Garlic Harvest at the Farm

Throughout the spring and summer, Big Bowl joins the team at Heritage Prairie Farm in the fields for some real time farm experience.  Every other Monday, the chefs lead a group from their restaurant of cooks, servers, hosts, and managers for an update on our crops and bee hives, some time planting and harvesting, followed by a lunch with the farmers prepared by Chef Jeremy of Heritage Prairie. 

We have pulled a lot of weeds; its been a banner year for weeds at the farm because of the cool wet spring and because Heritage does not use any herbicides.  Many of the Big Bowl crops are growing in an area once planted in commercial corn and soybeans.  Nate Sumner, farm director at Heritage, explains that weed seeds lay dormant for years while herbicides were being used on the corn and bean crops.  As the farm transitions that land into organic farming, the rich compost and healthier soil promote germination of those once dormant seeds.

This week, our chore to begin digging the first garlic harvest was especially challenging in the heat and humidity.  Garlic is ready for harvest when the lower leaves begin to turn brown.  Wait any longer and the individual cloves split the protective paper-like wrap that surrounds the entire head of garlic and ruining the chances of storing the garlic for later use.  After gently prying the still delicate garlic from the ground and shaking excess soil from the roots, we hauled the garlic to the barn for drying.  We tied the fragrant heads together into two bunches of twelve and strung them like Christmas lights from the ceiling to cure.  Imagine the site and sweet smell of 1000 pounds of garlic hanging from the barn rafters while Prince, one of two resident Chinese peacocks, screeched from his perch high above us!  We hope to see this garlic in our restaurants as Heritage begins releasing cured product in the next month or so. 

So far, our seed to table program has been a great success.  We continue to receive hundreds of pounds of local and organic produce each week to our restaurants.  Be sure to ask your server what’s local this week or check the Right Stuff Board as you enter. By far, the most rewarding aspect of our program has been getting the Big Bowl family out to the farm, working with our crops, and experiencing first hand what it takes to grow food for our guests; literally, from our hands to your table.