Garlic: Nature’s Underground Pharmacy
It All Comes Up…Garlic
When we moved to Vermont, we knew we wanted dairy animals but we also wanted to grow something. After researching and many discussions, garlic was our crop of choice. At the time, we knew of the many human health benefits from garlic but we were soon to discover the many animal health benefits as well. This underground crop really is Nature’s Underground Pharmacy!
Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food.
Hippocrates
Garlic has always been known for its medicinal properties but the flavor it provides to many of our dishes make it easy to forget its health benefits. Hippocrates, the father of Western medicine, would actually prescribe garlic to resolve medical aliments. All of this in 400 BC!
As we started to learn and fine tune our farming practices, the health of our herd became a number one priority for us. Because we allow our animals to graze, when weather permits, parasites became the number one issue to combat against. With our interest in growing garlic and our knowledge about the benefits of garlic, we discovered that not only can garlic combat against human ailments but we believe it combats against goat ailments as well, including those nasty parasites.
With all that we have learned, our garlic now serves 3 purposes at Ghost Dog Dairy. The FIRST is to provide the highest quality of organic Music variety garlic to our customers, SECOND is to feed out to our goat herd to keep their health in tip top shape, and THIRD is to help create that extra ingredient in our Farm Dog Formula (goat milk infused with garlic).
We cure our Music garlic with full stems on, which we have found enhances their storage time. The large bulbs and cloves adapted well to our hill country soils. Like the people up here, they are cold tolerant and put down deep roots in the Fall. They produce a hardy bulb with 4-5 large cloves and throw off a magnificent and tasty scape in the Spring. Spicy when served raw but milder and sweeter when roasted!
Garlic Braids and Bundles
Ghost Dog Dairy Garlic Braids
Once the garlic is harvested and dried, for about 2 weeks, we can start making our garlic braids. Each garlic stalk is hand picked and prepped by a member of the family and then transformed into a Ghost Dog Dairy Garlic Braid. These braids make a unique natural gift that can be enjoyed for months and look beautiful hanging in your kitchen!
Ghost Dog Dairy Garlic Bundles
We package our seed and culinary garlic bulbs into 1lb, 2lb, 3lb, 4lb, and 5lb bundles. Our seed garlic is at least 2in in diameter and makes a great addition to your garden or farm. Our culinary garlic is a little smaller and can be a tasty treat in any recipe. Remember, the quality and source of your garlic greatly affects its’ beneficial health properties.
2022 Garlic Crop
Harvest is complete! With the help of many friends, we were able to get our 2022 crop in and drying on the 22nd of July. Starting in mid August, we started processing the garlic and separating each bulb into seed and culinary. We have just listed culinary for sale! Thank you to all our friends who helped with the harvest!
