A
MESSAGE FROM THE CHIEF CLOVE
You
are receiving our quarterly complimentary email newsletters because you
have either explicitly signed up for it or have purchased products from
www.TheGarlicStore.com.
If
for any reason you do not wish to continue receiving our newsletter, simply
click here,
and follow the instructions to unsubscribe. Remember: We value your privacy.
We do not supply any information about you, including email addresses, outside
of our company. As we start our seventh year on the Internet, we hope you
will enjoy this first issue of our “ezine” being sent our friends
in the garlic gardening and gourmet cooking community.
PLANTING
NOTES:
It is still not too late to plant in many parts of the nation.
Along the west coast and in much of south and southwest, garlic can be
planted well into December. Some people think you can’t plant after
the first frost. Not so. The key is that the ground should remain unfrozen
for at least several more weeks before possible soil freezing.
And for those in warmer climes, you may wish to consider giving
your garlic some assistance in breaking its dormancy. Given that the garlic
plant originated in Siberia, it likes the cold. So a few weeks in the
refrigerator (35-45 F) before planting will actually spur the initial
growth of the plant.
Also, garlic likes plenty of nitrogen in the soil. A well
aged manure worked into the soil is a good thing. (Say, how is Martha
doing these days anyway?) But sometimes bulbs like some phosphorous as
well. A pinch or two of bone meal mixed at planting time can help bulbs
size up. Applications of bone meal in spring and summer are less effective.
And
don’t let your plot dry out during the winter. Garlic is quietly
but slowly growing under ground all winter. If you don't have much snow
cover, and it is a dry winter, you should be alert to the need to water
your bulbs. If the soil turns to dust, that can really do bad things to
your bulbs. Mulch helps retain moisture, but you still should monitor
soil moisture. Just use the old fist test. If you can make a clump of
dirt stick together by squeezing it gently in your fist, it has enough
moisture.
GARLIC
IN THE NEWS
Now
we are sure that none of our readers suffer from head lice…but we
thought you might be interested in this latest praise heaped upon allium
sativum. It seems that garlic juice (the allicin?) kills head lice
dead. This was discovered by Argentinean scientists. A new garlic-based
head lice treatment is about to hit the market in South America.
Garlic
is reputed to have many health promoting properties, especially for the
cardio- vascular system. But researchers in China have discovered that
men who eat at least one-third of an ounce daily of alliums (garlic, onions,
leeks and shallots) cut their risk of developing prostate cancer in half.
Many
consume garlic for their health (as if its wonderful flavor really required
any further incentive.) But how to consume it? Garlic pills have been
big sellers over the years. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of sulfur-based
compounds in the garlic clove, and it is still an area of very active
research as to where the health giving properties arise. Recent tests
at ConsumerLab, a firm that monitors manufacturers’ claims, finds
that not all garlic supplements contain all the allicin they claim. And
no one is sure if it is just the allicin that works the wonders. If you
really want to be sure, a raw garlic clove or two a day will do the trick.
(Microwaving for a few tens of seconds can take some of the edge of the
raw garlic taste).
2003
SNEAK PREVIEW
As subscribers
to The Garlic Store Gazette, your email will be alerting you when our
web site will open to accept advance orders again next summer. And while
it is still far too early to know for sure what we will be offering along
with the ever popular elephants, the following are some of the varieties
that are likely to be available:
Hardnecks: Asian Tempest,
Bogatyr, Carpathian, Chesnok Red, Colorado Black, German Brown, German
Red, German White, German Extra Hardy, German Porcelain, GSF#65, Italian
Easy Peel, Killarney Red, Korean Red, Leah 99, Leningrad, Marino, Mexican
Red, Metechi, Morado Gigante, Music, Northern White, Persian Star, Polish
Hardneck, Portuguese, Romanian Red, Rosewood, Russian Giant, Russian Red,
Siberian, Spanish Roja, Xian, Zemo, Zetak…and more!
Softnecks: Achatami,
Ail Rose de Lautrec, California Early, Chet’s Italian Red, Early
Red Italian, Guatemalan Ikeda, Inchelium Red, Kettle River Giant, Lorz
Italian, Nootka Rose, Polish White, Purple Italian, Red Toch, Shantung
Purple, Siciliano, Simonetti, Sonora, Silverskin, Silverwhite, Susanville,
Transylvanian…and more!
We hope to offer more
and varied garlic sampler packs next year as well.
HEADS UP FOR
GARLIC IS LIFE 2003
We have just heard from our dear friend Darrell Merrell, “The Tomato
Man with Garlic Breath” in Tulsa, OK. The Garlic
is Life Symposium, Grower’s Conference, garlic dinner and festival
are a GO for fall 2003. To be held on the campus of the Oklahoma State University-Tulsa,
30 October through 1 November, this has become the premier garlic event
in the nation. And we are delighted that Chester Aaron will again be the
special guest of honor - we count on him to be recounting more wonderful
tales about his life, garlic, and everything else that makes him one of
our very favorite people.
The event covers
the gamut from academic lectures, to working sessions on garlic growing,
to a wonderfully delicious garlic dinner, and a fun day of sales and special
events. Mark your calendar. Their website, www.GarlicIsLife.com will be
updated with new info soon, so you can keep tabs there.
The Garlic Grower’s Video/ DVD Makes a Great
Holiday Gift:
We call it “A
Garlic Gardener’s Guide.” This 32 minute production shows you
the tricks of the trade for growing your own top flight garlic, and also
provides some historical facts about the history of garlic, along with
fun scenes from the Gilroy Garlic Festival. Available now as either VHS
tape ($19.95 plus S&H) or DVD ($24.95 plus S&H)
©
The Garlic
Store, 2002
|
HAPPY
HOLIDAYS FROM THE CHIEF CLOVE
The
2002 Harvest was a great success. The garlic varieties from Yucca Ridge
Farm and our fellow growers were some of the best yet. As usual, by the
time Thanksgiving rolls around, we are nearly sold out. But we do have excellent
quality bulbs of some of your favorite varieties remaining:
Softnecks: Inchelium
Red, Silverwhite, Silverskin
Hardnecks: GSF#65, Chesnok Red, Persian Star
Elephant: big elephant cloves
And to
thank those who purchased garlic this past season, as well as our readers,
we will provide $2.00 off any purchase including fresh garlic or planting
stock between now and 31 December 2002. Just type the word “ALLIUM”
in the “Comment to the Chief Clove” box on the online order
sheet and we will subtract that amount from your final bill when we ship.
(Note: this discount will not show on your order form).
Note: TheGarlicStore.com has also been able to donate over
400 pounds of garlic products to the Larimer County Food Bank this year.
Please remember your local food banks and other charitable organizations
at this time of year.
RECENT
RESEARCH NOTES
The
Chief Clove (aka Walt Lyons) and Dr. Gayle Volk, a plant physiologist with
NCGRP [National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation, a USDA laboratory
on campus at Colorado State University here in Fort Collins] participated
during 2002 in a Specialty Crop Grower research project. Funded in part
by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Colorado Department of Agriculture,
awards were granted to growers to solve practical problems involved in introducing
new crops to the state’s producers.
We
addressed a very practical question - is there a cost effective way to greatly
extend the viable shelf life of varietal garlics? As we all know, especially
hardnecks have a shelf life that often fails to reach the New Year. Given
the former name of NCGRP was the National Seed Storage Laboratory, they
had a few ideas about how to go about this. The hunch was that garlic would
become dormant if stored at low temperatures, in this case 32 F and 27 F
were tried. You might think garlic would freeze, but there are enough soluble
sugars in the water to greatly lower its freezing temperature below 32 F.
(Ever wonder why fish in the arctic ocean where the water is 27 F don’t
freeze…sorta the same idea.) We packed up numerous varieties in September,
2001 and placed them in the NCGRP climate controlled coolers. In March/April,
2002 they were removed, and to our pleasant surprise, the bulbs were still
in mint condition. They survived their “cold sleep” so well that
they passed culinary taste tests with flying colors well into the summer
months…lasting until the next harvest came in. The lower temperature
worked best. So, if you do have access to a cooler that keeps a stable 27
F, you can store your garlic for six months or more.
But…the
story gets even better. Next, we planted, in a controlled test, some of
these same bulbs in fields next to their Fall planted brethren. The results?
They sprouted just fine. They grew very well. They produced fine bulbs.
Statistically the bulbs were somewhat smaller than from the fall plantings,
but that may be because poor spring weather prevented us from getting
into the field until 6 April, perhaps a bit late for spring planting.
The
bottom line: Cold-stored garlic can be maintained over winter for use
on the table or in the garden for next spring and summer! The results
have been submitted in an article to a scientific journal (“Low temperature
storage of varietal garlics"). When published we will provide links
for those who wish to get all the “juicy” details.
FRESH SPRING
GARLIC
You could probably
see this one coming. . .
Yes, TheGarlicStore.com
is planning to offer a selection of “fresh” (read, cold stored)
garlics come this spring. Since we are still new at this, we haven’t
stored a large amount, but we do expect to be offering limited quantities
of Inchelium Red, Silverwhite, Silverskin, GSF65, Chesnok Red and Elephant
cloves.
HOLIDAY
GARLIC GIFTS
Everyone loves garlic. And everyone loves garlic gifts. Do your Holiday
Shopping online at TheGarlicStore.com.
Fresh garlic-stuffed stockings and baskets, E-Z Roll peelers, garlic cellars
and bakers, cookbooks, the Susi Garlic Press, gourmet garlic stuffed olives,
pickled garlic and our many garlic gift boxes are just a few of the items.
Please order by 17 December to assure delivery for Christmas. And for
that super garlic fanatic, try the Garlic-Gift-of-the-Month.
RECIPES
Don't forget, www.TheGarlicStore.com publishes a new garlic recipe each
month. We have built up quite a collection. Go to our home
page for some great garlic cooking ideas!
This recipe was developed by Liv Lyons for the 2001 Garlic Is Life Festival's
cooking session. It is a relish worth trying for the holidays, as it works
with any meat or fowl dish
:
Garlic-Cranberry-Orange Relish
4 garlic cloves,
minced
1/2 medium jalapeno, minced
2 whole cloves
1 medium, well-ripened orange, thinly sliced and coarsely chopped
1 bag (12 oz) cranberries
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 pinch salt
Place the garlic, jalapeno, orange, cloves and sugar in a medium saucepan.Simmer
at medium to low heat for about an hour or until orange is soft and mushy.
Add cranberries and continue simmering until cranberries are popped and
well integrated in the mix. Cool and serve. Freezes well, and can easily
be kept in portion-size containers in the freezer so you will have fresh
relish for each speacial meal!
QUESTIONS
AND COMMENTS
You can
always email TheGarlicStore.com with your garlic questions
(TheChiefClove@TheGarlicStore.com.) But if you would like your question
answered in an upcoming issue of The Garlic Store Gazette, just let us
know. We can publish your favorite garlic pictures too (just send them
as an email attachment).
Published
by: www.TheGarlicStore.com at Yucca Ridge Farm, 46050 Weld County Road
13, Fort Collins, CO 80524. A member of the Better Business Bureau Online.
Email us at: TheChiefClove@TheGarlicStore.com. Copyright 2002 by FMA,
Inc./TheGarlicStore.com
|