Our farm is located in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York, between Cayuga and Owasco lakes. We grow hardneck garlic for seed and table stock. Our varieties include German White, Spanish Roja, and Italian Purple. We find that these varieties grow the best for us in our climate. Our high quality seed should produce the best possible garlic, but individual results will vary depending on climate and soil condition.

HOW WE GOT STARTED AND "ROAD DITCH" ROCAMBOLE:

Several years ago, while driving down one of the main roads not far from our farm, we noticed the strong distinct smell of garlic. Along the side of the road, in the ditch, were long stemmed plants looped at the top. We stopped and pulled one of these strange plants, and discovered that below the ground the plant grew a small bulb. These plants were the source of the garlic smell that we noticed earlier. We pulled a few more and brought them home. After a little research we found that this plant was a type of rocambole garlic. We separated the bulbs into individual cloves, which were only about the size of a corn kernel, and planted them that fall. For the next three years the bulbs got bigger, but were still quite small. Then, on the fourth year, we were surprised to find that the bulbs had doubled in size from the year before. The bulbs continued to grow in size each year, and now this “road ditch” rocambole is our favorite garlic. It grows very well in our north east climate, with our cold winters and cool springs. It has a very strong taste, and is just as big, if not bigger, than our German white variety.

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