About the Garlic Farm

Crazy Horse Garlic Farm is located in Northwest Ohio, about 15 miles west of Toledo, OH in Lucas County. Originally, the farm was setup for horses, complete with barns, fenced pastures, corrals, small woods and a pond. In addition to my own 3 horses, I also boarded horses for a short time. There was more pasture than what the horses needed, so I began to investigate small crop farming. After much research and consideration, growing garlic was decidedly the natural choice.

A garden area was used as a test plot to see if garlic would grow here. Seed stock of Bogatyr, Georgian Crystal and Bavarian Purple were the first varieties purchased from some of the finest organic garlic growers in the country. And grow did it ever! Large bulbs with big fat cloves, bursting with flavor. People were really amazed at the size of the bulbs and home grown quality. Due to increase demand, I have now expanded to over 10 varieties.

Organic farming methods are used to produce high quality bulbs, no chemical fertilizers or pesticides are used. It starts by tilling the sandy loam to incorporate organic compost; then raised beds are built. Every process is tended by hand from seperating cloves, planting each individual clove, mulching, weeding and watering. When it's harvest time, the bulbs are dug up with a garden fork, tied in bundles of 8 to 10 plants and hung in the barn loft to dry and cure. After curing, the bulbs are cleaned, trimmed and sorted by hand and placed in storage trays. When an order is received, each is personally processed, packaged and shipped. Then, it begins again by preparing the beds for fall planting by tilling and enhancing the soil a bit with organic compost and other natural amendments if necessary.

Besides my own 3 horses, I've added a flock of chickens of different heritage breeds: Buff Orpingtons, Wyandottes, Jersey Giants, Arucanas and Red Comets. It is their unselfish contribution to the compost heap that makes for a wonderful, natural soil additive. They lay beautiful eggs and are entertaining as well! The newest addition is a rescue dog, a female Blue Heeler mix, Ruby Sue. She greets me at the door when I come home from the day job, tail wagging like crazy and ready to play.