I love it when a plan comes together...

The move into Shanghai-La couldn't have worked out better. Originally it was scheduled for 830 am with the movers, but because the garlic festival didn't open til 1pm, I postponed the movers till 10 am. The idea was to line things up so no time was wasted waiting around for the festival to start and the movers would be on sight dropping things in the wrong place or running over the neighbours dog. The resched worked out perfectly, truck was loaded by 11:30. By the time I loaded my truck and cleaned a bit it was 12:30. The movers were already heading up to the farm with D in tow to make sure it was handled properly.

Got to the festival at 12:50, found parking right out front, even tho it was an illegal parking spot, it was so packed I knew I could get in and out. The festival was good. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I guess even with garlic there are only so many farmers and specialty chefs going around. There was maybe 10 farmers tables, 10 general items sales places, like sauces and garlic presses etc. A few informational places about health and beauty and a camera crew from a local tv place meandering around. Knowing I was parked illegally and that my home was awaiting I rushed in, met with the farmers I had contacted previously, scooped my items, visited a couple others for a few different strains of bulbs and a pack of bulbils and scrammed.

Yep, that's a loonie next to the bulbs...

I know what you're wondering, did my idea of pre-contacting the farmers for speed and special treatment in terms of better product pay off? Boy did it! Not only was I in and out in 10 mins, but the bulbs this one farmer gave me, luckily the one I was getting the most product from, set us up with the biggest bulbs I saw in the whole festival. Not only were they super nice and helpful, but we bought 4 bulbs each x 5 strains of garlic weighing 5.5lbs costs us 40$. When growing garlic (and finding a husband), size matters. The bigger they are when you plant them, the bigger the next harvest will be. I'm sure as time goes on we will find cheaper sources, but for this crop now, I was satisfied with the price and farmer supplying it. Maybe in the spring we will get some asparagus from them as well. I'll give them a plug Cobblestone Farm

So I ran like a bat outta hell from the fest with no ticket on my window and the traffic was clear. By the time I got to the farm, the movers were done, the furniture we ordered was delivered and the satellite TV was installed. To top it off, some of my family had stopped by to visit and were waiting with cookies and baked goods as a move in treat. It was a great scenario all around and we are very happy. The previous owner is going to take the time to walk us around the property to catch us up on all the things two virgin farmers would need to know to keep the house from imploding. Because he was a pretty decent landscaper, he has done tons of things to make the place farmer friendly including an irrigation system, pond pumps and electrical outlets hidden all around the property. Think I may try to scoop a trampoline they have sitting out there to make a hoop style greenhouse, but that's another blog...

So far so good and we cant wait for what's next...

Life Lesson #914: Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes
you’re behind. The race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself...

One thing vampire children are taught early on is, don't run with wooden stakes...

In preparation for the coming move and fall planting season we are planning to hit the Toronto Garlic Festival which, turns out, is happening on our moving day next Saturday. In any other circumstance we would skip the garlic fest but because it's literally 2 mins. off the highway on our way up, we are going to make it happen. After we're packed up and loaded, D will head on to the Farm and I will make a slight detour for the cloves.

Better have a mint...

The 2nd annual Toronto Garlic Fest is a mix of food and farm suppliers with anything from oils and dried garlic to roasters and seed for planting. We have no interest in the food aspect at this point of course, but I have been doing some research as to who is going to be selling seed garlic there. Over the past few days I have taken the time to contact them, find out what strains they are bringing and in some cases asked them to set up a package for me to pickup. The reason for this is two fold. First, the obvious time constraint, if I can just pick it up and go all the better. Second, and more importantly, I'm hoping that the direct contact will edge them to perhaps include a better quality of seed vs a person just walking in off the street. I'll let you know how that one goes.

One of the hottest around...

The odd thing is, and this is a trait of mine I'm trying to dissect, I could care less about garlic. Not that I don't like it, but do I like it enough to go through all this hassle and energy? Not really, however it's a popular food, and if we want to have a solid hold on what people are going to eat/order then my own personal feeling don't come into the mix. Another example of this is the peppers we grew up on our balcony as a pre-test for out green thumb abilities. Along with a couple sweet peppers, we grew some habanero and a ghost pepper plant from seeds we bought on Craigslist. Ghost peppers being one of the hottest in the world if you didn't know. Again, I don't like spicy foods at all but many people do and if nothing else it's an added value addition people may appreciate just to try, or at least contemplate. I tend to be more on the side of diaper wearing when it comes to testing my spice resistance. D's brother ate one and said his eyes sweated... wished he got it on video. We've decided we will have a few odd things like this peppered (lame pun intended) throughout our growing stocks.

I guess the point is, we are trying to be prepared regardless of convenience and personal preference. Many books say to grow what you like to eat yourself, but god hasn't invented a cookie tree so... We will be prepared with the garlic for future growing seasons and prepared with a variety of unique items to offer to our customers as a way to stand out. Well that, along with quality organically grown products of course...

Life Lesson # 51: Never wear anything that advertises a company, unless they're paying you...