Hudson Valley Garlic Festival — Local services in Town of Saugerties

We heard about this festival a few years back from a friend and every time we’re ready to go, something pops up. This time determination prevailed :) We departed late for a 2 + hour trip… as we got into town, we opted to ignore googles turn suggestions and follow the Garlic Festival signs which led us straight to a closed road. My advice, listen to google map’s directions… because google knows! Lol.

I noticed there were three entry points to the festival and we were lucky enough to find parking on a residential street just outside one of them.

This was our first time here, the size of this festival was impressive and the venders were very interactive and friendly with the people. Samples (try before you buy) was a great idea. Bring your own plastic utensils, some of the vendors had already run out for tastings.

Sleep deprived and arriving close to closing time, we just ambulated from one vender to another having casual conversations. I met Frank and Brian, two farmers sharing a booth where I first learned about black garlic, a product derived from aging regular garlic bulbs over the course of weeks or months, a process called the Maillard reaction, the one I tasted was like molasses with hints of cocoa and licorice. I’ve already swapped out fresh garlic with roasted garlic in my soups… this could be the beginning of new creative recipes :) I was seeking Rocambole to plant a different variety from the ones I’ve planted in past years and Brian recommended the Heirloom GSF 65 (Garlic Seed Foundation “Temptess Rocambole”) With dark reddish brown cloves, and speckles of purple on the skin of the bulb. We moved on to another vender where we found a variety of flavored honey, they were out of plastic spoons so I can’t give you any feedback on their product. Moved on to Phelps Woodside Farm who has his own bee farm, his bees process nectar from wood trees and his light honey has a hint of maple. Venders traveled from near and far to set up at this festival. There were ample garlic themed food stands and creative crafts going on here, some of the handmade crafts inspired my inner creativity to start up again.

There are two types of garlic, the stiff neck and soft neck. The stiff neck (aka hard neck) sub ophioscorodon has a stem growing in the center of the bulb that grows scapes (consists bulbils). Moving on to the last table (prior to farmers commencement of packing up) where discussions took place about porcelain garlic vs rocambole and I was told most of them are selections of only a handful of basic types that have been grown widely and developed their own characteristics over the centuries as local growing conditions changed. The person who made an impression on me the most was Tom, from Holmsquest Farms and Greenhouse. With 4 generations of farming and over 500 acres, his large German white and red garlic bulbs were being offered at the best price there. (Allium sativum subs. ophioscorodon Big Porcelain bulbs typically yield four to eight huge cloves; Favored by growers for its hardiness range, this is a dependable producer even in poorer conditions. White outer skin, red inner skins. Hardy plants, hearty flavor, excellent storage. Also known as German Stiffneck and German White.) he had a small stock of black garlic, cipollini , shallots, red and white onions on display and invited us to come and visit if we’re ever in the area as he handed us his card.

*Garlic is in the allium sativa family also related to daffodils and orchids, and is considered one of the closest relatives of onions, a widely used vegetable that has a pungent smell and flavor as well.

Note: If you slice open your garlic clove and notice that there is a green stem inside, this indicates that your garlic is sprouting and past its prime.

We had a lot of fun, met new and interesting people and will be looking forward to next...

The festival was good, time spent waiting in line to enter after purchasing tickets online was ridiculous. When you pre-purchase tickets online you assume that your entry will be quick or at least reasonably quick rather than for the people who didn’t prepay. This was a poorly organized entrance. They had two lines. No one, knowing whether there was a line for pre-purchase tickets or for those who needed to buy them at the event.. waited in line for an extremely long time when we arrived at the ticket window the woman asked me how many tickets, I said I purchased them online she again said how many tickets, then clarified, did you purchase I said 2, she then gave me two paper tickets. We then walked through into the event and a woman took our two paper tickets. They really should have a line for pre-purchase tickets so people don’t have to wait in line with those who did not purchase them in advance. Event was Extremely crowded the lines to purchase were quite long, Traffic going in and leaving the event took about half hour either way. I’ve been going for a number of years, This is the first year I’ve been disappointed with the event because of the long wait times. The event used to be so enjoyable, but this time I couldn’t wait to leave and did not even finish exploring...

Too many people that they can't handle well. one hour to enter the parking lot, 45 minutes to leave the parking lot. The abundance of people has not allowed us to go to many stores to see the product they offered. That said, we were expecting a garlic fair related more deeply to garlic. However, we found a fair that had products derived from garlic, but many other products that had nothing to do with garlic. I think they need to put all the food stores in one place so the people can eat in one area and the rest of the people can walk around the festival buying and having fun. We couldn’t have time to interact with people cause we left the place quickly. Prices overpriced. Parking $10, garlic bulb $3, 5 garlic bulb bag $15. Nothing you can’t find in a supermarket cheaper. Maybe I was in a bad mod…I will be there next...