| JULY 9, 2010 -- Area residents can find fresh garlic and produce locally at the Garlic Farm through October.
Gary Cirullo, owner of the Garlic Farm, grows about 3.5 acres of garlic and about 10 acres of produce, including tomatoes, peppers, squash, eggplant, onions and basil.
"It's your basic small, organic farm," he said. "We try to grow high quality produce."
While the Garlic Farm is not a certified organic farm, Cirullo said he does take the Northeast Organic Farming Association's (NOFA) Farmer's Pledge, which according to the Connecticut chapter of NOFA's Web site, is "a commitment to farming, marketing and farm management in accordance with sound ecological and economic principles."
Because Cirullo grows his crops organically, he does not spray any pesticides or herbicides; instead, he uses nets and plastic to keep animals and weeds out of his gardens.
"If you didn't have nets the deer would decimate (the tomatoes)," he said. "We do use a lot of plastic because without it we'd have no crops."
Cirullo said the nets over the tomato plants are the best way to keep crows away as well.
"Crows are a big issue. Crows love tomatoes. Crows are incredibly smart," he said, adding that he always has to keep one step ahead of the birds because they learn new tricks and ways around barriers quickly.
Cirullo said using plastic for weed control is very effective, allowing the farm to only require weeding about once a season. Because he grows crops on so much land, but has a small, mostly part-time staff, weeding every day would not be feasible. "We don't have time to get on our hands and knees and weed tomatoes and peppers," he said.
The weather this season has also helped keep weeds down, though it is not very good for the crops themselves. "When you get (warm and dry) weather like this, it's great because weeds don't grow, but you have to throw water on there or else you get zero crops," he said.
It is not only the July weather that has affected Cirullo's crops; because the farm did not get much rain at the beginning of the growing season in April and May, he expects the garlic crop to be relatively small this year.
"The plants just don't have the size this year because we didn't get the water early on, and that's critical," he said. "When your tonnage is down, the price goes up and there's not much you can do about that."
Last year's weather was not much better for the crops. Instead of too little rain, the farm received too much rain.
Cirullo said that, despite the extremes in the weather, he is not phased. "You never get any consistency since I've been farming here. You go from one extreme to the next," he said.
One problem Cirullo and many others encountered last year, the tomato blight, is not a big issue this year. The Garlic Farm lost all 2,500 tomato plants that were planted last year; this year, Cirullo planted 4,000 plants, and they are doing well. "This year you're going to have tomatoes, without a doubt," he said.
While most of Cirullo's crops are just beginning to really grow, he will be harvesting the garlic and some of the produce over the coming weeks.
Garlic grows as a bulb underground, with a green stalk on the top.
The stalk has one leaf for every layer of wrapping around the garlic cloves. As the garlic matures, the leaves "dry down," meaning the top leaves begin turning brown and drying out.
Cirullo said the garlic needs to be harvested when there are still four or five wraps, meaning he needs to harvest it when there are still four our five green leaves on the plant. The garlic dries down quickly, leaving him a short window of about a week to get all the garlic harvested.
Cirullo said the harvest happens from about 6 a.m. to about 2 p.m., ending early in case the day is very hot. Some of the garlic is sold fresh, but the majority is hung in the barn for a few weeks to dry and cure.
"We sell it fresh ... but after two to three weeks when it cures, it really gets its heat," he said.
Cirullo plans to open the stand this Saturday, July 10, and hopes to offer tomatoes and onions, and possibly eggplant for sale from his farm.
While he does not buy general produce to sell at his market, he does purchase some local fruits and organic potatoes to sell.
"I don't like growing potatoes in the Valley because they really introduce a lot of problems," he said.
The market will be open until early October. "It's kind of low key ... no gimmicks, it's just produce," he said. "People come in ... they're kind of looking for something mellow."
Aside from the produce market, Cirullo also has several gardens where people can pick their own flowers, including what he calls the "Psychedelic Zinnia Garden," where he will have zinnias of all colors, about five feet tall each.
The Garlic Farm market stand is located at 76 Simsbury Road in Granby, and will be open until early autumn.
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