This is a  contest that actually helps a farmer!

Get ready for a hands-on and exciting challenge at the Toronto Garlic Festival’s Garlic Bulb Cracking Contest! This fun activity invites participants of all ages to test their speed and precision in cracking open a garlic bulb into individual cloves. The contest brings together friendly competition and a bit of garlic know-how! Plus, you’ll be doing farmer Farmer Marchand Lamare a favour. He is delivering 25 lbs of garlic for the contest. The garlic cloves cracked by participants will be cracked by contest participants will be picked up at the end of the day by Marchand and taken back to his farm for planting. 

Background

Farmers traditionally crack garlic bulbs to separate the cloves before planting. Each clove serves as a seed that, when planted, grows into a new garlic plant. The goal in this contest is to preserve as many of the wrappers on the cloves as possible, ensuring that they are ready for planting – just like real garlic farmers do!

Watch here to learn more about the process of cracking garlic bulbs. 

Garlic Bulb Cracking Contest Details

Time: Contest will be held every 15 minutes from 10:30 AM to 4:30 PM.

Location: Contestants will be seated at a table.

Contest Capacity: Up to six contestants per round.

Preparation: Contestants will  receive a garlic bulb from the judge’s basket. 

Introduction:  The judge (a gardener or farmer) will explain the rules and demonstrate the proper technique for cracking garlic bulbs while keeping the wrappers intact.

Start: The judge will count down with “1, 2, 3, Get Cracking!”  Contestants  race to crack open their garlic bulbs.

Completion: Contestants raise their hands once they finish cracking all the cloves.

Judging: The judge will review the cracked cloves based on:

• The number of cloves successfully cracked.
• The condition of the wrappers left on the cloves.
• Demerits for cloves with exposed flesh or still attached to the basal plate.

Tie-Breaker:

In case of a tie, the winner will be determined by a garlic-themed coin toss (bulb on one side, clove on the other).

Variations:

• Blindfolded Contestants: For an added challenge!
• Farmer Edition: Featuring Ontario  farmers.