Garlic lovers rejoice Saturday as the Cumberland County Master Gardeners will celebrate Garlicfest.
Local Garlic Company Owner Laszlo Marton said this will be the first time Crossville will host the event. Marton said the event is a gathering for local garlic lovers and garlic farmers to show people how to grow and cook with garlic. Marton said garlic is unique as it is used in just about every kind of food.
“You know, when you go to a Thai restaurant, it’s garlic, when you go to a Chinese restaurant, it’s garlic, Mexican food, is garlic,” Marton said. “So there’s so many nationalities that use garlic, you know, in so many different ways.”
Marton said he hopes the event will inspire people to grow garlic on the Cumberland Plateau, as about 85-90 percent of the garlic we consume comes from overseas. Marton said growing garlic in our region can be done despite facing difficulties such as soil differences and rapid temperature changes.
“I enhance my soil with a lot of mushroom compost and different compost, so we work at it,” Marton said. “You know, a lot of cover crops involved, but it’s fine. I’ve grown it in plastic, I’ve grown it with straw, and I’ve grown it just naturally with the weeds, and it’s grown on all three phases, so because you do have a cold snap, it requires that we grow hardnecks. So it does require a little bit of a cold snap, and we’ve grown really, really nice pieces of garlic.”
Marton said garlic needs about 35 days of cold weather to grow a good crop. Marton said another great feature about garlic is that it is hard to waste.
“Whatever you don’t sell, you are able to put back in the ground and regrow it that way,” Marton said. “So you are always multiplying that field. If you have room, it’s a great crop to grow.”
Marton said having just an acre of land to grow garlic can be very profitable. Marton said garlic is healthy for people to consume. Marton said he always tells people to “live, love, laugh, and plant garlic.”
Garlicfest will run from 10am-4pm at the Cumberland County Fairgrounds.
