About
Garlic Boy Seeds is a 6th-generation family farm that has been growing crops for over 145 years. Our operation is located in the fertile Red River Valley in Manitoba near the borders of North Dakota and Minnesota. The region has a zone 3 continental climate, which means very cold winters, hot summers and variable growing conditions from year to year. The farm has dark, rich soils that are some of the most fertile and productive in the world.
The location's harsh and unique environment is perfect for selecting and adapting the strongest, most vigorous garlic seed varieties. This means that garlic grown on our farm has amazing flavour, is vigorous, cold-hardy and ideal for use as seed stock for most garlic growing regions of the United States and Canada.
Over the years, we have been fortunate to speak and exchange knowledge with hundreds of other gardeners, market growers and farmers. This has been extremely valuable and helped us improve our own production. Much of the information we've learned is included in our Garlic Blog Articles and How To Grow Garlic pages.
For customers in Canada wanting to order online, please visit our family's Canadian Website.
Growing Methods:
Our farm uses many natural growing methods that have been adopted by organic growers. We do not spray the garlic crop with pesticides, always use cover crops, have long crop rotations and never plant GMO/GEO seed.
Every plant is individually inspected multiple times during the growing season and at harvest. Any garlic that appears weak and/or shows signs of disease or infection is always removed immediately and destroyed to ensure only the strongest, healthiest garlic seed is kept.
Our farm also works closely with extension staff from the Department of Agriculture to help monitor and ultimately prevent new pests/diseases from entering the farm's seed garlic stocks.
For more information about how we produce premium seed bulbs, see our Pest and Disease Management page.
Farm History:
In 1879, our family moved from Quebec and settled on our current farm site to begin growing crops. We have been fortunate to be able to continue the farming tradition that has been passed down to us.
Today:
Today, the Garlic Boy Seeds farm is run by Marc and John, who are brothers. They work together with help from their parents, spouses, daughters and many cousins, who all pitch in when needed.
John is an agronomist with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Agriculture. He has been using his knowledge and experience to research and develop growing techniques suitable for cold northern climates. He helps other growers with growing advice and has written many articles about growing garlic, and is the author of "The Master Guide To Growing Big Garlic". John also owns another operation called John Boy Farms, which sells seed only in Canada.
Marc is a Management Accountant with a CPA. He has helped to make the farm more economical and grow its size over time. He helps other growers and business owners with planning when needed.