Simple gift leads Chili man to new garlic business
Bob Emens knew his nearly 30-year career at Delphi Automotive was winding down, and seeing how he was only in his 50s, he needed something to do in his retirement.
A gift from a friend — garlic scapes — pointed him in the perfect direction.
“I liked them, but I thought I could improve upon the product,” says the Chili resident.
The scape is the hard part near the neck of the garlic plant. It is usually snapped off and left on the ground to go back into the soil. But they’ve become the centerpiece of Emens’ business, Luke’s Mill Creek Farm.
Emens, 59, sells pickled garlic scapes and garlic scape pesto to wineries, novelty food shops and at festivals.
“I wanted something to do when I retired as a write-off and to feed my Type A personality,” Emens says. “I thought I could improve on the product, but boy, that is easier said than done.”
Emens started the business in 2005. He doesn’t have his own shop but sells the product out of the basement of his home on Morgan Road. He researched the Mill Creek Farm that is on his property and found out Mill Creek refers to the creek that runs through it. The Luke in the name comes from the owner of the farm in the 1850s.
