About our farm
The Garlic Farm sells great tasting, pesticide-free, freshly harvested vegetables directly to consumers from its barn in the historic farming valley of West Granby,
Connecticut, just a few miles up route 20 from the town center of Granby.
Though the farm takes its name from the crop that was our original speciality, we now devote just as many acres to tomatoes and peppers as to the garlic. We grow a full line of the most popular summer vegetables, raised according to the guidelines of the Northeast Organic Farming Association. We specialize in tomatoes, peppers, and, of course, onions & garlic & related alliums, including leeks and shallots--all sold directly to the public from the farm and now at one nearby farmers' market.
Farmer Gary Cirullo grew up in Rocky Hill, Connecticut, where he first learned about agriculture by pitching in on neighboring farms. He later studied argonomy, apprenticed on farms in Pennsylvania and the Midwest and then farmed on the side for some years before turning his complete attention to raising high-quality vegetables, herbs, and flowers according to sound and sustainable farming practices. Now, in a good year, he uses his building skills only to construct improvements on the farm.
The 2012 season marks the 16th year the farm has been in business.
About our garlic
The farm grows one hardnecked variety of garlic, German White, which has a strong garlic flavor as well as a bit of heat. In early years of the farm we experimented with quite a few different varieties; we settled on the German white for flavor, reliability in the field under our climate conditions, and storage life.
Like all hardnecked varieties, our garlic produces a flower stalk, or scape, in June, that many people consider a delicacy; we open the barn for a couple weekends in June to sell the garlic scapes to those fans. (See more about garlic scapes on our scapes links page and scapes recipes page.)
We harvest the bulbs of the garlic in mid-July; at that point we sell the garlic fresh from the field for immediate use. The fresh garlic has the texture of a bulb--more like a water chestnut--and it, too, is prized by some fresh garlic afficionados although it won't store well because of its moisture. After two or three weeks of curing in our barn or the curing house, by early August the garlic is ready to buy for storage. We sell the storage garlic by the bulb, by the bunch for rustic hanging, by the pound, and by the bag. We also make up a limited number of "braids" for decorative hanging. We usually sell out of the garlic by early October, so shop early in the garlic season to avoid disappointment.
Cured
hardnecked garlic stores for about 6 months, maybe a little longer if you have excellent storage conditions.
Open for two weekends in June for garlic scapes. Sign up for the newsletter or check our home page for the dates and times for this year. The exact dates depend upon the weather & how quickly the garlic plants develop.
Open for the season beginning the
Saturday after Independence Day
then open every day till October's wind-down
10 am to
6 pm
Please check the
farmstand page of our web site or sign up for the email newsletter to see what's available each week of the season.
We hope to see you at the farm during the season. Thank you for supporting the Garlic Farm.
