While most farmers throughout the region have been wrapping up their fall harvests of corn and soybeans over the past few weeks, one local farm family finds themselves right in the middle of planting clove after clove of garlic.

JC’s Garlic Market has garnered quite the following since it expanded production a few years ago, with owners John Wirth and Carol Morgan Wirth helping to spread their love of the pungent plant throughout rural Monroe County.

Both garlic lovers are locals, with John having grown up as a Waterloo native and Carol living in various areas of St. Louis but always having an affinity for the countryside.

Back in 2014, as their kids were growing up and leaving home, the couple were quite eager to make a place for themselves near the village of Fults – not too far from John’s childhood home.

With plenty of good farmland on their property, they were keen to make use of it and wound up trying their hand at growing some garlic.

“We were looking for something more to do with the land,” Carol said. “I enjoy gardening, and we’re nearing retirement age and wanted to have more of a hobby farm – both something for us to keep busy with as well as make a little extra income. I am a cook, John and I really enjoy all of our meals at home… We chose garlic for all kinds of reasons, the culinary, the medicinal, the history of garlic.”

The couple do have some staple Midwest row crops on their farm – managed by a relative and their neighbor – but, as John said, they were interested in having a farm that stood out from the other properties in the county.

“We wanted something more unique, something that we would use personally ourselves every single day,” John said. “And then it just kinda propagated from there. Started with a smaller plot just to try it out, maybe the size of our living room.”

John went on to describe the growth their humble garlic farm has seen, that respectable garden plot spreading well into the rest of their property.

Now taking up roughly an acre, John and Carol said their operation produces nearly 30,000 cloves of garlic each year, which is several thousand pounds worth.

And they’ve grown to such an extent for good reason, as they both spoke positively about the response and attention they’ve received both in and out of the community.

While they frequent a number of farmers markets in the area, the couple recently had a booth set up at the Waterloo PumpkinFest and saw respectable sales. The Wirths also described how they receive plenty of orders for their garlic, with anywhere from one-third to half of their produce being shipped out across the country.

And garlic does much more than just keep the vampires away.

Carol spoke with great passion for the plant that’s become such a major part of her life, expressing affinity for both its flavor and health benefits.

Research over recent years has indicated garlic may have health benefits, such as protection against the common cold and the ability to help lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

Garlic is commonly used in salad dressings, sauces, vegetables, meats, soups, and stews. And of course, there’s garlic bread.

Carol also described the rather rich history of garlic, from its existence as one of the earliest cultivated crops to its more recent place in culinary culture, with a vast majority of it now being produced in China.

Carol additionally spoke about the many varieties of garlic. While its commercial production has resulted in a general perception that, as she said, “garlic is garlic,” there are a great many kinds of garlic, with notable differences in flavor, texture and structure.

When it comes to both the history and variety of garlic, Carol noted it’s smaller operations like JC’s Garlic Market which keep these aspects of the plant alive.

“When I say the small, organic garlic farmers are popping up, it’s really trying to preserve all of the history and the varieties of garlic that are actually out there,” Carol said. “It’s more similar to apples. If you went to a grocery store and look at apples, there’s 20 different varieties. For whatever reason, commercially, that got lost when it comes to garlic.”

Garlic farming is a distinctly labor intensive process, as John and Carol described. While larger productions have managed to find ways to automate aspects of the growing process, farms like theirs still do most of the work by hand.

The cycle, as they described, starts in September as the field is prepared. Planting takes place in October and involves breaking roughly 400 pounds of garlic bulbs in order to plant individual cloves which serve as seeds.

The planting is further complicated by the fact that each clove must be planted by hand in order to ensure that the root and tip are positioned properly. 

This whole process usually takes a month.

From there, aside from mulching and hoping the winter isn’t too dry, there isn’t a whole lot for John and Carol to do until March, at which point the plants need to be fertilized due to their heavy nitrogen needs.

It’s around May that the garlic plants begin producing scapes, essentially a flower which looks similar to a green onion. These must be removed in order to ensure that nutrients and energy stay in the bulb, though they do serve as a specialty food item.

Some weeks later, the harvest begins as the garlic is undercut row by row and handpicked, placed in a shed to dry and cure in order to maximize each bulb’s shelf life.

From there, the focus for Carol and John is on sales and, of course, preparing for the next fall planting.

The couple spoke further about the success they’ve been able to see from their hobby farm, with their unique setup allowing them to find a place at Soulard Farmers Market in St. Louis.

“I would say that, based on our customer response and the fact that they’re either willing to drive or we’re shipping it all over the country, we’re beginning to stand out,” John said. “And locally, folks who live in and around the Monroe County area, at least a dozen of them said ‘I came to the PumpkinFest to get your fresh garlic.’”

As previously expressed, JC’s Garlic Market has seen notable growth over the past few years, growing six – soon to be nine – varieties of garlic, the quality of which, as John and Carol say, is more than noticeable for those who give it a try.

While both of them still work full-time, they are approaching retirement. Carol suggested that their soon-to-be-found free time could see them putting even more effort into their garlic operation.

“I think John and I are taking it year by year,” Carol said. “We both work still, so at this point, we really are just trying to create something special that we can manage, bring a good product, have fun doing it, and we’ll see where it goes. Maybe we’ll expand away when we both retire, but one year at a time.”

For more information on JC’s Garlic Market, visit jcsgarlic.com or check out their Facebook page.