A Matter of Life and Breath Two farmers, AC/DC, and a single-minded dedication to a single stinky vegetable
By Brighid Driscoll When it comes to cooking, you’ll be hard-pressed to find anyone opposed to throwing in a few extra cloves of garlic. Humans have used and loved the aromatic herb for thousands of years, with early uses being culinary, medicinal, and even spiritual. Though we no longer use it to ward off ominous creatures or open the third eye, garlic remains a kitchen staple that finds its way into dinner more nights than not. And while dozens of farms in northern Michigan grow row after row of the pungent vegetable — and yes, it is officially a vegetable — Great Lakes Garlic Farm has dedicated every one of its acres to the stuff. But theirs isn’t any regular stuff. COMPARE, CONTRAST The average supermarket garlic, i.e. softneck garlic, is a pale, smooth, and small bulb, says Kevin Gregory, farmer and coowner of Great Lakes Garlic Farm. Softneck garlic grows fast, has a mild taste, and papery skin. It grows well in warmer climates and keeps better than its hardneck counterpart, making it ideal for long-distance travel from California or — more likely, China, where most of the world’s garlic is grown and exported. Softneck garlic works for its intended purpose, of course, but what it achieves in portability, it lacks in flavor. Hardneck garlic, on the other hand, which can withstand hardy winters with subzero temperatures, boasts deeper, far more complex — and sometimes even downright spicy — flavor. “These,” Kevin says, motioning to a large crate of hardneck garlic just harvested from
their Buckley farm, will be a little hotter.” “It’s super fresh,” he adds. “In a supermarket, it might be a month, two months, three months since [the garlic has] been harvested. Who knows how long it’s been.” Tiffany Gregory, who co-owns the farm with spouse Kevin, points to each of the three varieties they grow. “We have Music, we have Northern Jewel, and we have Chesnok Red. Each of those has its own flavor profile,” she says. “Music has a nice flavor. It’s not as hot when raw as the other two are, but it still has a strong flavor that holds up in cooking. Northern Jewel is a Michigan heirloom variety with a nice, hot, strong flavor when it’s raw, but it mellows out when you’re cooking. It’s great for roasting, fermenting, and sauteeing. Chesnok is also pretty strong when it’s raw. It holds its flavor well, and I like to use it for soups and sauces.” THE BEGINNING Hardneck garlic is the only crop grown on Kevin and Tiffany’s farm. Kevin works as a full-time engineer, but farming is in his blood. He grew up on an asparagus farm near Big Rapids and, as an adult, longed to return to those roots. In 2016 he leased a lot of land from his parent’s farm to try his hand at growing garlic. “It went terribly,” Kevin says with a laugh. But instead of growing discouraged, he and Tiffany decided to try again — but this time on a larger scale. When the farmhouse and acreage that is now theirs came up for sale in 2017, they bought it and brought their two little boys — and about 1,000 pounds of garlic — to the new property.
10 • september 20, 2021 • Northern Express Weekly
They chose garlic because of its versatility. “It’s versatile; it’s easy to love,” Tiffany said. “It’s something we can lightly process right here.” The family has a processing kitchen next to their house where Tiffany turns some of their fresh garlic into packaged product. She’s in charge of their farmers market circuit, and several days a week, she sells their garlic seasonings, freshly minced garlic, garlic dijon mustard, and bulbs at a local market. They sell the bulk of their products to farmers’ markets and through an online shop. While Tiffany interacts with customers directly, Kevin is responsible for crunching numbers and planting. Not all of their garlic is for sale each season. They reserve some to plant for the following year. For garlic cloves to successfully grow into new bulbs,
they need to be root side down, or at least on their side. This specific planting position works best for a small scale farm because it requires a farmer willing to plant each clove by hand. AC/DC ON THE FARM Kevin pulls up a video clip of himself on a tractor. In it, he tows two employees who are seated with a narrow table in front of them. As AC/DC’s “Back In Black” plays, the tractor starts to move, and each worker carefully places a clove of garlic into a hole into the ground. This method saves time, prevents a sore back, and ensures that the garlic will fall on its side. The music is an essential part of the method; timing the drop of each clove to the beat of the song ensures the cloves are evenly spaced.
