Garlic Goodness

Garlic Goodness We grow 5 varieties of hardneck garlic on our farm just West of Innisfail - planted in rich soil and harvested by hand.

We are open by appointment only please - email [email protected] or text Lorraine at 403-506-2129

Cows, like we are, very happy to have rain! Typically for Alberta we'll have 2 days of 30° weather then 2 days of 8° wea...
05/31/2026

Cows, like we are, very happy to have rain! Typically for Alberta we'll have 2 days of 30° weather then 2 days of 8° weather so an average of 19° :) which sounds lovely haha. Onions are also soaking in the rain - there's something special about rainfall. Garlic also! Chokecherry blossoms are gorgeous. The frog pond has some snails - delicious probably for ducks? Pine grosbeak have been filling the woods with their beautiful song. A gall looked like a jewel and the maple continues to captivate us - the seeds are drying out and the leaves are iconic of spring green -- will they be red in the Fall? We usually avoid the part of the walking trail they're in once it turns colder so that there's a place for the wildlife that we don't go, but we'll have to check it out this year :)
Thanks to everyone who has given us their pre-order and we encourage you to email if you haven't yet :)
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It's an important time for moisture in the woods - lots of berry-producing plants are in flower - saskatoons, strawberri...
05/28/2026

It's an important time for moisture in the woods - lots of berry-producing plants are in flower - saskatoons, strawberries, chokecherries, elderberries and more which will have bigger berries and more of them if they get good rainfall soon. So many birds and other wildlife feast on berries through the summer. Chokecherries and rosehips last well into winter.
We finished laying out drip tape today so the garlic is getting a good drink now.
This is the last of our onions from last season - can't wait for fresh ones!
And our cucumber experiment is going so far so good - the seeds have germinated and the plants are enjoying some heat now.
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Hello! We've started transplanting onions :) Along with the longtime favourite Ruby Ring we're trying a couple of new re...
05/24/2026

Hello! We've started transplanting onions :) Along with the longtime favourite Ruby Ring we're trying a couple of new red varieties: Blush and Cabernet from Westcoast Seeds. We've seen some interesting recipes for pickled red onions and for red onion chutney which we're looking forward to trying. The onions are grown here from seed and planted and grown without any sprays in our natural soil. We have sweet Walla Wallas and sharp Trekker hybrid (yellow) onions also this year.
Last year we made some onion braids but found that they didn't make much difference in storage! Nets, baskets and boxes all work well for long-term storage as long as the space is dark and cool. This year we have a handful of last year's crop left and they're still very good - we take out the centre bit that's starting to sprout but the outer layers are still crisp and lovely.

We were amazed to see there's a Manitoba maple in the woods! Its shape is similar to diamond willows or big alders so we...
05/20/2026

We were amazed to see there's a Manitoba maple in the woods! Its shape is similar to diamond willows or big alders so we hadn't noticed it before - doh- but it has distinctive 'flowers' so there's no mistaking it (thanks to Trees and Shrubs of Alberta by Kathleen Wilkinson). Pictured are female flowers.
We hope to start transplanting onions soon - we had frost a couple of nights ago and we may have frost tonight! We're almost out of last year's crop - just a handful left. The garlic is coming along, but slowly. Probably it'll take off once we get some heat. While we wait we've been preparing raised beds and containers and adding rich compost from our cattle manure. We love it!
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Here's part 2 of the amazing spring growth in the woods: aspen, rose, chokecherry, birch, willow, alder, saskatoon, popl...
05/11/2026

Here's part 2 of the amazing spring growth in the woods: aspen, rose, chokecherry, birch, willow, alder, saskatoon, poplar, silver willow and cottoneaster. Garlic is also very thankful for a good soak!
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Spring has sprung we hope! A beautiful rain this morning seems to have prompted lush growth. The colours on the forest f...
05/11/2026

Spring has sprung we hope! A beautiful rain this morning seems to have prompted lush growth. The colours on the forest floor are amazing and a close-up of a balsam poplar catkin- fabulous. A few violets were in flower and honeysuckle, strawberries, columbine, dogwood and the crabapple growing in the woods won't be far behind. Birds must have planted the crabapple trees and a few of them are very robust!
There were so many new leaves that another post follows with more pictures 😁 hopefully everyone enjoys early spring as much as we do!
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We use newspaper pots for transplants - seedlings don't get disturbed when planting into the big garden and the pots di...
05/08/2026

We use newspaper pots for transplants - seedlings don't get disturbed when planting into the big garden and the pots disintegrate over the summer possibly adding to soil tilth?
Today we put cucumber seeds into promix in newspaper pots then put the pots into the garden. We're hoping the seeds will germinate and the seedlings get big enough to compete well without getting overwhelmed by w**ds. Once they're sturdy they're easier to w**d around. We'll train them up bamboo poles if they thrive 🤞
We have a few videos showing how to make and use newspaper pots. Here's a link to one: youtube.com/watch?v=HenlSt7dkQE&t=185s
If you type it manually it's a letter 'l' after Hen 😊
And of course please check out our YouTube channel! Garlicgoodness9632 😁
Oh and we planted some potatoes!
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Yay! Garlic is coming up really well now - we hope this is true for our customers too 🤞 This year we planted in blocks t...
05/06/2026

Yay! Garlic is coming up really well now - we hope this is true for our customers too 🤞 This year we planted in blocks to try to get w**ds under better control.
We've seen a few pelicans back - there were minnows under the ice in the beaver ponds but they were eaten pretty quickly - yum, as Kevin says 😬 We're happy to see ladybugs active again and lucky to see a loon on the river. They're common elsewhere but we only see them occasionally.
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Not sure if the few early emerging garlic are the lucky or unlucky ones! When it was warm last week mountain bluebirds r...
04/25/2026

Not sure if the few early emerging garlic are the lucky or unlucky ones! When it was warm last week mountain bluebirds returned to check out their homes and goldeneye ducks displayed. We saw bufflehead ducks enjoying the water, but we had a powerful wind for a few days and now a bit of snow! Maybe next week sunshine? 🤞
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Ducks! American Widgeons are a similar size to mallards. The males' beaks are a soft blue at this time of year. We don't...
04/09/2026

Ducks! American Widgeons are a similar size to mallards. The males' beaks are a soft blue at this time of year. We don't have ruddy ducks on the Red Deer river but for those who do see them they take the prize for blue beaks 😁 We're amazed each year to see how big swans are compared to geese and ducks.
We are waiting for the gardens to thaw and the garlic to start emerging!
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Address

35540 Range Road 12
Red Deer County, AB
T4G0M9

Telephone

+14035062129

Website

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