Here is probably the most important context for this entire investigation:
I am not planting a garlic field.
I am not even dedicating a whole giant bed to garlic.
My current plan is much less dramatic.
I’m lining the edges of some of my existing garden beds with garlic.
That’s it.
I’m looking at space that already exists, asking whether garlic can tuck into the edges without hijacking the rest of the garden, and hoping—if all goes reasonably well—to harvest somewhere around 60 bulbs next year.
Sixty.
Not six thousand.
Not enough to become the Garlic Queen of Sussex County.
Just sixty.
And weirdly, I think that makes this experiment more interesting.
Because one of the questions I keep coming back to with LitFox Farm is not:
How much land do I need to start a farm business?
It is:
What can I do with the land and infrastructure I already have?
I have beds.
Those beds have edges.
Could some of those edges grow garlic?
Could 60 bulbs teach me something useful?
I think they could.
Because if I harvest roughly 60 bulbs next year, I will immediately have decisions to make.
Some will be for our kitchen.
Some may not be beautiful enough to sell.
Some of the healthiest bulbs might make more sense going right back into the ground as next year’s planting stock.
And maybe—just maybe—a few could become my first tiny test of whether anyone would actually pay for LitFox-grown garlic.
That is not a garlic business.
But it is the beginning of evidence.
What Could 60 Bulbs Actually Tell Me?
This is where my brain starts getting dangerous.
Suppose I harvest 60 bulbs.
Not all 60 are automatically inventory.
Maybe some go into my kitchen.
Maybe some are too small.
Maybe some are damaged.
Maybe I deliberately keep the best for replanting.
So perhaps I end up with only:
20 or 30 bulbs I could realistically test as a product.
At $3 each, 20 bulbs would be:
$60 gross.
Thirty bulbs:
$90 gross.
That is obviously not life-changing money.
It is barely “I went to Target unsupervised” money.
But that is not really the point.
The point is that a tiny planting could answer questions I currently cannot answer from Google:
- Does garlic actually grow well in these beds?
- How does it handle my specific little northern New Jersey microclimate?
- Do the bed edges work, or does the rest of the planting interfere?
- What percentage becomes genuinely beautiful?
- How much labor does it feel like in real life?
- Where will I cure 60 bulbs?
- Do I enjoy growing it?
- Does anyone I know actually want local garlic?
- Would a future roadside-stand customer buy it?
- Which varieties make me want to plant more?
And maybe the biggest question:
Does garlic earn the right to take up more space next year?
That feels like a much better first-year goal than trying to reverse-engineer a five-figure garlic business before I have harvested a single bulb.
Then I would tweak the ending too, so the post comes full circle:
I do not know whether garlic will become an income crop at LitFox Farm.
Right now, I’m just lining the edges of beds I already have and hoping to pull around 60 bulbs from the ground next year.
That is a very small beginning.
But maybe that is the point.
If those 60 bulbs grow well, I can learn.
If people are interested, I can test.
If the test works, I can plant more.
If it doesn’t, I still have garlic.
Which, as failed business experiments go, is honestly a pretty decent outcome.
I think I am becoming less interested in asking:
“How do I build the whole thing right now?”
And more interested in asking:
“What is the smallest version I can try with what I already have?”
For garlic, apparently, the answer is the edges of my garden beds and a hopeful little target of 60 bulbs.
We’ll see what grows from there.
🌱 Follow the Garlic Experiment
This fall, I’ll be planting garlic around the edges of my garden beds here at LitFox Farm, with a hopeful goal of harvesting around 60 bulbs next year.
I’ll be documenting everything—the wins, the mistakes, the numbers, and whether this little experiment actually has the potential to become a small income stream.
If enough people are interested, I’ll compile everything I learn into a practical Garlic Quick-Start Guide for anyone who wants to try their own experiment.
Interested? Join the Garlic Quick-Start Interest List and I’ll keep you posted.
LitFox Farm 