to places
suolt as London and Toronto; as
well as a "surprising" amount,
directly from their home off of
highway 83.
Christie's wife Susan adds
the freshly -harvested garlic,
much like any other fresh veg-
etable, tastes so much better
than other product which people.
often find in the grocery stores. °
Whether fresh or not, med-
ical researchers D are proving that
.. the sulfur in the garlic seems seems to
enhance immune responses,
curb coronary risk factors and
block the action of carcinogens.,
There is also documentation
that garlic oil contains a sub,
stance which breaks down 'the
blood clot -promoting protein °
called fibrin which suggeststhat
garlic may be helpful in pre-
venting certain types of heart
disease and stroke..
And what does Christie think
of eating garlic himself? °
1 never really minded it, but
now I'm a fanatic," he says with
a smilie.
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