I first met him years ago, at a Ukraine conference on the use of liquid fertilizers held by a well-known American company. It turned out that we were compatriots. His hometown is 40 kilometres from my house. Then I learned that Fedorchuk has a rare specialization. He is an agronomist who knows how to grow garlic and other vegetable crops.

During the last 10 years, Ukrainian farmers have almost completely switched to the cultivation of grain and oilseed crops. This is a relatively simple and profitable business that made it possible to grow a crop of wheat, corn or sunflowers, using proven technology, and sell it immediately.

Everything is much more complicated with vegetables. These crops require large investments, irrigation and specific knowledge. Seven years ago, Fedorchuk was invited to work in the south of Ukraine in the Kherson region. This region is a leader in growing vegetables because of its very fertile soil and warm climate. However, there is little rain here, so irrigation is a must.

For several years, Fedorchuk worked in a large company, where he grew garlic on an area of more than 100 hectares, as well as other vegetable crops. Over time, he realized that he wanted to create his own farming business. Together with his partner, he rented land on which he planted garlic, pumpkins and other crops.

It was going well until Feb. 24 of this year, when Russian forces invaded Ukraine, concentrating on the Kherson region.

“What can I tell you… This territory was occupied in the first days of the war. We sowed 40 hectares of land with elite winter garlic seeds and left everything. Now everything is overgrown with weeds,” he said.

Most of the Kherson region is now occupied by Russian troops, though in recent days the Ukrainian troops have begun taking back territory. People with a pro-Ukrainian position are tortured, imprisoned and killed there. The same fate could await Fedorchuk, but fortunately, at the time of the invasion, he was in central Ukraine in his hometown.

“My partner remained there, trying to save at least part of the business,” Fedorchuk said. “After all, the occupiers take everything they can from the farmers: crops, agricultural machinery, various equipment. We hid everything we could and hope that when this region is liberated by Ukrainian troops, we will be able to use it again.”

According to Fedorchuk, almost all small farmers in the occupied territories have stopped cultivating their fields. The invaders either take their property or impose a real tribute. Therefore, farmers only hire a tractor with a cultivator once every few months to destroy weeds in the field.

“You have to give a part of your harvest, as much as the robber with the machine gun will tell you,” he said. “There are no guarantees that everything will not be taken away from you. At the same time, collaborators from big business appeared who are making money on our trouble. They force small farmers to sell grain for 3,000 hryvnias, and then they themselves sell it for 15,000.”

Fedorchuk regularly calls his acquaintances who are under occupation in the Kherson region. He says that even those who previously had a favourable attitude toward Russia now see the real face of the occupiers.

“A significant part of the inhabitants of the region earned money by harvesting various crops: berries, fruits, vegetables,” he said. “It’s all frozen and people don’t have jobs. At the same time, prices for all products have increased several times.

“For comparison, the cheapest bag of tea, which costs 15-20 hryvnias in Ukraine, can be bought there for at least 100 hryvnias. At the same time, there is no natural gas in the houses and the light often goes out. Therefore, people cut down all the trees that grow around. The winter will be very difficult for them.”

Although Fedorchuk and his family managed to avoid occupation and shelling due to a lucky coincidence, he still has to solve a number of problems.

“My business partner and I invested a lot of money in growing garlic – at least $250,000,” he said. “Part of these funds had to be borrowed and must be returned, despite the fact that the business no longer exists. So far, the bank treats my debt loyally, but it reminds me more and more often that the money needs to be returned. And now I’m trying to earn money to pay off the loan.”

Fedorchuk has returned to his native town, where he got a job as an agronomist in a large agricultural company. He gives all the money he earns to the bank to repay his loan.

“Unfortunately, such problematic situations occur in life,” he said. “I did not believe until the last that there would be a big war. We thought about business development and were happy that we managed to create an effective technology for growing garlic. The yield of garlic in our fields was from eight to 12 tons a hectare. But you yourself see what happened. The bank understands everything, but the loan will still have to be repaid.”

During the seven months of large-scale war, loans have turned into a huge problem for many. Imagine that you borrowed $50,000 from the bank for a new apartment, and a rocket hit the house, completely destroying it. And at the same time, you lost your job, as happened to millions of Ukrainians.

Should you repay the bank? Obviously so. But who will be responsible for the fact that your home or business is destroyed and you have lost your livelihood?

Fedorchuk, like a true Ukrainian, does not lose heart and builds a new life. He returned to his native home and immediately turned it into a fortress.

“We have prepared firewood for the winter. I created a simple irrigation system and grew two tons of wheat, corn, potatoes and vegetables on half of acre of land. My wife raised 50 ducks. That is, we will have something to eat in winter and warmth in the house. I don’t want to complain about anything, because in Ukraine nowadays life is much worse for many people, especially those who lost their homes,” he said.

Fedorchuk also shelters nine refugees from the occupied regions who live for free on the second floor of his house. Many farmers in Ukraine are doing the same, trying to help their compatriots who lost their homes due to the Russian attack.

“We will do everything not just to survive, but to defeat and expel the enemy from Ukraine. It is impossible to conquer us,” Fedorchuk said.

He is looking for opportunities to start a garlic business again. After all, he has unique knowledge and experience in growing this highly profitable crop. The price of garlic in Ukraine is steadily increasing, but not all farmers have effective technology for growing it.

“If any Canadian farmers are interested in the garlic business, I am ready to help and co-operate. We will definitely win the war, and then Ukraine’s economy will begin to grow rapidly. We managed to create a unique technology for growing garlic, and I want to implement new projects in the future,” Fedorchuk said.

The post Rebuilding after losing the farm to war appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

Sales of California-grown garlic are now increasing after decades of losing ground to cheaper Chinese imports. Sales are poised to get even better as Chinese garlic faces even higher tariffs, with no end to the trade war in sight.

“In a perfect world, we’d love to see the tariffs stay on forever,” said Ken Christopher, executive vice-president of family owned Christopher Ranch, the largest of three remaining commercial garlic producers in the United States.

While many farmers are suffering through the trade war because they relied heavily on imports to China, U.S. garlic growers benefit because they rely overwhelmingly on domestic sales.

Tariffs on Chinese garlic increased from 10 to 25 per cent on May 9, when the U.S. hiked tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods and dashed hopes that a U.S.-China trade deal could come soon (all figures US$).

While soybean farmers in the U.S. Midwest watched silos fill with unsold crops as top buyer China all but stopped purchases, Christopher Ranch saw domestic garlic sales rise 15 per cent in the last quarter of 2018 after the U.S. applied a 10 per cent tariff on imports of Chinese garlic in September.

Then Trump ordered even higher tariffs this month after trade talks broke down when China backtracked on a host of issues crucial to U.S. officials.

The escalation came just a few weeks before the U.S. garlic harvest.

“The timing couldn’t be better for us,” Christopher said. “We anticipate a surge in demand for California garlic in the coming weeks.”

Christopher, 33, whose farm has 5,900 acres of grass-like garlic fields at Gilroy, traveled to Washington, D.C. in July to urge the Trump administration to include garlic in the list of imports that would face tariffs.

In lobbying for tariffs, Christopher follows in the footsteps of his grandfather, who fought to implement an anti-dumping duty of up to 400 per cent on Chinese garlic in the 1990s.

“We understand in a broader economic sense that a trade war is not in the U.S. best interest,” he said, “But since the tariffs were happening anyway, we needed to be sure that garlic was part of the equation.”

Not everyone is a fan of the garlic tariff. While Christopher was testifying in favour of tariffs to the U.S. International Trade Commission, executives from one of the world’s top seasoning companies, McCormick and Co., were arguing against them.

McCormick says its recipes mostly rely on Chinese garlic, calling it a different product from what is grown in the U.S.

“They’re not substitutable,” CEO Lawrence Kurzius told Reuters in an interview. “Just like wine, origin matters and terroir matter.”

Taste differences aside, California garlic has traditionally sold at far higher prices than Chinese garlic. It now sells for about $60 per 30-lb. box on the wholesale market, according to Christopher. Until recently, Chinese garlic sold for $20 per box, but that has risen to $40 with tariffs and will likely soon rise further, he said.

The new profits U.S. garlic farmers have enjoyed from tariffs are an exception in the U.S. farm sector.

China last year retaliated to Trump’s tariffs with duties on U.S. goods including soybeans, corn and pork. Farm incomes in U.S. Midwest and mid-southern states continued to decline in the first quarter of 2019, according to banker surveys released this month by regional federal reserve banks.

Trump has pledged up to an additional $20 billion in aid to help U.S. farmers hurt by the prolonged dispute after groups such as the American Soybean Association criticized the failure to reach a deal. That’s on top of $12 billion the administration promised last year to compensate farmers for trade-war losses.

The trade war has also left many West Coast specialty crop farmers, like nut and cherry growers, scrambling to find alternative markets after China imposed steep duties on imports that made their products too expensive to sell there.

Jamie Johansson, an olive farmer and president of the California farm bureau — which represents 400 crops and 36,000 members — said the Trump administration had put California farmers in the middle of tariff wars with four of the state’s five top markets, including China.

“Among our members, I have not heard of anyone benefiting from the current trade war and tariffs,” Johansson said.

— Reporting for Reuters by Lucy Nicholson and Richa Naidu; additional reporting and writing by Caroline Stauffer.

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One of a few dozen garlic agents in Jinxiang, in China’s eastern Shandong province, 34-year-old Yang is at the centre of a trade that has attracted a small group of retail investors, mainly wealthy businessmen, seeking a surer bet than China’s volatile stock and real estate markets.

When prices are low, around the spring harvest, investors buy as much of the crop as they can, put it into store, and release it onto the market when prices rise later in the year.

“Manipulating the garlic market and hyping the price is pretty simple compared to the stock market and real estate. Many of my clients have stocked tens of thousands of tonnes of garlic and don’t sell it until the price rises,” another agent, Liu Yunfei, told Reuters.

Yang’s profits and those of his dozen or so clients ballooned to seven million yuan (C$1.39 million) last year, when the price of garlic rose to 10.6 yuan (C$2.10) per kilogram.

“For the last three years, our investors have made money, we made a 100 per cent profit last year,” said Yang, who has built five warehouses for garlic storage and plans another four.

This year, though, may be different.

The one-way bet on garlic has lured many new investors, driving prices up to a record 13.4 yuan/kg in March, much earlier than usual. Also, frosts in China at the turn of the year hit plantings and yields, and that could squeeze margins when the investors’ stored garlic comes onto the market later.

Agents said there were more investors this year, and they were spending more to buy up the garlic crop.

“This year, garlic prices are especially high,” said an agent named Yan Jianhua. “A lot of people have been looking for me. I know one person from Guangdong who wants to store around 5,000 tonnes. Last year, he stored less than 1,000 tonnes.”

Garlic boom

With a population of around 640,000 and no previous claim to fame other than proximity to the provincial capital, Jinxiang has boomed.

It produced 1.69 million tonnes of garlic last year, around seven per cent of China’s total — and more than the whole of South Korea, the world’s third-largest producer. China’s annual crop of around 25 million tonnes dominates the global market.

Garlic fields stretch out around Jinxiang, and at harvest time the air is filled with dust kicked up by trucks ferrying the crop to market and storage. The town also grows onions and hot peppers.

As production around Jinxiang has doubled in a decade, the ‘garlic economy’ has sprouted new villas, auto dealerships and modern retail space.

“Garlic has made Jinxiang richer in the last two years,” said Su Xiuling, a local grower who makes some extra money by peeling garlic at the market once the crop is in. “There’s a huge change. Our roads are wider… and even farmers now build bigger homes.”

Garlic is a staple in Asia’s diet, used in everything from the ubiquitous monosodium glutamate (MSG) to desserts. Believed to have medicinal healing powers, it’s even added to foot salve.

It’s easy to grow, harvest, transport and store. Modern coldstores — some bigger than a soccer pitch — can keep it fresh for up to two years, giving investors a longer window to sell into.

Zheng Xiang from Chengdu in southwestern Sichuan — a more than two-hour flight away — is one of those investors who converge on Jinxiang each year to meet their agents, inspect the crop and check on prices.

“I came to inspect the market and see how big the harvest is and whether the price has increased,” Zheng said over dinner, with heaps of stir-fried garlic.

Zheng invested 300,000 yuan (C$59,446) in garlic last year and plans to spend up to two million yuan this year — hoping to recoup some of the 60,000 yuan he lost on the stock market when property shares fell.

“Isn’t everybody switching from stocks to agriculture commodities now? It’s the trend. Speculating with garlic is similar to stocks, but (physical) garlic is not as unreliable as futures (trading),” he said.

But not everyone gets to share in the spoils.

Garlic farmers see little of the profits once their crops are harvested. They typically sell their garlic for around 4.4 yuan/kg, according to local official media.

Opaque market

China’s garlic market is difficult to track as there is no official data or clarity on acreage and no centralized pricing. That can exacerbate wild price swings as in some of China’s other nascent, casino-like futures markets.

And the scale of production in places like Jinxiang is felt thousands of miles from China among rival growers who accuse a hands-off government of failing to regulate the crop or control the “dumping” of cheap exports.

“The Jinxiang government is paying close attention to garlic prices, but isn’t regulating and controlling the market. It is trying to guide planting and trade,” said a local commerce official who gave only his surname, Li.

Yu Li, a spokesperson, said the Dalian Commodity Exchange has no plans to add garlic futures, and pays little attention to the crop.

As more money pours in, next year’s garlic acreage is expected to increase again, potentially squeezing margins, but not by enough to deter investors.

“You can buy garlic pretty much any year and still make money,” said Wang Xiaoying, an investor who owns four Jinxiang warehouses.

“If you invest a million, you’ll make a million, it’s that simple,” she says.

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This editorial cartoon in the August 1928 issue took a shot at those delivering non-pool wheat, allegedly driving down the price for the bumper crop expected that year. It was one of a series by artist Ed Russenholt, who later became CBC Winnipeg’s first TV weatherman, originating the “Heart of the Continent” name for Manitoba by drawing a heart in chalk around the province at the end of each forecast.

By the end of that year the three Pools’ Central Selling Agency, measured by sales value, was the largest business in Canada. A year later it collapsed when world prices plunged below the initial payment.

Elsewhere in the issue, a letter took issue with an earlier editorial in defence of mixed immigration to the Prairies, referring to the two railways having “flooded the West with ‘non-preferred’ continental people until the railway cars smell of nothing but garlic.”

The post Our history, Aug. 1928 appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

In the fall we often have the opportunity to purchase perennials at fire sale prices as garden centres try to get rid of any leftover stock before freeze-up. Members of one family of plants, however, are available for sale only at this time of year, and while not likely offered at sale prices, these plants are still well worth considering when buying additional perennials for the garden. When purchasing perennials for our borders, we rarely consider onions, but there are some members of the onion or allium family that are quite magnificent ornamental plants. Being one of the largest plant families, it is no surprise that at least some of them would be useful as decorative plants, and there are enough such varieties to ensure a good choice of colour, height and bloom time.

Most of us have a clump of perennial chives in our gardens and eagerly snip off a few of the early green shoots in the spring to use in the kitchen. Common chives is a decorative plant that will form flower buds and the top of the entire plant will be covered with pink umbrels of bloom by early June if the plant is not clipped for culinary purposes. After the flowers have faded, the plants can be sheared to prevent prolific self-seeding and to encourage another round of growth and flowering.

In the fall, about the time we are starting to clear away debris and revise our borders, a late-blooming chives-garlic chives-comes into flower. This member of the allium family, often called Chinese chives, takes all summer to develop its tall stems which eventually produce flat-topped umbrels of florets. The blooms of garlic chives are pure white and although members of the onion family are not often referred to as “pleasantly scented,” garlic chives does have a pleasing smell. The individual florets are tiny and star shaped and each umbrel is comprised of several dozen individual florets, similar to the umbrels of other alliums except the umbrels of garlic chives tend to be flat rather than round.

Several more showy alliums are available for purchase in the fall and can be grown successfully here. These alliums tend to be short-lived perennials rarely lasting no more than five years, but consistent propagation by multiplying the plants using small underground bulb offsets will ensure that the plants endure in the garden. Probably the most popular allium, and the hardiest, is the so-called drumstick allium, Allium caeruleum. Tough plants that are rated Zone 2, drumstick alliums will produce round, blue umbrels two to three cm in diameter. Like most members of the allium family, the drumstick allium isn’t too particular about soil type and is also quite drought tolerant. Like most alliums, the foliage of drumstick alliums tends to wither and die well before the end of the growing season, so it is a good idea to locate these plants behind other perennials which will hide the unsightly foliage later in the season.

Several other alliums which can be grown in our area include Allium christophii, which produces medium-pink umbrels that are up to 20 cm in diameter, and Allium Globemaster, a cross between A. christophii and A. macleanii, whose large, dark-mauve blooms are produced on stiff, erect stems. Both of these alliums are spring/early-summer bloomers and grow from a basal rosette of foliage from which the sturdy stems arise. Allium aflatunense is another larger-flowered variety that can be successfully grown here, although it is rated Zone 3 so it should be planted in a more sheltered spot to ensure its survival over the winter. Its bright-pink umbrels are about 10 cm in diameter larger than those of drumstick alliums but smaller than those of Allium christophii. A rather unique allium and one that also is hardy in our Prairie region is Allium karataviense Ivory Queen, which has huge ivorycoloured blooms that are comparably short, held on short stems just above the broad, succulent leaves which are quite different from the narrow, strap-shaped leaves of most alliums.

These plants attract bees and butterflies to the garden so they are often included in so-called butterfly gardens, and they are useful in a naturalized setting as they self-seed profusely and will spread throughout the garden if allowed to set seed. Alliums are not attractive to deer or rabbits, so for those of us whose gardens are bothered by such pests, these are useful plants indeed. Alliums add vertical accents to a flower border when they are in bloom and serve as focal points when in full bloom. – Albert Parsons writes from

Minnedosa, Manitoba

———

Severalmoreshowy alliumsareavailable forpurchaseinthe fallandcanbegrown successfullyhere.

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“If you grew a quarter section of this stuff, on a hot day in July the area for miles would smell like a Polish sausage factory.”

Scientists at the Cereal Research Centre in Winnipeg are refusing to comment on reports that they have developed a winter-hardy variety of rice suitable for production on the Canadian Prairies.

According to sources, the project has been jointly funded by the federal and Manitoba governments, both looking to reduce expenses associated with annual flooding in the Red River Valley.

Production of the crop would require that fields be kept flooded to a depth of between eight and 10 centimetres throughout the growing season.

Rather than draining the valley each spring, its elaborate system of drainage ditches could be kept closed, holding water back and mitigating flood concerns farther downstream in the City of Winnipeg. Rice fields must be drained for harvest, but not until late summer or early fall when the danger of spring flooding had passed.

GMO VARIETY

An internal report obtained by the Co-operator says that the new rice variety, tentatively named Emerson after the town near where the research plots were located, can be seeded either in spring or fall. Only broadcast equipment is needed – the seeds sink and germinate without incorporation.

Unlike conventional rice but like winter wheat, the plant can go dormant over winter and resume growth the following spring.

However this may be one of the many controversial aspects of the project as Emerson is a genetically modified variety. The gene responsible for the dormancy was obtained from garlic.

“This raises two concerns,” says the internal report. “The transgenic nature of the plant may lead to consumer resistance.” And the gene responsible for the dormancy is the same responsible for garlic’s aroma.

“Not only does the rice have a distinct garlic taste, the growing plant also exudes a strong garlic smell.”

A source put it even more bluntly.

“If you grew a quarter section of this stuff, on a hot day in July the area for miles would smell like a Polish sausage factory.”

However the report says that if the concerns about local residents can be overcome, the rice may have potential if it could be shipped to Eastern Europe, where the built-in flavour and aroma could have a ready market.

The rice may also have a fit with the hog industry. The National Centre for Livestock and the Environment at Glenlea has begun feeding trials which show that the hogs fed the rice produce meat with a subtle garlic flavour. Application has been made for an MRAC grant to test market the pork through grocery stores in Quebec.

BUFFER ZONE

According to the report, for rice production in the Red River Valley to be commercially viable as well as to provide significant flood mitigation, tens of thousands of acres would be required to be kept under water for much of the summer, creating a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

The report suggests that there should be a buffer zone of at least 20 miles between the rice fields and the City of Winnipeg to prevent resident complaints about mosquitoes and odour.

Valley farmers interviewed about the project had mixed views. “I don’t want to live in a mosquito-infested swamp reeking of garlic all summer,” said one.

“But it’s the smell of money,” said another. An agronomist who asked that his name not

be used said he was skeptical that valley farmers would ever accept the crop, since the seed can simply be broadcast over the flooded ground each spring.

“You’ll never get the guys in the valley to go for zero till,” he said.

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– Joe Kozak

There’s really only two kinds of people: those who love garlic, and those who can’t abide it.

Some manage to get by on cheap Chinese or Filipino imports. Even shipped in from halfway around the world, it still only costs about 67 cents a pound.

But for hardcore garlic addicts, the people who wouldn’t even think of dirtying a frying pan without throwing in a clove or two, life at the end of such a long, tenuous supply chain is enough to cause panic attacks.

The imported version, although starchy white and clean, is already months old by the time it hits store shelves. It doesn’t keep well, either, so the risk of running out just as you’re planning a culinary masterpiece is everpresent.

For aficionados, that leaves two choices: either get to know a local grower or learn how to grow it yourself.

A good place to resolve garlic-related issues is Manitou’s Garlic, Honey and Maple Syrup Festival, which was held last weekend.

Inside the main hall last Saturday, Gordon Hopko, owner of Gord’s Garlic Patch in Balmoral, was doing a brisk business selling this year’s hard-necked garlic harvest for $5 per pound. From a one-acre plot seeded last fall, he harvested about 600 pounds worth.

He and Texan friend Judy Wisener were eager to spread the word about garlic “scapes,” the curly seed pods that form on hard-necked garlic in early June.

“You can really reap the profits by growing this variety. The scape is a gourmet delight,” he said, adding that the juicy tendrils can be cooked like asparagus, added to omelettes, or ground into garlic scape pesto. Cutting them off makes the bulbs grow bigger, he added.

For those interested in achieving garlic self-sufficiency, a chat with Joe Kozak, the founder of Manitou’s popular Garlic, Honey and Maple Syrup Festival, is in order.

A garlic grower for over 20 years, he was left feeling slightly chagrinned this year when the festival opted to use Chinese garlic for the community feast instead of local produce, simply because the imports were so much cheaper.

“As far as I’m concerned it’s inferior garlic,” he said.

There’s an estimated 400 varieties, but only two kinds, hard-or soft-necked, so named because of the nature of the stem.

Hard-neck garlic, a winter variety, is planted in late October or early November. The soft-neck types are best planted in early spring, as soon as the ground can be worked – no later than the first week of May.

There seems to be a relationship between garlic growth and the length of the days, said Kozak. Prior to the summer solstice on June 21, top growth dominates. After that, as the days get shorter, it packs bulk onto the bulb.

“If you plant garlic on the 20th of May, it only has one month to develop,” he said. “So you end up with small garlic.”

The notion that garlic requires heavy heat units was put to rest this year, Kozak added, noting that even with the cool, late spring, this year’s crop was the “most beautiful” ever.

Time of planting is critical for successful garlic growing, he said. Additions of well-composted manure helps, but might not be necessary in areas with rich soil. One inch of water every two weeks is enough. To avoid disease problems, never grow garlic where onions or cereal grains have been planted, and always rotate growing locations from year to year.

But most important of all, said Kozak emphatically, is to use only local seed. Many who try to grow garlic and fail are guilty of neglecting this cardinal rule, he said.

“It takes awhile for the seed to become acclimatized. Never buy seed from a grocery store or even the seed dealers, which may get their seed from all different parts of Canada or the States.”

Garlic is best harvested around the first week to the middle of August. Seed garlic is then placed for a month or so in a warm, dry spot for curing – say an open, covered porch – and then moved for long-term storage to a cool, dry place such as a basement or a garage that never freezes. Drastic temperature changes may trigger sprouting. It keeps especially well in braids – which add a nice peasant touch – in the kitchen.

daniel.winters@fbcpublishing.com

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Check first to determine if they are indeed ready. Remove soil from around a few bulbs to see it they are well wrapped and not splitting open. This ensures garlic will keep well. Pick a dry day for harvesting. Using a spade rather than a fork is less likely to cause damage and they do bruise easily. Shake off as much soil as you can.

Do not dry in direct sun as this can cause sunburn and alter the flavour of some varieties. Good ventilation is necessary so a garage with a door or window open is ideal. Spreading burlap bags over lawn chairs and placing the garlic on the bags creates a good drying surface. When curing is complete, top growth will be totally dry. Brush off any remaining soil from the roots. Avoid washing if possible. If garlic has been grown in heavy clay soils, be sure to let it dry completely. Cut stems about an inch above the bulbs using pruning shears or a sharp knife. Cut off dried roots to produce clean bulbs. Ideal storage conditions are cool, dark and well ventilated. Do not store in plastic bags as this will collect condensation. With proper storage you’ll be able to enjoy your garden garlic well into the winter.

– Eva Krawchuk writes from Winnipeg

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