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Garlic Farms in Alabama

What Are the Best Garlic Farms in Alabama?

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The garlic plant offers more than just culinary flavor enhancement in delightful meals. There is an entire culture and scientific process involved in growing garlic bulbs, harvesting them, and preparing them. Some cultivate garlic for specific dishes, while others value it for its health benefits. The most effective way to truly understand and appreciate the process of growing garlic is to visit a real garlic farm.

With its mild climate, fertile soils, and convenient location for markets in the deep south and parts of the eastern seaboard, the state of Alabama is ideally suited for planting garlic varieties almost all year round. It is little surprise then that there are many enterprising farms, farmers’ market cooperatives, and grocery stores where you can buy garlic bulbs, onions, and other vegetables fresh from the soil.

Here is a guide to 5 Alabama garlic farms where you can buy freshly harvested garlic for all your recipes and tasty treats.

1. Snow’s Bend Farm

Snow’s Bend Farm is located in the rural community of Coker on the outskirts of the city of Tuscaloosa in western Alabama. The farm is located in an area that has been known for its agricultural suitability since prehistoric times.

Long before the arrival of the first European immigrants to the Americas, the ancient Mississippian people had settled on these areas and tilled the land for centuries. This fact is attested by the multiple cultural mounds and artifacts found within close proximity to Snow’s Bend Farm.

The farm project was initiated in 2004 by a couple: Margaret Ann Toohey and David Snow. After many years of practicing organic agriculture in parts of the United States and elsewhere in the world, Margaret and David set about transforming Snow’s Bend Farm from a quarter acre backyard garden to a thriving facility with over ten acres of organically grown crops.

Other than garlic, Snow’s Bend Farm produces over 50 other vegetable kinds with more than 250 varieties and a motley collection of cut flowers. Since 2009, they have also been raising farm animals.

Snow’s Bend Farm Contact Details

2. Moore Farms and Friends

Located on the very eastern reaches of Alabama on the border with Georgia, Moore Farms and Friends offers a large collection of fresh vegetables and other fresh produce for individual customers as well as restaurants. The farm is located some 90-minute drive from downtown Atlanta, GA.

Moore Farms and Friends is the brainchild of Will and Laurie Moore. The Moores set up shop back in 1998, at first only growing specialty vegetables for a handful of restaurants in Atlanta. However, demand steadily rose, and soon they were not only serving up restaurant orders but had set up an online farmers market, enabling even more local farmers to reach out to discerning consumers with fresh ingredients.

The Moores plant garlic as well as other vegetable varieties to comply with the best standards. Indeed, in 2010 Moore Farms and Friends was designated a historical Century and Heritage Farm. Creative Loafing Readers have also voted Moore Farms the Best CSA in Atlanta an unbeaten five times.

The farm’s motto of “Real Food from Real Farmers” is built on three pillars:

  1. Good: Food that is nutritious, fresh, and delicious
  2. Clean: The farm and the online farmers market offer food and produce free from contaminants, toxic chemicals, or preservatives
  3. Fair: Moore Farms and Friends operate on the principle that farmers need to realize a fair price for their produce as well as earn a living wage from their exertions

Moore Farms and Friends Contact Details

3. Teshua Farms

Teshua Farms is an innovative modern farming enterprise located in Westover, AL, in between the Alabaman cities of Chelsea and Harpersville. It is a place for real organic food and all round family fun. On the farm, they not only grow garlic but sumptuously large pumpkins on top of raising chicken and goats. Indeed, the top attractions at Teshua Farm include the well stocked pumpkin patch and the relaxing activity of goat yoga!

Young ones have endless bouts of fun at the Teshua Farms cornpit, a large round container filled with grains of yellow corn. Families and tour groups also enjoy Teshua Farms hayrides, riding around the scenic farm on the back of a tractor while sitting on fresh hay bales. For those looking to stay put longer than an afternoon, the farm has a set of bunkhouses available for rent with special rates for the holiday season.

Teshua Farms Contact Details

4. Avalon Farms

Priding themselves on the quality and variety of their vegetables and fruits, Avalon farms is an organic based farm in south Alabama. Started off as Wendy’s Produce in the mid noughties, Avalon Farms are based out of Kinston, Al. They have one of the most instantly recognizable stands at the Poplar Head farmers market in Dothan, AL.

Avalon Farms are about the only growers in South Alabama producing green garlic for the market. You can place an order for the delicious cloves on their website or visit the farms stand either at the Ozark farmers market or the Poplar Head farmers market in Dothan.

Other than garlic and other vegetables, Avalon Farms raises range chicken and goats. Being a family run enterprise, everything on the farm is grown with a personal touch and tended to with love and care.

The farm does not use chemical fertilizers, opting for organic matter to increase soil fertility. They also do not use pesticides or fungicides to control pests. This guarantees the freshest, most nutritious food items for your kitchen, all fresh from the farm to you. What is more, you will be helping an independent farming family continue to earn a living income from their toils. None of the money you spend buying Avalon Farms garlic and vegetables will end up in the pockets of middlemen or corporations.

Avalon Farms Contact Details

5. Wicked Garlic LLC

Located in Ardmore, Alabama, Wicked Garlic LLC is the brainchild of Sabrina, an Alabama native who got tired of the bland Chinese garlic and decided to start growing garlic for her own use. Garlic grown on Wicked Garlic farm is non-GMO and farmed using purely organic approaches.

Owing to their organic farming techniques, Wicked Garlic LLC guarantees high-quality garlic that is both nutritious and fresh off the farm. Visiting the farm, you will be impressed by the geometric rows of leeks and elephant garlic plants at various stages of growth. To increase the fertility of the soil, Sabrina uses compost fertilizer. Using mulch keeps the soil cooler and ensures the plants do not wither in the full sun of Alabama summer.

Wicked Garlic LLC Contact Details

Conclusion

Alabama is a state brimming with garlic farms and enterprising growers’ markets where you will be spoilt for choice looking for the best garlic bulbs. With a harvest season beginning from spring, lasting through early summer, and even as late in the year as October, you can be sure to get your heart’s delight any time you visit our recommended farms above. These farms strive to make a visit more than a feast for your taste buds though. They not only plant garlic but also sell seed garlic to those interested in growing their own garlic at home in addition to offering lessons on curing garlic to visitors. They also offer other varieties of vegetables, grains, and even livestock products. What is more, you can make the farm visit a perfect family getaway with multiple fun activities such as camping, nature rides, fun in the water, outdoor games, and folklore cultural experiences.

Sources

https://thegardeningdad.com/best-time-to-plant-garlic-in-alabama/

greyduckgarlic.com/Southern_Garlic_Grower_Guide.html

https://algarlicfarms.com/

https://alabamaliving.coop/articles/alabama-gardens-garlic/

https://www.sweetgrownalabama.org/sga-members/645