How to Grow Commercially on Under an Acre

Guide # 12 - Specialty Hobby Farm: Garlic

A step-by-step learning guide to the radical new farming method

that makes agriculture accessible to anyone, anywhere

By Wally Satzewich, Owner/Operator, Wally’s Urban Market Garden

Roxanne Christensen, President, Institute for Innovations in Local Farming

For more info on the SPIN-FARMING learning guide series, please visit www.spinfarming.com

Notice – Proprietary Information – All Rights Reserved

This material is property of Wally Satzewich and Roxanne Christensen. They reserve all rights to the ownership, use,
reproduction, distribution and publication of this document and the intellectual property herein. No copies may be made
whatsoever of the contents herein, nor any part thereof. Copyright © 2005 - 2008 Wally Satzewich, Roxanne Christensen
It's time to bring agriculture back home
SPIN-FARMING # 12 - Specialty Hobby Farm: Garlic

Table of Contents
Meet Jose and Maria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
A Focused Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Land Base . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Table 85: Land Base . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Low-road Harvesting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Income . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Table 86: Income . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Start-up Investments and Operating Expenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Table: 87 Major Start-up Investments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Table 88: Major Operating Expenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Targeted Weekly Sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Packaging and Pricing Variations for Garlic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Table 89: Packaging and Pricing Variations for Garlic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Farm Layout. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Table 90: Farm Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Growing Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
White hardneck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Red hardneck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Softneck. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Table 91: Expected Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Table 92: Cost of Garlic Seed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Table 93: Growing, Harvesting and Selling Periods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Sourcing Hardneck Garlic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Preparing Hardneck Garlic Seed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Fertilizing and Prepping the Plots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Planting the Hardneck Garlic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Using Leaves to Cover Garlic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Spring Planting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Sourcing the Softneck Garlic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Planting the Softneck Garlic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Irrigation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Weeding and Tending Crops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Harvesting and Prepping Green Garlic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Stand Display. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Debut Market Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Harvesting Softneck Garlic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Selling Softneck Garlic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Table 94: Debut Softneck Market Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Harvesting Hardneck Garlic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Packaging Hardneck Garlic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Real Marketing Begins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Table 95: Debut Hardneck Market Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Restaurants and Advertising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Planting for Next Season . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Year in Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Looking Ahead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-29
Lexicon
About the Authors

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SPIN-FARMING # 12 - Specialty Hobby Farm: Garlic

SPIN Specialty Hobby Farm: Garlic

Land Base: 6,000 Square feet
Gross Sales: $23,250

#12 in the Series

This installment offers a case study of a hypothetical part-time SPIN farm
which specializes in garlic. Its land base is 3 residential plots in the city,
but this model could also be applied in the country on part of a large
acreage that you already own. It utilizes SPIN's low-road harvesting
approach which does not require an investment in commercial
refrigeration equipment. You will have to research the garlic varieties
available in your area. If the prices for garlic seed are higher in your area Its land base is 3
than those cited here, you should be able to charge correspondingly residential plots in the city
but this model could also
higher prices.
be applied in the country
on part of a large
Meet Jose and Maria acreage…
Jose and Maria live in large Canadian city. They immigrated from
Nicaragua over 20 years ago. They are in their early fifties and both of
their families were involved in agriculture in their native country. Jose
makes a good salary as a plumber while Maria stays at home and takes
care of their teenage daughter, Angie. They live in an older residential area
with large backyards. Their backyard is 2,000 square feet. Maria maintains
a large home garden where she grows vegetables for the family. Many of
the people who have moved into the neighborhood within the past 10
years are young professionals who don't have any interest in gardening.
Maria remembers that in her homeland garden plots were highly valued,
and she was amazed that her neighbors were not making use of theirs.
After reading an article about a couple who were making a living from
growing on small plots in another city, she contemplated becoming a sub-
acre farmer like them.

A Focused Operation
Maria thought about what crops to grow. She wanted something that
wasn't too demanding but that also produced significant money. Following
her husband's advice to “Go with what you know”, she decided on garlic
since she uses lots of it in her own cooking. She researched the market
demand by visiting the local farmers market and certain ethnic restaurants
and butcher shops and concluded that, with a high-quality product and
shrewd marketing, she could become the pre-eminent local garlic supplier.
She decided to call her farm “Maria's City Garlic Farm.”

Land Base
Maria approached two neighbors and explained her plan to become a
garlic farmer and showed them the article about the other sub-acre
farmers. They were intrigued and took her up on her offer to rent their
backyard garden space. Both yards are large - one is 2,500 square feet ,
and the other is 2,000 square feet. Including her own yard, Maria's total
farm land base is 6,500 square feet and it is outlined in Table 85.
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SPIN-FARMING # 12 - Specialty Hobby Farm: Garlic

Table 85
Land Base for Garlic Hobby Farm

Home garden space 2,000 sq. ft.

Neighbor #1 2,500 sq. ft., $250 rent
Neighbor # 2 2,000 sq. ft., $250 rent
TOTAL 6,500 sq. ft.

Low-Road Harvesting
As has been explained in previous guides in the SPIN learning series,
SPIN-Farming offers two different harvesting options: the high-road and
the low-road. The high-road requires an investment in commercial
refrigeration equipment such as a walk-in cooler or an upright portable
produce cooler. Upright coolers are usually less expensive than walk-in
coolers, and can usually be bought used. If you are planning on becoming
a full-time farmer with significant production, a walk-in or upright cooler is
essential. Chilling crops after they are harvested removes the field heat
and slows the rate at which crops degrade, and this results in high-quality
produce that can command premium pricing.

The low- road harvesting approach ensures top-quality crops by less

expensive means - ice chests, home refrigerators, and timely harvesting of
produce. Maria purchased a used refrigerator to store her harvested green
garlic to maintain its freshness.

Income
Maria planned to price her garlic on the basis of size, and she used an
average price for projecting her income. Larger heads would fetch more
money per unit than smaller heads. For her white hardneck she expected
to make on average around $1.00 per head, and for her red hardneck
garlic she calculated an average price of $1.75 per head.

After thinking through her growing plan, which is detailed on page 8, Maria
projected she could target gross sales of $23,250, as outlined in Table 86.
She wanted to send some of this income to her relatives in Nicaragua and
also use some of it to take a trip back to see them there. So this extra
money would make a big difference in her life.

Table 86
Income

White hardneck 7,000 heads @$1.00 each $ 7,000

Red hardneck 7,000 heads @$1.75 each $12,250
Softneck
Head: 2,000 heads @$1.00 each $ 2,000
Green garlic: 800 bunches @$2.50 each $ 2,000
TOTAL: $23,250

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SPIN-FARMING # 12 - Specialty Hobby Farm: Garlic

Start-up Investments and Operating Expenses

Many of Maria's initial expenses were one-time costs, such as a
refrigerator, digital scale, meat hooks, and heat sealer, and they are
outlined in Table 87. Her main operating expenses are outlined in Table
88.

Table 87
Major Start-up Investments for Garlic Hobby Farm
Used refrigerator $300
Digital scale $200
…her peak selling season
Rototilling rental $200
would be from around the
Compost $150 end of August to the end
Farm stand setup $150 of December…
Heat sealer $150
Tools/supplies $150
Irrigation equipment $100
Meat hooks $100
Total: $1,500

Table 88
Major Operating Expenses for Garlic Hobby Farm
Garlic seed $2,143
Farmers market stall fees $700
Additional Labor $500
Gas $500
Rent for farm plots $500
Insurance $300
Mesh packaging $100
Fertilizer $100
TOTAL: $4,843

Targeted Weekly Sales

Though Maria would start selling green garlic at the farmer's market in
early June, her peak selling season would be from around the end of
August to the end of December when her main crop of head garlic would
be available. During this peak season she targeted average weekly sales
of $1,250 for 16 weeks for hardneck garlic, which would account for
around $20,000 of her total sales.

Packaging and Pricing Variations for Garlic

Maria’s season started in early June when she began selling at the
farmer’s market. She planned on selling 100 bunches of green garlic at
$2.50 per bunch for 8 marketing weeks, until late July. Green garlic is
garlic at a young stage of growth which is harvested and bunched like

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SPIN-FARMING # 12 - Specialty Hobby Farm: Garlic

scallion. The bulbs have no dry skin at this point so the entire bulb can be
used along with the green tops. She also planned to sell dry soft neck
garlic heads in bags, braids, and in clusters during this period until the
main hardneck crop was ready.

Selling green garlic would allow Maria to pick up sales early in the season,
as well as generate publicity for her farm. She would tell people at the
farmers market what she was all about so as to get them excited about
buying her main crop of head garlic when it was ready in August. She also
planned on selling to a few restaurants and butcher shops that had
expressed interest in green garlic during her initial market research. If her
production was what she hoped it would be, she also planned on
generating additional sales by advertising in a local newspaper. Table 89
outlines all the packaging and pricing options for garlic.
Table 89
Packaging and Pricing Variations for Garlic
Garlic Type PresentationPackaging Quantity Price
White hardneck small bags mesh 3 heads/bag $ 3.75
large bags mesh 12 heads/bag $10.00
Red hardneck bags mesh 12 heads/bag $20.00
clusters - 2 large heads/cluster $ 5.00
clusters - 3 small heads/cluster $ 5.00
Softneck:
green bunches cellophane .20 - .25 lbs./bunch $ 3.00
head: bags mesh 3-4 heads/bag $ 3.00
braids - 10 large heads $15.00
clusters - 3 large heads $ 5.00
Farm Layout
Like all SPIN farmers, Maria used standard size beds, which measure 2
feet wide and 25 feet long. On her farm of 6,500 total square feet, Maria
fit eighty 2 feet by 25 feet standard size beds, as shown in Table 90.

Table 90
Farm Layout
Backyard plot 2,000 sq. ft. containing 25 standard size
beds, all beds planted to red hardneck

Neighbor # 1 2,500 sq. ft. containing 30 standard size

beds
10 beds planted to softneck garlic
10 beds planted to red hardneck garlic
10 beds planted to white hardneck garlic

Neighbor # 2 2,000 sq. ft. containing 25 standard size

beds, all planted to white hardneck garlic

TOTAL 6,500 sq. ft., 80 beds

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SPIN-FARMING # 12 - Specialty Hobby Farm: Garlic

Growing Plan

On 6,500 square feet Maria projected that each of her 80 beds would
produce, on average, 200 heads of garlic, for a total production of 16,000
heads. In order to plan her seed purchase, she bought several pounds of
different types of garlic to weigh and break up the heads to get a head
count per pound, and a usable count per pound. Each clove would grow
into a head of garlic. Her growing plan included three different garlic
varieties:

White hardneck
White hardneck garlic has about 10 heads per pound with each head In order to plan her seed
having 6 cloves on average, or 60 cloves per pound. If she allowed for in- purchase, she bought
several pounds of
row spacing of around 4 inches between each planted clove, she could
different types of garlic to
plant around 75 cloves per row. Since each bed would have three rows, weigh and break up the
she would need 225 cloves, or 3.75 pounds of this particular garlic per heads to get a head count
bed. per pound, and a useable
count per pound.
The cost for this garlic variety was $5.00 per pound, so it cost less than
$20 to plant one bed. Each head was worth, on average, at least $1.00 if
packaged in a pleasing way. With average production of 200 heads per
bed, total per bed income was projected to be $200. Thirty five standard
size beds were put into white hardneck production.

Red hardneck
Red hardneck garlic, sometimes called Russian red, is bigger than the
white hardneck, with 5 heads per pound with each head having 8 cloves
on average, or 40 cloves per pound. About 200 cloves were needed on
average to plant a single bed, so Maria needed 5 pounds of this particular
garlic to plant one bed. The cost for this garlic variety was $7 per pound
for a total cost of $35 per bed. Maria charged $1.75 for this type of garlic.
With planned production of 200 heads per bed, income was projected at
$350 per bed. Thirty five standard size beds were put into red hardneck
production.

Softneck
Softneck garlic, which cost $3.50 per pound, was to be used for green
garlic and early dry garlic sales. Maria figured she needed 75 pounds of
this type of garlic since many of these beds were to be intensively planted
using closer spacings than the other two garlic varieties. As previously
explained, Maria planned on selling 100 bunches per week at $2.50 per
bunch, as well as selling garlic heads, during an 8 week period for total
income of $3,250. Ten standard size beds were put into softneck garlic
production, with 4 beds to intensive green garlic production, and 6 beds
head production. Table 91 outlines Maria’s expected production. Table 92
outlines the cost of seed. Table 93 outlines the growing, harvesting and
selling periods for each variety of garlic.

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SPIN-FARMING # 12 - Specialty Hobby Farm: Garlic

Table 91
Garlic Hobby Farm Expected Production
White hardneck 35 beds/7,000 heads
Red hardneck 35 beds/7,000 heads
Softneck 6 beds/2,000 heads
4 beds green garlic for 800 bunches
TOTAL production 80 beds/16,000 heads and 800 green garlic
bunches
Table 92
Cost of Garlic Seed
White hardneck 131 lbs. @ $5.00/lb. $ 655
Red hardneck 175 lbs. @ $7.00/lb. $1,225
Softneck 75 lbs. @ $3.50/lb. $ 263

TOTAL $2,143

Table 93
Growing, Harvesting and Selling Periods

Garlic Type Planting Harvesting Selling Period

White hardneck early October early August mid-August to end of Dec
Red hardneck early October early August mid-August to end of Dec

Softneck:
Green garlic early April early June early June mid-July
Dry head garlic early April to mid-July mid-July to mid-August

Sourcing Hardneck Garlic

When sourcing a garlic seed supplier, Maria was surprised to find one just
an hour away. Maria drove out and placed orders for the red and white
hardneck varieties she was seeking. The garlic grower was quite a
character and gave her all sorts of growing tips. She returned in early
September when the seed heads were available and picked up her order.
She joked that the garlic weighed less than her husband and daughter, so
the load wouldn't be too much for the car. She stored the garlic in the
garage.

Preparing Hardneck Garlic Seed

Maria confirmed with her local horticultural department specialist that
hardneck garlic was planted in late September and early October. In mid-
September Jose helped with the first step of the garlic planting process:
cracking the heads to obtain the cloves which are used as the seeds.
Angie set him up with some containers and small bins for the unused
parts, and Jose cracked the garlic in the living room while watching TV.
Maria put the cloves in a cool part of their basement, until she was ready
to plant. As planting time got closer, Maria was almost giddy with

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SPIN-FARMING # 12 - Specialty Hobby Farm: Garlic

excitement. Angie had to admit that the farm experiment was interesting
and that she was learning a lot. While she didn't want to become a farmer
herself, she saw the value in what Maria was doing. Jose cracked all the
garlic over the course of two weeks, finishing up in late September. He
jokingly complained that his hands were too sore to do his plumbing
contracting work. But he liked to see that Maria was challenging herself by
becoming a sub-acre garlic farmer. He also liked that Angie was interested
enough to get involved and spent less time going to the mall.

Fertilizing and Prepping the Plots

Getting the three backyard plots ready for planting was a fairly involved
process that required a concerted effort from Maria and Angie. Because To mark the rows for the 3-
Maria was committed to farming organically, she had to pay close attention row beds, she simply used
her garden hoe.
to abide by strict organic standards. Jose had a friend who had relatives
who raised cattle on a farm that was a half hour drive from the city. For
$150 the farmer delivered and dumped a truck load of composted manure
in their backyard plot. It was quite a large mound, and Maria and Angie
were worried at first that they would ever use it all.

In early September Maria used a wheel barrow to spread the manure over
the 3 plots, and she paid Angie for her help after school. They both filled
the wheel barrow, and the two of them wheeled it to where it needed to be
dumped. They worked for a couple of hours like this for several weeks.
During the day, Maria spread the manure around the plots using a garden
rake and a shovel. She enjoyed this type of work, and really started to feel
like a farmer. Her neighbors started calling her “ Farmer Maria.”

After all the manure had been dumped and spread out, she did the
fertilizing. She used her own compost as well as coffee grounds from a
local Starbucks, which gladly gave them away. She also bought some 25
KG bags of alfalfa pellets, sugar beet pulp, dried molasses, soybean meal,
and canola meal. She put each component in a coffee can and used a
mask when she applied them, picking a time when the wind was not
blowing. She spread out one can of each component per 1,000 square
feet. She did the same with bone meal and wood ashes that she got from
a neighbor. After all the materials were applied she hired someone to do
the rototilling. A rear tine tiller was used to make SPIN's standard size
beds, 2 feet wide and 25 feet long. Once the beds were made Maria was
finally ready to plant.

Planting the Hardneck Garlic

If there was one thing that Maria liked, it was planting garlic. The idea of
each clove becoming a full head really excited her. In October Angie
helped with the planting after school, but Maria did most of the planting
herself. To mark the rows for the 3-row beds, she simply used her garden
hoe. She marked a shallow furrow on the edge of one side of a bed, and
then went down the edge of the other side of the bed. Then she marked a
furrow down the middle of the bed. Maria marked off very straight rows
this way, without having to use string.

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SPIN-FARMING # 12 - Specialty Hobby Farm: Garlic

Once a series of beds had their rows marked off, Maria took a small
bucket filled with hardneck cloves, straddled a bed and started planting. It
took her about a half hour to plant a bed, and in one day she easily
planted 10 beds. That allowed her to take frequent breaks and do other
household tasks. Over two weeks she planted around 70 beds of white
and red haredneck garlic, with the remaining 10 beds to be planted in
early spring. She spaced the garlic by planting 4 cloves per foot,
separating each clove by 4 inches. The cloves were pressed 3 to 4 inches
into the soil. Each row in the 3-row beds was around 12 inches apart. So it
reads: …3 to 4 inches into the soil. Each row in the 3-row beds was
around 12 inches apart.

Using Leaves to Cover Garlic

Maria's neighborhood is lucky to have many trees, and in the fall the
leaves had to be raked up and carted away. Maria was glad to finally be
able to put some of them to good use by layering them on her garlic beds.
They usually get a fair amount of snow in winter, but Maria wanted the
leaves for insulation just in case the snow accumulation did not provide
enough protection during the winter. Some of her neighbors were happy
to bring their bags of leaves to Maria instead of putting them out for trash,
so she had plenty to work with.

Spring Planting
By late March most of the snow had melted in Maria's farm plots. The
plants weren't showing yet, and probably wouldn't for another month, and
Maria was anxious to see how her fall planted garlic had over-wintered.
She raked off the leaves to allow the soil to warm up and placed them in a
large compost box that Jose built for her. In the meantime, the 10 beds
that she had prepped but not planted in the fall were getting dry enough to
work and would soon be ready for a spring planting of the softneck variety.

Sourcing the Softneck Garlic

Maria had phoned a local garden center in January and was told they
would have softneck garlic in early April. She booked 75 pounds. This was
the type of garlic she used to grow for herself in her home garden where it
was ready to harvest as mature garlic by the end of July. She therefore
planned on the softneck maturing earlier than the hardneck variety, giving
her some mature garlic to sell earlier in the season. She also planned on
using the the softneck variety for green garlic sales because it doesn't
have the hard seed stalk that hardneck garlic does. In early April she
picked up her softneck garlic and, just as in the fall, Jose was recruited to
crack it while he watched TV.

Planting Softneck Garlic

Maria first sorted the big cloves from the smaller ones. This particular
softneck variety had a lot of smaller-sized cloves, which don't produce a
large head. She planned on planting the larger-sized cloves for head
production, and the smaller- sized cloves for green garlic production.

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SPIN-FARMING # 12 - Specialty Hobby Farm: Garlic

She planted 6 beds to the larger-sized cloves, 4 rows per bed, and spaced
the them around 4-5 cloves per linear row foot. Then she planted 4 beds
with the smaller-sized cloves with between-clove spacing of an inch or so,
4 rows per bed. These 10 beds were planted at a leisurely pace over 3
days in early April. After this Maria's planting was complete for the season.
She looked at her plots and wondered what the growing season would
bring her. But she knew one thing - she didn't need to worry about water.
All she had to do was turn on the faucet. That, Maria discovered, was one
of the big advantages she had as an urban farmer, compared to some of
the growers in the country who rely on rainfall to grow their garlic crops.
Garlic requires ample moisture, and Maria took comfort knowing that she
could keep her crops growing even in a dry year.

Irrigation
With the use of hose
By early May just about all of Maria's garlic was starting to show. Stands
connectors, Y’s and
were looking uniform, and her fall planted garlic showed no signs of winter manifolds, she created an
damage. But the soil was starting to dry out so she had to get her irrigation inexpensive irrigation
in place. Since she didn't want to spend hours hand watering her 3 system that stayed in
backyard plots she made a small investment in garden sprinklers and place all summer.
garden hoses. With the use of hose connectors, Y’s, and manifolds, she
created an inexpensive irrigation system that stayed in place all summer.
Each series of beds had a sprinkler in place so all she had to do was
direct the water by turning on and off certain valves. She could set the
watering systems for all three plots in this way. Often, she would run her
irrigation system when she was making dinner.

Weeding and Tending Crops

Maria used specialty garden hoes for most of her weeding because she
knew an ordinary garden hoe wouldn't work as well. She wanted
something that drew easily through the soil, without moving it around too
much. She decided on a narrow stirrup hoe, and a narrow three pronged
cultivator to do this type of weeding. The garden hoe was used for the
between-bed weeding on the walkways which were about 1 foot wide. It
took Maria about 1.5 hours to weed 1,000 square feet, so weeding
required about 10 hours a week. Angie helped with some of the weeding,
and Maria had little trouble keeping the weeds under control.

Over the course of the summer, Maria kept her main crop of garlic well-
tended. She watered when the crops needed it. There was a fair amount
of rain, but there were two weeks when it was very hot and dry. She spent
several hours watering during that period, but her irrigation setup made it
an easy task. She had very orderly and pleasing- looking farm plots, and
her neighbors always complimented her on them. Using rain barrels, she
experimented with manure teas and applied liquid fish fertilizer mixed with
water. She thinks they helped and plans on attending a winter composting
workshop. Using scissors she cut off the seed heads of the red and white
hardneck garlic in mid-summer so that the plants put their energy into the
bulb, rather than seed.

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SPIN-FARMING # 12 - Specialty Hobby Farm: Garlic

Harvesting and Prepping Green Garlic

At the end of May all of the garlic was growing well. Maria's 6 beds of
softneck garlic were starting to produce small heads, and she harvested
her first green garlic from another 4 beds in the first week of June. She did
the prepping work for this on Friday afternoon in her backyard. Her
prepping area consisted of a small umbrella Jose had set up for her in a
corner of their patio. After lunch on a Friday Maria forked out a half-bed of
green garlic which took about 20 minutes. At this stage of growth it looks
like a scallion. She placed the harvested garlic in a small tub of cool tap
water with the root end down. She let it soak for about a half hour while
she had a coffee. Then she stripped it by pulling off the outer membranes
which were softened by the soaking. Removing the membranes on all of
the garlic took about an hour, and then she trimmed off all the root ends,
which took another half hour. She took a short break to start cooking for
dinner, and then started bunching the garlic. She placed enough garlic in a
bunch to make it weigh out between .20 and .25 pounds using an
inexpensive digital scale. She was done within an hour and then placed
each bunch in a small cellophane bag, which acts as a wrap, and then put
Maria transported her first the bunches in the small refrigerator in the garage. Maria was then ready
100 bunches using a to go to her first farmers market.
coleman cooler which
easily fit into her car along
with her farm stand table,
Stand Display
chairs and other gear. As noted previously, part of the reason Maria went to market in early June
was to build awareness of her farm. To do that she knew she had to stand
out, so she enlisted Angie's help again to create her display. Angie took
some photos, printed them off and made a small display board for the
table. Maria got her to update the photos throughout the season, to show
people how her garlic crop was doing and what her farm looked like. She
also had some signs made up showing her farm name, “Maria's City Garlic
Farm.” She knew that including “city” in the farm name would get people
interested. She also got Angie to print up business cards for her. She
needed just one table for her green garlic sales, and she found some
attractive rustic baskets, the type she used to see at some of the markets
in Nicaragua. She also used a colorful central American fabric for her table
cloth.

Debut Market Day

The farmers market took place every Saturday, from 9 am to 3 pm and
was a half hour drive. Maria transported her first 100 bunches using a
coleman cooler which easily fit into her car along with her farm stand table,
chairs and other gear. She set up in her designated stand area and
introduced herself to neighboring vendors. One artisan bread maker, told
her she used garlic in her bread and became her first customer without
Maria even needing to use her sales pitch. Another farm stand neighbor,
who sold a variety of produce, said he didn't grow garlic and that there
really wasn't much in supply at this farmers market. He said if anyone
asked for garlic, he would send them her way. Maria very quickly felt at
ease and was sure she would do well at this market.

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SPIN-FARMING # 12 - Specialty Hobby Farm: Garlic

When her first customer approached Maria smiled and said hello. She
knew you had to interact with people to make them steady customers, and
this was something Maria was good at. She really enjoyed people and was
eager to tell the story of her small garlic farm in the city. Her customer was
intrigued by her city growing and asked about green garlic. She explained
that it is garlic at a young stage of growth, and that the entire plant could
be used then. She told him the greens could be sautéed in a bit of oil, and
then used with potatoes or eggs. She also explained that the bulb part
didn't need to be peeled and could be chopped and used like regular
garlic, except the taste was a little mellower.

He bought two bunches for $5.00. She went on like this for the rest of the
market. By day's end she had sold out, and was nearly hoarse from
talking. She bought some artisan bread and some vegetables from her
Maria learned she had to
neighbors, and they congratulated her for doing so well. Maria could
protect harvested garlic
barely keep focused on driving on her way back home. She was thinking from the sun because
of the market and how much fun it had been. Everyone she met took to direct sunlight can
her and was excited about what she was doing. She told Jose and Angie discolor and damage it.
about her day at market, and they were impressed that she had made
$200 on her first day. Maria was already looking forward to her next
week's market.

Harvesting Softneck Garlic

By mid-July Maria had exhausted all of her green garlic beds and was
ready to begin harvesting and selling her softneck garlic. In early July she
also noticed that some of her garlic was ready to harvest for heads. She
harvested 2 beds of garlic. The heads looked good, and were fairly large.
The garlic was harvested while there was still a stem, and the plant was
showing signs of dying back. The garlic was forked, pulled, and taken to a
shaded area. Maria learned she had to protect harvested garlic from the
sun because direct sunlight can discolor and damage it. The garlic was
allowed to air dry for a few hours, and Maria gently brushed off any dirt
with her hands. Then the garlic was taken to the garage, where it was
hung to dry and cleaned up a bit more.

In the garage Maria had set up several makeshift tables using saw horses
and sheets of plywood. She ran a fan to get better air circulation. She
spread the garlic out on the sheets of plywood, and sorted it according to
size. Then over the course of a few days she tied the sized garlic together
in bunches with baler twine and hung them on butcher hooks which were
attached to the garage rafters. Dry skins slowly formed around the garlic.
In a week or so, it was ready for market. By the third week of July all of her

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SPIN-FARMING # 12 - Specialty Hobby Farm: Garlic

softneck garlic had been harvested and was hanging in the garage. It
provided steady garlic head sales until the middle of August, when the
hardneck garlic was ready.

Selling Softneck Garlic

Maria bought a roll of mesh onion sacking and a heat sealer for about
$100 to make professional-looking garlic packaging. She put a quarter
pound of softneck garlic, 3 - 4 heads, in each bag. She mixed large-
sized heads with smaller ones. Over the course of a week she
packaged 100 bags. She also made up 10 braids of the larger-sized
heads with about 10 heads per braid, which she priced at $15.00. She
also made 20 clusters consisting of 3 of the larger-sized and priced them
at $5.00. Overall she aimed to get an average price of $1.00 per head.
Her first market day of softneck garlic is outlined in Table 94. Many of
Maria's customers were eagerly awaiting her head garlic so they were
excited to see that it was finally available. One woman bought three
braids. The artisan bread woman bought 10 bags of garlic and said she
would buy this volume every week for the duration of the season. By
day's end Maria had just about sold out. Her sales continued this way
until her hardneck varieties were ready to harvest and sell in August.

Table 94
Debut Softneck Market Day
100 bags of garlic @ $3.00/bag
10 garlic braids @ $15.00/braid
20 garlic clusters @ $5.00 each
TOTAL Sales Value $550

Harvesting Hardneck Garlic

In mid-August, Maria began harvesting the hardneck, and the harvest
spanned several weeks. When she first dug it out she was very excited to
see the huge heads, and she knew she would get good prices for it. Her
harvesting routine was the same as for the softneck variety. After forking
out the hardneck, she allowed it to dry open air in the shade for a couple
of hours, rubbed off as much dirt as she could, and took it to the garage.
She then tied the garlic together in small bundles and hung it from the
meat hooks to cure.

Packaging Hardneck Garlic

Though the red variety produced larger heads than the white, Maria
thought her white was better for bagging. She placed 3 heads of white
garlic in a mesh bag and priced them at $3.75, getting a $1.25 per head.
For customers who wanted to buy in bulk, she also packaged some
$10.00 bags containing 12 heads of white garlic per bag. She sold the red
garlic, which was huge, in clusters. The largest-sized garlic was sold in
two head clusters for $5.00. Smaller sized three-head clusters sold for

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SPIN-FARMING # 12 - Specialty Hobby Farm: Garlic

$5.00. She also packaged large and smaller heads of red hardneck garlic
in $20.00 bags with 12 heads to a bag. This she positioned as her
“premium” brand stock.

Real Marketing Begins

Even though Maria had been at the farmers market for a little over two
months and had made a few thousand dollars, her real marketing effort
began towards the end of August with the hardneck garlic which she sold
in both packages and clusters. She visited restaurants and butcher shops
to try to recruit them as steady clients, and she also placed an ad in the
local newspaper. For the balance of the season she aimed to produce
$1,250 in average weekly sales. Her first marketing day of hardneck garlic
is outlined in Table 95.
Table 95 For the balance of the
Debut Hardneck Market Day season she aimed to
produce $1,250 in
100 small bags of white garlic @ $3.75/bag average weekly sales.
40 bulk bags of white garlic @ $10.00/bag
10 bags of small red garlic @ $20.00/bag
50 clusters of large red garlic@ $5.000 each
TOTAL SALES Value $1,225
When she arrived at market and set up her stand and displayed her garlic,
Maria created a real impression. Her packaging really showed off her
garlic, and she had done a nice job on her clusters. The university
students were starting to come to the farmers market again, and she
noticed many new faces. During the first hour of market, her garlic almost
flew off the table. The interest she had created in herself and her farm over
the last several months really paid off. People couldn't stop saying how
great her garlic looked. And they bought. All items were sold out by market
end. She could barely believe it. She was the only source for top-quality
garlic at market, and she had become a market celebrity. When she got
home both Jose and Angie were dumbfounded by her sales total, and they
threw a “garlic harvest” party to celebrate her success.

Restaurants and Advertising

After Maria showed her restaurant contacts her hardneck garlic, they
became steady customers. She delivered $20 bags to them on a weekly
basis. Her local butcher shop also bought five $20 bags. After running a
newspaper ad, she received two dozen inquiries. Most were interested in
the $10 and $20 bags, but Maria held to a minimum order requirement of
$30. The newspaper ad netted ten $30 orders. She paid Angie to make
the deliveries. The demand required that Maria process and package
garlic daily,and she kept up this pace until Christmas. She had no trouble
making her weekly sales goal of $1,250, and some weeks she even
exceeded it.

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SPIN-FARMING # 12 - Specialty Hobby Farm: Garlic

Planting for Next Season

While Maria was busy packaging her harvested garlic during September
she also had to schedule in her next round of fall garlic plantings. She
was extremely busy during this time, selling garlic and planting garlic, but
with Angie's help the jobs got done. She bought her garlic seed from her
original supplier. She did not use her own garlic for seed because it was
cheaper for her to buy it. Maria also easily obtained another yard for
expansion and planted an additional 1,500 square feet of garlic to a new
hardneck variety that looked intriguing.

Year in Review
Maria did not have a clear head to look back on her first year as a sub-
acre garlic farmer until after Christmas. When she reviewed her
operation she couldn't believe how well things had gone. She had
reached her targeted sales of $23,250, and her costs were in line with
her projections. She felt good that she had expanded her planting to
include the new garlic variety, and there was not much about her
operation she needed to change. Without her start-up investments, next
year will be even more profitable.

Looking Ahead
Maria was looking forward to seeing her relatives in Nicaragua. They
couldn't believe that she could finance her trip by selling garlic. And not
only that, she knew she had money to spare to lavish them with gifts
once she got there. Jose and Angie joked that garlic sure brought some
white magic into their household. Meanwhile, in another part of the
country SPIN was about to spin some more magic for a mother and son
whose sub-acre farming operation focuses on carrots and potatoes.

Next in the SPIN

learning series:
Here's how to couple
your interest in farming
with two of the easiest
crops to grow.
# 13 - SPIN Specialty
Hobby Farm:
Carrots and Potatoes
Order online at
www.spinfarming.com

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SPIN-FARMING # 12 - Specialty Hobby Farm: Garlic

These are rototilled beds ready for spring planting in a backyard SPIN plot. The rows will be
marked off with a wheel hoe. Each bed will have 3 rows - one down each side of the bed, and then a
row down the middle.

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SPIN-FARMING # 12 - Specialty Hobby Farm: Garlic

Garlic heads need to be cracked before planting. Each head has a number of cloves. This is a
little hard on the hands, but it is something that can be done while seated. Some SPIN farmers, or
their helpers, do it while watching TV.

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SPIN-FARMING # 12 - Specialty Hobby Farm: Garlic

Here are garlic beds being planted. As you can see, a small container of seeds is all that is
needed. Planting garlic is not an unpleasant task, and when the weather is good, SPIN farmers
actually regard it as fun.

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SPIN-FARMING # 12 - Specialty Hobby Farm: Garlic

Garlic plantings can be watered with just a garden hose and attachment. Some SPIN farmers
also use strip sprinklers which come in 25 foot lengths and cost $10. A series of holes down the
length of the sprinkler emits a spray.

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SPIN-FARMING # 12 - Specialty Hobby Farm: Garlic

Weeding garlic is an easy task and can be done while seated. It is a good task for older people
who actually look forward to it. This puts a positive spin on what is the bane of many a SPIN farmers'
existence.

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SPIN-FARMING # 12 - Specialty Hobby Farm: Garlic

All you need to harvest a sub-acre planting of garlic is a garden fork. This, too, is pleasant work
that can done by one person, and it helps keep SPIN farmers in shape.

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SPIN-FARMING # 12 - Specialty Hobby Farm: Garlic

Braiding garlic requires some skill and a lot of practice. It provides a welcome break from the
more physically demanding tasks, and the effort is worth it. Selling garlic in braids results in higher
prices - three-headed clusters can go for $5.00 each.

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SPIN-FARMING # 12 - Specialty Hobby Farm: Garlic

This is white hardneck garlic ready to be fall planted. SPIN farmers usually find hardneck widely
available and therefore easy to source. It also generates good prices at market.

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SPIN-FARMING # 12 - Specialty Hobby Farm: Garlic

Here garlic is being packaged. A heat sealer, along with some mesh material, is all a SPIN farmer
needs to go to market with a professional-looking product.

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SPIN-FARMING # 12 - Specialty Hobby Farm: Garlic

Garlic comes in a variety of sizes, so sorting is a must. It can be allowed to dry a bit in the open
air, but it needs to be protected from the sun since light can damage it. Good air circulation is
required to cure garlic, and many SPIN farmers find their garage rafters to be the perfect spot for this.

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SPIN-FARMING # 12 - Specialty Hobby Farm: Garlic

Garlic swings! One SPIN farmer uses old butcher meat hooks he found at a garage sale to hang his
bunches from the rafters with baler twine. In a week or so, these will be ready for market.

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SPIN-FARMING # 12 - Specialty Hobby Farm: Garlic

Two people working together can make some quick work out of planting fall garlic. After this,
SPIN farmers get to rest. In the winter they watch other people go off to work during horrible
snowstorms while they sit home warm and cozy and recharge their mental and physical batteries.

For more info on SPIN-FARMING please visit www.spinfarming.com Page 29

 SPIN-Farming Lexicon
SPIN stands for S-mall P-lot IN-tensive. Its organic-based techniques make it possible to
generate $50,000+ in gross sales from a half-acre of land growing common vegetables
such as carrots, spinach, lettuce salad mixes, beets, chard, cucumbers, tomatoes,
beans, radish, scallion, fresh herbs, summer squash and garlic.

SPIN has its own unique processes and techniques, and they are very different from
conventional farming methods, or from home gardening. Here's a translation of the
important terms you'll hear if you find yourself in a room full of SPIN farmers.

Sub-acre land base - SPIN transfers commercial farming techniques to sub-acre (less
than an acre) land masses. Farmers do not need to own much, or any land, to start their
operations, and their operations can be single or multi-sited.

Structured work flow practices - SPIN outlines a deliberate and disciplined day-by-day
work routine so that the wide variety of farm tasks can be easily managed without any
one task becoming overwhelming.

High-road/Low-road - SPIN distinguishes between different harvesting techniques.

High-road utilizes commercial refrigeration equipment. Low-road harvesting does not.

High-value crops - SPIN devotes most of its land base to the production of high value
crops, defined as one that generates at least $100 per crop/per bed.

Relay cropping - SPIN calls for the sequential growing of crops in a single bed.

Intensive relays - 3-4 crops per bed/per season are grown.

Bi-relays - 2 crops per bed per season are grown.

Single relay - 1 crop per bed per season are grown.

1-2-3 bed layout - Refers to the 3 different areas of a SPIN farm devoted to the different
levels of production intensity.

75/25 land allocation - Dictates how much land is assigned to the different levels of
production on a SPIN farm. The aim is to balance production between high-value and
low-value crops to produce a steady revenue stream and to target revenue based on
farm size.

Farm layout - SPIN provides guidelines for segmenting a land base into a series of beds,
separated by access alleys, which are small 2 feet strips, just wide enough for a rototiller.
An acre accommodates approximately 400 standard size beds, including the necessary
paths and access alleys. SPIN can also incorporate more traditional approaches to land
allocation.
Standard size beds - SPIN utilizes beds measuring 2 feet wide by 25 feet long.

Revenue targeting formula – By growing high-value crops worth $100 per harvest/per
bed, and by practicing intensive relay cropping which produces at least 3 crops per
bed/per season, SPIN targets $300 in gross sales per bed per season. With 400 beds per
acre, the maximum revenue potential is 480 beds x $300 per bed per season = $144,000
gross sales per acre. When farming is approached in terms of beds instead of acres, the
result is a very precise idea of how much growing space can be utilized, and how that
space can be managed to generate predictable and steady income.

Organic-based - SPIN relies on all-organic farming practices. There are minimal off-farm
inputs and very little waste.
Crop Diversity - A SPIN product line contains a much wider diversity of crops, with some
SPIN farms producing over 100 different varieties and 50 different types of crops per
season. However, SPIN also provides models that specialize in a particular crop.

Season extension is optional - SPIN does not rely on season extension to expand
production; however season extension can be utilized to push SPIN yields and income
significantly higher.

Direct marketing - SPIN bases crop selection on what local markets want. Being close
to markets allows for constant product feedback and ensures a loyal and dependable
customer base. Grow what you sell, don't sell what you grow, is the SPIN farmer's
mantra.

Mix-and-match multiple unit pricing - SPIN's marketing approach is to pre-bag produce

items and sell them at certain price tiers for example, $3.00/unit or any 2 for $5.00.

Commercial refrigeration capacity - SPIN calls for commercial refrigeration capacity

because cooling crops immediately after they are harvested retains their quality which
supports premium pricing. It also provides control over the harvest schedule and allows
for a manageable work flow.

Minimal mechanization and infrastructure - SPIN's most important and costly

equipment is a rototiller and a walk-in cooler or upright produce cooler. All other SPIN
implements and infrastructure can be sourced at local garden supply or hardware stores.

“Home-based” work crew - Supplemental labor requirements for a SPIN farm are
minimal and can be readily obtained within the network of family, friends, or within the
local community.

Utilization of existing water sources - SPIN relies on local water service or wells for all
of its irrigation needs.

Low capital intensive - Minimal infrastructure and minimal overhead keeps SPIN farm's
start-up and operating expenses manageable. The bottom line is little or no debt.

The intricacies of the SPIN system go far beyond what is outlined above, but this gives an
idea of how SPIN can produce significant revenue from sub-acre land bases. Though the
land base and overhead of a sub-acre farm is a fraction of that of a large multi-acre farm,
their bottom lines are similar. A sub-acre farm can produce the same, or even greater,
income than a large-scale operation with a lot less stress and overhead, and with a lot
more certainty of success from year to year. SPIN is helping a growing corps of citizen-
farmers to establish their farmsteads in the middle of urban jungles and sprawling
suburbia. Their collective actions are re-defining farming for the 21st century sub-acre,
close to markets, environmentally friendly, low-capital intensive, entrepreneurially-driven.
You can keep up with SPIN-Farming at www.spinfarming.com.
 About the Authors

Wally Satzewich operates Wally's Urban Market Garden

which is a multi-locational sub-acre urban farm. It is
dispersed over 25 residential backyard garden plots in
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, that are rented from
homeowners. The sites range in size from 500 sq. ft. to
3000 sq. ft., and the growing area totals a half acre. The
produce is sold at The Saskatoon Farmers Market.

Wally Satzewich and Gail Vandersteen initially started

farming on an acre-sized plot outside of Saskatoon 20
years ago. Thinking that expanding acreage was critical to their success,
they bought some farmland adjacent to the South Saskatchewan river 40
miles north of Saskatoon where they eventually grew vegetables on about
20 acres of irrigated land.

“This was a site to die for,” Ms. Vandersteen said. “It was incredibly
beautiful, but the pestilence was incredible to! We couldn’t believe
what the bugs and deer could do. Not to mention the wind.”
“We still lived in the city where we had a couple of small plots to
grow crops like radishes and salad mix, which were our most profitable
crops. We could grow three crops a year on the same site, pick
and process on-site and put the produce into our cooler so it would be
fresh for the market.”

After six years farming their rural site, the couple realized there was
more money to be made growing multiple crops intensively in the
city, so they sold the farm and became urban growers. “People don’t
believe you can grow three crops a year in Saskatoon,” observes
Vandersteen. “They think it’s too much work, but the truth is, this is
much less work than mechanized, large-scale farming. We used to
have a tractor to hill potatoes and cultivate, but we find it’s more efficient
to do things by hand. Other than a rototiller, all we need is a
push-type seeder and a few hand tools.”

Mr. Satzewich points out that city growing provides a more controlled
environment, with fewer pests, better wind protection and a longer
growing season. “We are producing 10-15 different crops and sell
thousands of bunches of radishes and green onions and thousands of
bags of salad greens and carrots each season. Our volumes are low
compared to conventional farming, but we sell high-quality organic
products at very high end prices.”
 Roxanne Christensen is cofounder and President of the
Institute for Innovations in Local Farming. In partnership
with the Philadelphia Water Department, the Institute
operates Somerton Tanks Farm, a prototype sub-acre
urban farm that serves as the U.S. test bed for the
SPIN-FARMING method.

Ms. Christensen notes that as development erodes the

rural way of life, agriculture is creeping closer and closer
to metropolitan areas. "SPIN-FARMING leverages this
trend in a positive way - by capitalizing on limited
resources and space. Creating Somerton Tanks Farm
using the SPIN method required modest upfront investment, and it keeps
operating overhead low.”

In 2003, its first year of operation, Somerton Tanks Farm, located in

northeast Philadelphia, the fifth largest city in the U.S, produced $26,000
in gross sales from a half acre of growing space during a 9 month growing
season. Gross sales increased to $38,000 in 2004; $52,000 in 2005, and
$68,000 in 2006. In four years of operation the farm achieved levels of
productivity and financial success that many agricultural professionals
claimed was impossible.

"For aspiring farmers, SPIN eliminates the 2 big barriers to entry -

sizeable acreage and substantial startup capital. At the same time, its
intensive relay growing techniques and precise revenue targeting formulas
push yields to unprecedented levels and result in highly profitable income.”

Ms. Christensen's role at the Institute is to attract and support new

farming talent. "SPIN-FARMING provides a way for independent
farmers to once again have a viable role in the food production system
that has tipped too much in favor of large-scale mass production
agriculture. It is a method uniquely suited to entrepreneurs, and it provides
a new career path for those who have a calling to farm.”

As SPIN becomes established and is practiced more and more widely,

Christensen says, it will create new farmland closer to metropolitan
areas, which, in turn will produce environmental, economic and social
benefits. "It offers a compelling value proposition."