From an unpretentious warehouse far south of Madison, Keene Garlic ships about 40 varieties of garlic. Most of them are giant clumps of cloves that can be eaten or planted. Some come from our own acre of land, while others come from about 60 small farms in Wisconsin and neighboring states.
The warehouse business was booming during the COVID-19 pandemic as people were looking for ways to eat healthier and grow their own food, said one member of the family who runs the business. Cindy Hollenbeck said.
The company has customers in all 50 states, and garlic in the cold winter-adapted Midwest seems to grow well almost anywhere, she said. , which provides advice on storage methods.
“That’s why we keep getting customers back year after year,” she said. “If their garlic grows and is successful, they will come back.”
From our Madison warehouse, Keene Garlic packages and ships approximately 40 heirloom varieties of garlic to gardeners and garlic lovers nationwide.
Organic farmer Linnea Phillips, who owns Rock Lake Organics outside of Lake Mills, puts together orders of fresh garlic for customers at Keen Garlic in Madison.
Garlic heads are racked in the Keen Garlic Warehouse before being shipped to customers.
Scape Salt is made in Keen Garlic’s kitchen using freeze-dried garlic scapes.
Scape Salt is made in Keen Garlic’s kitchen using freeze-dried garlic scapes.
Keen Garlic’s Organic Granulated Garlic is made from “seconds” or garlic heads that aren’t perfect enough to sell to customers.
Cindy Hollenbeck unpacks fresh garlic delivered from Minnesota at Keen Garlic’s warehouse in Madison.
Shelves near the entrance of Keen Garlic in Madison stock branded bags.
From left to right, Cindy Hollenbeck, Keene Hollenbeck, and son Bruce Reed unpack fresh garlic from Minnesota at Keene Garlic’s Madison warehouse.
Amanda Jones packs garlic heads at Keen Garlic in Madison.
Latisha Galvin sorts, weighs, and packs garlic heads at Keene Garlic in Madison.
From left, Aaron Hollenbeck, Cindy Hollenbeck, Keen Hollenbeck, and Bruce Reed run Keen Garlic in Madison. The couple’s sons, Aaron and Bruce, recently joined the firm.
Keene Garlic stocks and sells approximately 40 varieties of garlic.
Garlic heads are racked before being shipped to Keen Garlic’s customers.
Madison’s Keen Garlic stocks and sells 25-pound bags of Georgian Fire Garlic.