Are you a garlic lover? Hutchinson has a festival for you
Cooks roast garlic over a fire at the Minnesota Garlic Festival in Hutchinson.
Jerry Ford
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On Saturday Aug. 10, the town of Hutchinson is for garlic lovers. They’ll have garlic ice cream, garlic wine, garlic cotton candy — plus foods from around the world dedicated to the ingredient.
The Sustainable Farming Association’s Crow Wing Chapter is throwing its 17th Minnesota’s Garlic Festival, featuring bulbs that were recently harvested across Minnesota. Jerry Ford is the festival’s director and he joined Minnesota Now to talk about how the festival got started and what to look forward to.
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Audio transcript
CATHY WURZER: OK, y'all know that Minnesota has a ton of summer festivals, and today, we're going to go west of the Twin Cities. This coming weekend, the town of Hutchinson is for garlic lovers. They'll have garlic ice cream, garlic wine, garlic cotton candy, plus foods from around the world dedicated to garlic.
The Sustainable Farming Association's Crow Wing Chapter is throwing its 17th annual Minnesota Garlic Festival this Saturday, featuring bulbs that were recently harvested from right here in Minnesota. Jerry Ford is the festival's director. He's on the line right now. Hey, Jerry. Thanks for taking the time.
JERRY FORD: Thank you, Cathy. And let me say that you are right now fulfilling one of my bucket list items, which is have a conversation with Cathy Wurzer.
CATHY WURZER: [LAUGHS]
JERRY FORD: I am simply giddy about this.
CATHY WURZER: Well, I hope it's going to be a good experience. It should be.
JERRY FORD: I hope so too.
CATHY WURZER: Well, thank you. That's very kind of you, and I'm glad you could take time to sit down and talk with me. So I've had the chance--
JERRY FORD: My pleasure.
CATHY WURZER: --Jerry, to drive by Stockton, California. And I thought to myself, wow. You can smell the garlic from a mile away. And Stockton, of course, has that pretty famous Garlic Festival. How did this festival get started in Minnesota?
JERRY FORD: Oh, that's-- by accident. Quite by accident. And by the way, we grow much better garlic than the folks--
CATHY WURZER: Oh.
JERRY FORD: --in California do-- just point of fact. Back in 2006 or so, members of the Crow River Chapter of the Sustainable Farming Association, which you mentioned, decided they wanted to hold a local foods festival somewhere out in greater Minnesota, not in the metro-- get the folks from the city to come out to the countryside.
And something that celebrated our rural communities, our farmers-- well, I had been growing garlic for a few years, and I'd heard about that big festival out in California. So I kind of jokingly said, well, how about a Garlic Festival? Nobody in the chapter laughed. They instead said, draw up a business plan. We never have finished that business plan, but we're coming up on the 17th annual festival.
CATHY WURZER: Wow, OK. So that's how it started. And I think people are a little surprised, perhaps, to hear that Minnesota does have some garlic growers. I mean, you'd think California does produce the vast majority of garlic, but how many folks are like you, growing garlic? Do you know?
JERRY FORD: Last count that we did through the Department of Agriculture, we have well over 200 growers in this. All of these people are direct marketing type farmers. It's not like Green Giant. We're not growing commodity garlic here, which is basically what they do in California. We are growing garlic that we want to sell right to our neighbors and the folks around us.
CATHY WURZER: OK, so kind of on a smaller scale, but maybe higher quality, if I heard you correctly.
JERRY FORD: Oh, of course. It's the best quality.
CATHY WURZER: [LAUGHS] Let me ask you about the festival. I understand it begins with a unique opening ceremony.
JERRY FORD: Yes, we call it throwing out the first bulb, like the other great American pastime. And it just sets the tone for the whole day. This festival is whimsical, a bit magical. We like to say, nothing on a stick. There's no carnival. Instead of a carnival, the kids get to build their own kites and fly them.
In that opening ceremony, we have a village of German fools that join us for that, the Narren of New Ulm, and jugglers and costumed characters. And we build up to throwing out the first bulbs to open the day.
CATHY WURZER: OK, wow. I mentioned the garlic themed foods. I have to say, Jerry, I kind of double clutched when I said garlic wine. I don't know what that tastes like. It doesn't sound like something you might want to sip in the summer, though. But am I wrong?
JERRY FORD: Oh, it's actually a cooking wine. And this is from Crow River Winery, which is right there in Hutchinson. They've been growing garlic for years. And they make this garlic cooking wine. I like to say it's a cooking wine for 345-- how many days in a year. And one day a year, it becomes a drinking wine, and people will actually drink shots of that wine.
CATHY WURZER: OK.
JERRY FORD: I won't.
CATHY WURZER: [LAUGHS] But I can see--
JERRY FORD: But--
CATHY WURZER: --a garlic cooking wine might be kind of good-- I mean for cooking.
JERRY FORD: Yeah, it's very good. We use it in our house all the time. And--
CATHY WURZER: It's the garlic ice cream that scares me, then, a little bit, to be honest with you.
JERRY FORD: Well, it obviously-- I'm in the same camp with you. There are just certain foods that garlic should not go in. And yet when Minnesota Ice Cream has come out there with their cute little ice cream truck, the line is two blocks long. So we now have, believe it or not, two ice cream companies. We're joined by a second company from St. Joseph. And we're going to have basically dueling garlic ice creams this year.
CATHY WURZER: Then, Jerry, if that's the case, you've got to go try it. You just have to try it.
JERRY FORD: OK.
CATHY WURZER: I'm just saying. And if you do, I will, too. So finally here, finally, I understand, now Hutchinson's not huge. It gets busy there in Hutch. So anything new this year that people can get in and out of the city a little bit easier than in the past?
JERRY FORD: Oh, I'm so glad you asked that. Yes, nobody's more surprised than we are that lots of people show up for this thing. And so, in the past, we've only had one entrance to the McLeod County fairgrounds. This year, we are opening up a second entrance to the south of the fairgrounds.
If you look on your Google Maps or whatever for the fairgrounds, you'll see the main entrance on Century Avenue. Then there's Airport Road, which is conveniently located between the fairgrounds and-- you guessed it-- the airport. And that's a second entrance. So, depending on which way you're coming in, pick one of those two entrances. And we're hoping to not gridlock Hutchinson again this year.
CATHY WURZER: All right. All right. Good move. Jerry, I hope you have a wonderful Garlic Festival. Thanks so much.
JERRY FORD: Thank you, Cathy.
CATHY WURZER: It's been a pleasure. Jerry Ford is the director of the Minnesota Garlic Festival and the chapter and events coordinator for the Sustainable Farming Association.
The Sustainable Farming Association's Crow Wing Chapter is throwing its 17th annual Minnesota Garlic Festival this Saturday, featuring bulbs that were recently harvested from right here in Minnesota. Jerry Ford is the festival's director. He's on the line right now. Hey, Jerry. Thanks for taking the time.
JERRY FORD: Thank you, Cathy. And let me say that you are right now fulfilling one of my bucket list items, which is have a conversation with Cathy Wurzer.
CATHY WURZER: [LAUGHS]
JERRY FORD: I am simply giddy about this.
CATHY WURZER: Well, I hope it's going to be a good experience. It should be.
JERRY FORD: I hope so too.
CATHY WURZER: Well, thank you. That's very kind of you, and I'm glad you could take time to sit down and talk with me. So I've had the chance--
JERRY FORD: My pleasure.
CATHY WURZER: --Jerry, to drive by Stockton, California. And I thought to myself, wow. You can smell the garlic from a mile away. And Stockton, of course, has that pretty famous Garlic Festival. How did this festival get started in Minnesota?
JERRY FORD: Oh, that's-- by accident. Quite by accident. And by the way, we grow much better garlic than the folks--
CATHY WURZER: Oh.
JERRY FORD: --in California do-- just point of fact. Back in 2006 or so, members of the Crow River Chapter of the Sustainable Farming Association, which you mentioned, decided they wanted to hold a local foods festival somewhere out in greater Minnesota, not in the metro-- get the folks from the city to come out to the countryside.
And something that celebrated our rural communities, our farmers-- well, I had been growing garlic for a few years, and I'd heard about that big festival out in California. So I kind of jokingly said, well, how about a Garlic Festival? Nobody in the chapter laughed. They instead said, draw up a business plan. We never have finished that business plan, but we're coming up on the 17th annual festival.
CATHY WURZER: Wow, OK. So that's how it started. And I think people are a little surprised, perhaps, to hear that Minnesota does have some garlic growers. I mean, you'd think California does produce the vast majority of garlic, but how many folks are like you, growing garlic? Do you know?
JERRY FORD: Last count that we did through the Department of Agriculture, we have well over 200 growers in this. All of these people are direct marketing type farmers. It's not like Green Giant. We're not growing commodity garlic here, which is basically what they do in California. We are growing garlic that we want to sell right to our neighbors and the folks around us.
CATHY WURZER: OK, so kind of on a smaller scale, but maybe higher quality, if I heard you correctly.
JERRY FORD: Oh, of course. It's the best quality.
CATHY WURZER: [LAUGHS] Let me ask you about the festival. I understand it begins with a unique opening ceremony.
JERRY FORD: Yes, we call it throwing out the first bulb, like the other great American pastime. And it just sets the tone for the whole day. This festival is whimsical, a bit magical. We like to say, nothing on a stick. There's no carnival. Instead of a carnival, the kids get to build their own kites and fly them.
In that opening ceremony, we have a village of German fools that join us for that, the Narren of New Ulm, and jugglers and costumed characters. And we build up to throwing out the first bulbs to open the day.
CATHY WURZER: OK, wow. I mentioned the garlic themed foods. I have to say, Jerry, I kind of double clutched when I said garlic wine. I don't know what that tastes like. It doesn't sound like something you might want to sip in the summer, though. But am I wrong?
JERRY FORD: Oh, it's actually a cooking wine. And this is from Crow River Winery, which is right there in Hutchinson. They've been growing garlic for years. And they make this garlic cooking wine. I like to say it's a cooking wine for 345-- how many days in a year. And one day a year, it becomes a drinking wine, and people will actually drink shots of that wine.
CATHY WURZER: OK.
JERRY FORD: I won't.
CATHY WURZER: [LAUGHS] But I can see--
JERRY FORD: But--
CATHY WURZER: --a garlic cooking wine might be kind of good-- I mean for cooking.
JERRY FORD: Yeah, it's very good. We use it in our house all the time. And--
CATHY WURZER: It's the garlic ice cream that scares me, then, a little bit, to be honest with you.
JERRY FORD: Well, it obviously-- I'm in the same camp with you. There are just certain foods that garlic should not go in. And yet when Minnesota Ice Cream has come out there with their cute little ice cream truck, the line is two blocks long. So we now have, believe it or not, two ice cream companies. We're joined by a second company from St. Joseph. And we're going to have basically dueling garlic ice creams this year.
CATHY WURZER: Then, Jerry, if that's the case, you've got to go try it. You just have to try it.
JERRY FORD: OK.
CATHY WURZER: I'm just saying. And if you do, I will, too. So finally here, finally, I understand, now Hutchinson's not huge. It gets busy there in Hutch. So anything new this year that people can get in and out of the city a little bit easier than in the past?
JERRY FORD: Oh, I'm so glad you asked that. Yes, nobody's more surprised than we are that lots of people show up for this thing. And so, in the past, we've only had one entrance to the McLeod County fairgrounds. This year, we are opening up a second entrance to the south of the fairgrounds.
If you look on your Google Maps or whatever for the fairgrounds, you'll see the main entrance on Century Avenue. Then there's Airport Road, which is conveniently located between the fairgrounds and-- you guessed it-- the airport. And that's a second entrance. So, depending on which way you're coming in, pick one of those two entrances. And we're hoping to not gridlock Hutchinson again this year.
CATHY WURZER: All right. All right. Good move. Jerry, I hope you have a wonderful Garlic Festival. Thanks so much.
JERRY FORD: Thank you, Cathy.
CATHY WURZER: It's been a pleasure. Jerry Ford is the director of the Minnesota Garlic Festival and the chapter and events coordinator for the Sustainable Farming Association.
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