Episode 5: Garlic: Ben We Have Your Wife

Ben & Claire Ronniger join us to talk about all things garlic! We talk about their businesses- Allicin's Ranch & Organic Volcanic Garlic, their farms in Idaho & Mexico and all the crazy adventures they have had on Ben's Baja Garlic bus. Perfect for anyone who loves farming, wants to know more about starting a small business or wants some fun entertainment.

SHOW NOTES:

1:05- Welcome Ben & Claire Ronniger with the Allicin's Ranch & Organic Volcanic Garlic and a little bit about how Nate and Kim know them.

2: 32- The crazy questions that Ben and Claire get about garlic.

3:52- How they got into farming and the garlic business.

6:03- The seeds. Ben and Claire talk about the hooker and the beater A.K.A. Wild Crafting. Ben talks about the process of harvesting seeds and everything that is put into this physically and mentally challenging process.

10:00- The drying, cleaning and extraction process after you collect the seeds.

12:32- What Ben and Claire farm in Idaho. They talk about their main crop, garlic, and how they use sheep to farm the garlic. They talk about the 30 head of Southdown Baby Doll Sheep they have .

16:38- Allicin's Ranch They talk about their ranch and where the name Allicin came from. They also talk about specializing in garlic and how they are able to produce it year round unlike most garlic farms.

20:55 – Volcanic garlic. They talk about the difference between soft neck and hard neck garlic and what kind of garlic they farm.

23:54- Garlic. Ben talks about how there are only 8 varieties of garlic. Porcelain, Rocambole, Purple Stripe, Marble Purple Stripes, Turbine, Silverskin, Artichoke and Creole. They talk about how each evolves depending on where it is grown but they all still have the genetic makeup of the eight types of garlic.

25:55– The volcanic soil in Baja. They talk about what exactly what the volcanic soil is that they use and why it makes the garlic taste so good.

30:40- The Bus A.K.A. the Garlic Shuffle. They talk about the bus they have, how it came about, and how it helps them transport garlic across the country.

37:51- Ben We Have Your Wife. Ben and Claire's story about Ben leaving Claire on the side of the road, in the middle of nowhere New Mexico, at night, and not realizing he had done it until hours later.

45:32– Some other fun stories about the bus getting stuck and the story of their dog Floyd also being left by Ben.

50:15- Their farms. Ben and Claire talk about how they are able to keep both of their farms running at the same time year round. They also talk about the village in Mexico where they have their Baja farm and how awesome it is to see that farm help the community and support the village.

57:40- The Garlic Business. Ben talks about how they sell their own products and why it is so important for them to keep it small and sell at small stores and farmers markets. He talks about supporting the community and the education they do to help people get started growing garlic.

01:01:46 – Selling Online. Ben talks about targeting online and what they have learned about keeping their business personal & their customers happy.

01:06:04- Ben's message to the listeners.

01:07:56 – Wrapping up, final thoughts & where to find them on the Web - Facebook - Instagram