A tale of two engineers, a plot of land and garlic
The Farmers Market welcomes new farmers this Saturday: the Garlic Boyz – Scott Bartkowiak and Dan Dimoski.
The two actually have day jobs as engineers. In fact, they met at U-M engineering school and now work in the metro area.
Along the way they’ve discovered they shared another goal: “to spend more time outdoors, work with our hands, create something tangible,” says Scott. So they looked at land no more than a few hours away from home.
“We wanted to grow something,” said Scott, who added that both he and Dan grew up in families “where growing your own food was part of everyday life.”
But they weren’t sure what. They knew they wouldn’t be on site every day to keep tabs on their crop. So they did their homework and decided the best crop would be … garlic.
“Been a staple of my family forever,” said Scott, who grew up in Waterford and now lives in Novi with his wife, Amanda King, and sons Jack, 10, and Ben, 7. “Mom and Grandma always used garlic.”
They opted to grow hard-neck garlic – as opposed to the soft-neck kind usually found in stores – because it’s a great hands-off crop as long as you have sandy, well-drained soil with some organic matter and a good, hard winter.
The weather is also important. Hard-necks need 6-8 weeks of sub-zero temps with at least 300 inches of snow to keep the ground from warming too much. Just like northern Michigan.
After a fair amount of searching, they found the perfect site: farmland with sandy soil, which is good for growing garlic, in a low-population area about a 2.5-hour drive north. Scott calls it “hands-off” land – perfect for farmers with full-time jobs elsewhere.
The site also has a pole barn that will function as a curing shed and tool storage. There was no house, but that wasn’t on their list. Someone checks on the land and the crop once a week.
Other garlic details:
Garlic is harvested only once a year. That means the Garlic Boyz will be bringing their first and only 2027 crop to market this Saturday.
The garlic coming to Market Friday is the hard-neck kind.
They will be selling three varieties: German Extra Hardy and Music, both of which have a robust and pungent flavor, and Red Chesnok, which is great for roasting and baking due to its rich, sweet and smooth caramelized flavor.
This Saturday will be the Garlic Boyz’ first appearance as farmers at the market. Scott has shopped here a few times and really likes “the vibe … It’s a good group of farmers and has a community that supports it.”
Which is important to young growers like Scott and Dan, who have great aspirations.
“We’re just getting started,” said Scott.
The younger Garlic Boyz like to pitch in at the farm.