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The 2002 Harvest is in!
Everyone has been getting impatient … but here is our lineup for this fall’s planting!

The garlic is still curing and being readied for cleaning and sorting, but we do have a pretty good handle on what we will be offering. The following is a list of the varieties we will definitely have (with maybe a few surprises added later on as well). The website is now open and accepting advance orders. Remember, some varieties sell out very early, and it’s first come, first served. First to order get the biggest and best bulbs. Note: We will hold your order until all the varieties you ordered are ready, and then ship the order as a whole. If you wish to place both advance orders and also buy already available fresh bulbs, food, books, etc., please break your order up into two parts. That way the currently available items can go out right away.

NEW! Sampler Packs
(Each variety is identified by label.)
Softneck Favorites, Softnecks for Colder Winters, Softnecks for Milder Winters, Hardneck Favorites, Hardnecks for Colder Winters, Hardnecks for Milder Winters

Hardnecks
Purple Striped Varieties
Brown Tempest, Bogatyr, Chesnok Red, Korean Red, Mexican Red, Persian Star, Siberian
Porcelain Varieties
Georgia Crystal, Georgia Fire, Leah 99, Music, Northern White, Romanian Red, Polish Hardneck, Zemo
Rocambole Varieties
Carpathian, Colorado Black, French Rocambole, German Brown, German Red, German White, GSF #65, Italian Purple, Killarney Red, Russian Red, Spanish Roja, Temptress, Yugo Red

Softnecks
Silverskin Varieties
California Early, California Late, Silverwhite, Silverskin,
Garlic Braids
Artichoke Varieties
Chet's Italian Red, French White, Inchelium Red, Kettle River Giant, Polish White, Red Italian, Red Toch, Shantung Purple, Susanville

Elephants
Giant Roasting Bulbs, Elephant Cloves

Others
Asian Tempest, Xian

Bulbils
Mixed Hardnecks, Spanish Roja

Giant Allium Flowers
Gladiator, Purple Sensation, Globemaster

WHEN TO PLANT?
Most people plant their garlic in early October. This allows good root growth before the cold of winter sets in. Along the northern border, some plant in September. Further south, planting from November, even into early spring can work.

BROWSER BLUES?
People come to our website, www.TheGarlicStore.com, using a variety of computers (PC, MAC, workstations), operating systems (Windows, Unix, OS X) and browsers (Internet Explorer, Netscape, AOL, Opera, Mozilla). One would like to think that web page authoring systems would cover all these permutations and combinations. They don’t. We work hard to make sure our web pages work on all flavors of browsers, but it doesn’t always happen. In particular, Netscape can be rather balky. (After their purchase by AOL things have never been right with that software!) SO, if you sometimes run into glitches such as order buttons not being active, navigation bars not appearing, etc., your first approach would be to switch to another browser if you have one. Microsoft Internet Explorer, Version 5.5, seems to be by far the most robust (we don’t usually compliment Microsoft much around here, but on this they seem to do OK). If you still have glitches (which might occur in an office environment where the IT types establish fire walls to prevent employee surfing), just do it the old fashioned way. Give us a call at 1-800-854-7219. Please limit your calls to 9 AM - 7 PM Mountain (Denver) Time, Monday- Saturday.

© The Garlic Store, 2002

Garlic Curing and Storage Tips
This question comes up every year…how do we store all the garlic we just harvested? First of all, before you can store it, you must cure it. Like onions, the garlic bulbs fresh out of the ground are very moist. They must be thoroughly dried before storage, or else bad things might happen…mold, mildew and other fungal unpleasantries. The traditional curing method is to tie the garlic in bundles of around ten or a dozen, and hang them where they can be exposed to warm, dry air, but NO direct sun or rain. The higher your local humidity, the longer it takes to cure. In the humid east and south, it can take three or four weeks. Out west, where the air is much drier, we put a couple dozen garlic plants in meshed plastic baskets and leave them in a 3-sided pole barn. They often cure in two weeks. They key seems to be ventilation. Keep the air moving so evaporation can take place.

OK. Once curing is done, trim off the stalks and roots. When cleaning the bulb, try to leave as many layers of the paper wrapper on as possible. The thinner the wrapper, the less time you have before the bulbs dry out. In general, elephant garlics last the longest, often more than 8 months. Softnecks can hold their own for six months or more after harvest. Hardnecks tend to have shorter shelf lives, not often making it past four months.

So, where to store? A countertop garlic cellar in your kitchen is decorative and effective. Some people keep their garlic in a brown paper bag. A cooler room (around 55-60°F) with a relative humidity around 55% is considered optimal, but regular room temperature is acceptable.

Two Big Don’ts:
Don’t store garlic in your refrigerator. It will fool the garlic into its growth stage, sending out green shoots which are bitter.

Don’t EVER try to preserve raw garlic in oil. All root plants can contain traces of the botulinum bacteria. This is not a problem as long as the clove is exposed to oxygen, where the little buggers can’t grow. But this bacteria is anaerobic…that is, remove the oxygen contact, which is what you do when putting in oil, and you could set you self up for possible botulism poisoning. That is NOT a good thing. We know that storing garlic in oil in the refrigerator is considered safe, but why take the chance?
Note: Most mold found on older garlic cloves is penicilium, harmless unless you’re allergic.

The Garlic Is Life Festival and Symposium Video
If you are really serious about garlic, this two volume VHS tape set, 12.5 hours run time, is the essential video compendium of garlic and alliums. Thirteen lectures by the world’s leading experts in alliums, garlic growing, storage, diseases, cooking and culture were taped at the Oklahoma State University-Tulsa campus during the fall of 2001. As part of the Garlic Is Life Festival and Symposium, this gathering of experts from five nations is a unique event that may never be repeated. The profusely illustrated lectures, while academic in nature, are understandable to any gardener or grower who takes their garlic horticulture seriously. Available from www.TheGarlicStore.com, $49.95 (plus $7.55 S&H). A portion of the proceeds will go to support the Garlic Is Life Festival.

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!

Garlicky Oven-Roasted Vegetables
This is a great fall recipe at a time when root vegetables are at their very best. It is easy to make - just put everything together in the pan and let your oven do the rest. Sit back and enjoy the scrumptious aroma!

6 carrots, peeled and quartered
6 parsnips, peeled and quartered
6 shallots, peeled and halved
2 medium onions, peeled and cut into 6-8 wedges
1 large garlic bulb, broken into cloves and peeled
1 tbs dried rosemary, or 3 tbs fresh, chopped
1 tbs dried thyme, or 3 tbs fresh
2 tbs olive oil and 2 tbs butter or 4 tbs olive oil

Preheat oven to 400ºF. Combine all the vegetables in roasting pan, drizzle with oil (and butter) and stir to coat. Roast for about 1 hour 20 minutes or until tender. Salt and pepper to taste. Great with meat, chicken and fish.

Questions and Comments
You can always email TheGarlicStore.com with your garlic questions at TheChiefClove@TheGarlicStore.com. But if you would like your question and answer in an upcoming issue of The Garlic Store Gazette, just drop us a line. 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