The Garlic Store Late Summer 2004 Newsletter

HOLIDAY SIX PACK OFFER
Ho Ho Ho! Santa Clove has a special offer for this holiday season. We have a great garlic six pack that will zip up your holiday meals big time. The softneck crop this year was spectacular, so we are delighted to offer this spicy half dozen:
Inchelium Red
Silver Rose
Lorz Italian
Red Toch
Susanville
Siciliano
To receive $5.00 off for this special holiday six pack, just write in the comments section: GO BRONCOS. Your cost will be $12.95 plus shipping.

[Yes, we do live in Colorado . Yes, we are Bronco fans. And they’re on a roll. So the rest of the NFL’s fans will just have to cheer us along. This offer is grudgingly extended to Indianapolis Colts fans as well.]

Note: The discount will NOT appear on your order sheet if your order on line. We will subtract the amount manually when we process your credit card. If you send an order by mail and use a check, please subtract the $5.00 for each Holiday Six Pack order. This offer is valid through 31 December 2005 .

DID YOU KNOW?
People in southern England eat twice as much garlic as those of northern France

In Latvia , it is against the law for a man to make his wife make love with him after consuming garlic.

Each year, South Koreans crown a “Miss Garlic” beauty queen. (Is there a Miss Kim Chee as well?)

CAN YOU HELP ME WITH MY IGUANA?

That was the question the woman asked me when I picked up the phone.

“And what seems to be wrong with your iguana?” I asked, thinking maybe she had mis-dialed trying to reach her vet.

“No, no. They are running berserk down here!”

As far as I know, our 800 number does not work on the Galapagos Islands , so I dutifully inquired, “Down here is where?”

“ Florida . Sanibel Island !” she explained.

So the sunshine state is more than the land of walking catfish, I mused.

“Many pet shop and pet owners are releasing the critters, and they are going wild. I need to keep them out of my garden. And I read somewhere that they don’t like garlic. Would your garlic insect barrier work?”

Well, she had played “stump the Chief Clove.” And won.

Does anyone out there have any evidence that iguanas don’t like garlic?

Same for walking catfish.

AND OTHER QUESTIONS OF NOTE

Each year we answer lots of more conventional questions about garlic. Some of the ones that popped up with some frequency this year included:
Do you remove the skin from the clove before you plant?
No! Not sure why we had so many calls on that one. The skin around the clove helps protect it from disease. Now if it should just happen to fall off, it is still probably OK. But no reason to go to the effort of removing the skin, a process in which you will likely damage the clove and introduce potential problems. Also, it is best not to separate the cloves from the bulb until a day or two before planting, lest the clove begins to dry out.

Help. My garlic shoots are already up! What shall I do? Go out and speak to them and say, thank you! They appreciate the encouragement. And don’t worry, it is common for shoots to emerge in the fall, and sometimes reach the height of several inches. And if it gets cold (I mean don’t lick the lamppost with your tongue cold), no problem. Garlic’s origin is Siberia , so it can handle zero degrees (either C or F) with no problems, save for a little tip burn.

How far apart shall I plant my cloves?
The jury is still out on this one. Conventional guidance used to be that 3 or 4 inches width was optimal, but we are now suggesting that six inches gives the plant enough room to grow into large size bulbs. If you are just growing for spring garlic greens, then you can pack the cloves in less than inch apart because you will harvest long before bulbing begins.

How long will my garlic last?
As a rule, elephants and softnecks have much longer shelf lives than hardnecks. The former can easily go six to nine months, whereas hardnecks start to lose firmness and freshness around the holidays. Best to keep the bulbs in a cooler room with reasonable humidity (50-55%) to extend shelf life. You can keep them in a garlic keeper, or even a paper bag, which slows down the desiccation during the dry winter months.

What is the best pH for my soil?
Garlic does best when the soil has near neutral pH, between 6.5 and 7.5.

Can I grow garlic in pots?
Sorta. It is tricky to grow really good sized bulbs in deep flower pots. But we have managed to get 1.5 inch specimens at times. A better use for pots might be to grow garlic greens. Plant your small or leftover cloves in a pot (six inches or more deep). Keep moist and with plenty of sunshine. After about six to eight weeks, or when they are about 10-14 inches, harvest. They look liked scallions, can be used they same way, but have a real garlic taste!

Winter 2005 Volume 4 Number 4
A MESSAGE FROM THE CHIEF CLOVE You are receiving our quarterly complimentary email newsletter because you have explicitly signed up for it, requested our catalog 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 will not supply any information about you, including email addresses, to third parties. In our ninth year on the Internet, we hope you will enjoy this next issue of our “ezine” created for our friends in the garlic gardening and gourmet cooking community. And to be sure that changes in your spam filters don’t block future issues, you may wish to add thechiefclove@TheGarlicStore.com to you accept list.
HOLIDAY GIFTS! Can you think of many holiday gifts that are low in calories and carbs, purportedly decrease cholesterol levels and blood pressure, tastes great, are less filling (that sounds familiar…) and makes just about any food taste better? So when you are stumped about what to give that person who has everything, give the gift that you can never really have enough of. Aside from fresh garlic, we have over 150 great food and garlic gift items. Please order by about 15 December to assure delivery via USPS Priority Mail. THE R.O.I. OF ALLIUM SATIVUM Return On Investment. Charmed words that have lost much of their magic as of late. Tired of waiting for the stock market to go somewhere besides sideways? Hardly impressed by the new “higher” interest rates on CDs and bonds? Afraid to jump into real estate now just as the bubble may be about to go bang? Where can one get a good return on investment these days? Why, garlic, of course. Now typically garlic gives a seven times return with each planting. Say you just planted one pound of cloves for harvest in 2006. And then you just keep replanting the harvest year after year. Here’s what you get: 2006 - 1 pound 2007 - 7 pounds 2008 - 49 pounds 2009 - 343 pounds 2010 - 2401 pounds 2015 - 40.35 million pounds 2020 - 679 billion pounds 2039 – the earth becomes unbalanced, tips off its axis, seasons go haywire and earthquakes shake the planet 2067 - everything collapses into a black hole ending existence as we know it. Hmmm…you know, perhaps it would be a better idea just to eat your harvest or give some away as gifts and order new planting stock each season, eh? THE TOP TEN SELLERS OF 2005 So what was hot in 2005? Though we introduced some great new varieties this year, such as Silver Rose, French Tarne and Oregon Blue, the old favorites still dominate the sales charts. So, here are the Top Ten garlics for 2005: 10. Romanian Red 9 Korean Red 8 Spanish Roja 7 Susanville 6 Persian Star 5 Music 4 Inchelium Red 3 Elephant 2 Siberian 1 Chesnok Red THE TOP STATES FOR GARLIC GARDENING? So what about the demographics. The following is a count down of the top down states placing garlic orders. As one can see the northeastern corner of the country still remains the heart of the garlic belt. But sunny Colorado and California also held onto their listings. Garlic is everywhere! We shipped 26 orders to Alaska, and some as far away as New South Wales in Australia, along with Dubai and India . 10 Virginia 9 New Jersey 8 Michigan 7 Colorado 6 Massachusetts 5 Illinois 4 Ohio 3 California 2 Pennsylvania 1 New York SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL FOOD BANK Many of us are so very fortunate. And sadly, many of us are not. With Katrina still fresh in the headlines, the fragility of life and the hardships facing so many families is driven home with almost every newscast. So, if you had a bumper harvest of garlic, perhaps sharing some with the local food bank would be a great idea (and perhaps help head off that really bad year of 2067). We at the www.TheGarlicStore.com are pleased each year to donate many hundreds of pounds of garlic scapes and bulbs to the Larimer County Food Bank to help put some zest into to the meals of our neighbors a bit down on their luck. A NEW GARLIC RECIPE FOR YOU… Give your holiday treats a garlicky twist: 2 cups shelled, unsalted almonds or mixed nuts 3 tbsp butter 1 tbsp oil 4 garlic cloves, crushed salt At medium heat, melt the butter and oil in a heavy bottomed pan and add the garlic. Stir for one minute. Add the nuts/almonds and stir constantly for 4-5 minutes or until the nuts are crisp and golden. Spread in a single layer on paper towels and sprinkle with salt. TIPS: To remove almond skins, bring water to a boil in a pot large enough to hold the almonds. Add the almonds and immediately remove the pot from the heat. Let cool and slip each almond out of its skin. The Garlic Grower’s Video/DVD 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 ($19.95 plus S&H) 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 or call us at 970-416-8695. (Mon-Fri, 10 AM - 6 PM Denver Time) © The Garlic Store/FMA, Inc., 2004 Order online at www.TheGarlicStore.com	HOLIDAY SIX PACK OFFER Ho Ho Ho! Santa Clove has a special offer for this holiday season. We have a great garlic six pack that will zip up your holiday meals big time. The softneck crop this year was spectacular, so we are delighted to offer this spicy half dozen: Inchelium Red Silver Rose Lorz Italian Red Toch Susanville Siciliano To receive $5.00 off for this special holiday six pack, just write in the comments section: GO BRONCOS. Your cost will be $12.95 plus shipping. [Yes, we do live in Colorado . Yes, we are Bronco fans. And they’re on a roll. So the rest of the NFL’s fans will just have to cheer us along. This offer is grudgingly extended to Indianapolis Colts fans as well.] Note: The discount will NOT appear on your order sheet if your order on line. We will subtract the amount manually when we process your credit card. If you send an order by mail and use a check, please subtract the $5.00 for each Holiday Six Pack order. This offer is valid through 31 December 2005 . DID YOU KNOW? People in southern England eat twice as much garlic as those of northern France In Latvia , it is against the law for a man to make his wife make love with him after consuming garlic. Each year, South Koreans crown a “Miss Garlic” beauty queen. (Is there a Miss Kim Chee as well?) CAN YOU HELP ME WITH MY IGUANA? That was the question the woman asked me when I picked up the phone. “And what seems to be wrong with your iguana?” I asked, thinking maybe she had mis-dialed trying to reach her vet. “No, no. They are running berserk down here!” As far as I know, our 800 number does not work on the Galapagos Islands , so I dutifully inquired, “Down here is where?” “ Florida . Sanibel Island !” she explained. So the sunshine state is more than the land of walking catfish, I mused. “Many pet shop and pet owners are releasing the critters, and they are going wild. I need to keep them out of my garden. And I read somewhere that they don’t like garlic. Would your garlic insect barrier work?” Well, she had played “stump the Chief Clove.” And won. Does anyone out there have any evidence that iguanas don’t like garlic? Same for walking catfish. AND OTHER QUESTIONS OF NOTE Each year we answer lots of more conventional questions about garlic. Some of the ones that popped up with some frequency this year included: Do you remove the skin from the clove before you plant? No! Not sure why we had so many calls on that one. The skin around the clove helps protect it from disease. Now if it should just happen to fall off, it is still probably OK. But no reason to go to the effort of removing the skin, a process in which you will likely damage the clove and introduce potential problems. Also, it is best not to separate the cloves from the bulb until a day or two before planting, lest the clove begins to dry out. Help. My garlic shoots are already up! What shall I do? Go out and speak to them and say, thank you! They appreciate the encouragement. And don’t worry, it is common for shoots to emerge in the fall, and sometimes reach the height of several inches. And if it gets cold (I mean don’t lick the lamppost with your tongue cold), no problem. Garlic’s origin is Siberia , so it can handle zero degrees (either C or F) with no problems, save for a little tip burn. How far apart shall I plant my cloves? The jury is still out on this one. Conventional guidance used to be that 3 or 4 inches width was optimal, but we are now suggesting that six inches gives the plant enough room to grow into large size bulbs. If you are just growing for spring garlic greens, then you can pack the cloves in less than inch apart because you will harvest long before bulbing begins. How long will my garlic last? As a rule, elephants and softnecks have much longer shelf lives than hardnecks. The former can easily go six to nine months, whereas hardnecks start to lose firmness and freshness around the holidays. Best to keep the bulbs in a cooler room with reasonable humidity (50-55%) to extend shelf life. You can keep them in a garlic keeper, or even a paper bag, which slows down the desiccation during the dry winter months. What is the best pH for my soil? Garlic does best when the soil has near neutral pH, between 6.5 and 7.5. Can I grow garlic in pots? Sorta. It is tricky to grow really good sized bulbs in deep flower pots. But we have managed to get 1.5 inch specimens at times. A better use for pots might be to grow garlic greens. Plant your small or leftover cloves in a pot (six inches or more deep). Keep moist and with plenty of sunshine. After about six to eight weeks, or when they are about 10-14 inches, harvest. They look liked scallions, can be used they same way, but have a real garlic taste!