The Garlic Store Early Summer 2004 Newsletter

HOLD ON, HOLD ON, THE GARLIC IS COMING
This is just a short update to let you know we are working hard to make the 2004 garlic season the best ever. Our early August newsletter will give all subscribers a heads up on the final lineup we will have for this fall’s planting and announce the opening of our site for advance orders.

THE 2004 CROP - REPORTS FROM THE FIELD
It looks like it is going to be a great harvest. Here at Yucca Ridge, our relatively warm winter allowed for early emergence (February) of most varieties. Scapes appeared on the hardnecks three weeks ahead of schedule. They seemed surprised, but otherwise unharmed, by the late May snows which Mother Nature likes to send us, just to prove who still is boss around here. The weeds, of course, have thrived as well. Does anyone know of a market for organic weeds? We can give some folks a really good deal. Weeding is key this time of year. Garlic hates competition. Perhaps it is a rather vain plant, and doesn’t like to share the row with anything else. But when you see vibrant green German Porcelain swaying almost four foot high, you can perhaps ascribe the plant’s exclusiveness to self confidence rather than vanity. Anyhow, the cycle of nature continues, and harvest should begin pretty soon here on the High Plains. We are among the last to harvest, given our altitude. Our fellow growers in the Pacific Northwest and Northeast are reporting good crops as well, at least for those who had ample rain and/or irrigation
.

What early spring? Our Gladiator flowering alliums wore their “hat” of spring snow here at Yucca Ridge as winter gave it one last shot on May 24th

WHEN TO HARVEST
The Chief Clove gets lot of email each year asking about “when to harvest” and “how to cure.” Keep in mind all sorts of handy growing tips are always available right on our web site (just click on the How To Grow link on the banner on the top of the page). But here are a few pointers:

Much of the garlic bulb growth occurs in the last 4 weeks or so of the plant's nine month life cycle, so early digging may mean smaller bulbs. But once they are mature, leaving them in the ground won’t make for bigger bulbs, just split wrappers and spoiling cloves. The best guideline is to harvest when the leaves on the lower third to half of the plant have largely browned. Ignore the brown tip that sometimes appears on the upper leaves. The plant senesces from the bottom up. If in doubt, do a test dig. If the bulbs are of acceptable size and the cloves are clearly differentiated, you can consider harvest. If the wrapper is starting to split, it is getting late and you’d best dig in a hurry.

Curing the garlic is critical. The bulbs need to dry in a shady, rain-protected place. Hanging them in a 3-sided pole barn, like we do here at Yucca Ridge, works very well because you get plenty of natural ventilation. If you must bring them inside, be sure there is ample ventilation. Try a fan. It usually takes 3-4 weeks for full curing. When the outer wrappers are very dry, like paper, and loose to the touch, you’re getting close.

WHAT ARE THESE THINGS??
Another frequent email question received by The Chief Clove is from first time elephant garlic growers. Upon harvesting their big bulbs they are surprised to find hard, pointy tipped, little yellow “thingies” gripping their bulb’s wrapper. Relax. They are not parasites or aliens. They are called corms. It is just another way the plant tries to propagate. Just pluck them off. It is rumored that after drying, come fall, you can replant them, rather like hardnecks bulbils, and get a small garlic set the next season. It in turn can be replanted and a year or two later you get a big elephant. We have not tried this yet. Anyone out there had any success with planting corms? Or is there any other use for them that has escaped our attention? The Garlic Gazette would like to hear from you. TheChiefClove@TheGarlicStore.com

GARLIC: HERB OF THE YEAR FOR 2004
For those who didn’t hear, this year, 2004, our favorite, garlic, has been selected the “Herb of the Year.” So when you pass around your upcoming harvest of beauteous bulbs to your amazed and envious friends, you can also brag that there is no more virtuous “herb” in the garden patch this summer.

A NEW GARLIC COOKBOOK - lists sources for garlic, including, of course, the Garlic Store at Yucca Ridge Farm. It's title is Everything Tastes Better With Garlic, and the author is Sara Perry. (ISBN 0-8118-3816-1)

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.
© The Garlic Store/FMA, Inc., 2004

Order online at www.TheGarlicStore.com

Early Summer 2004 Volume 3 Number 2
A MESSAGE FROM THE CHIEF CLOVE You are receiving our quarterly complimentary email newsletters because you have either explicitly signed up for it, requested a catalog or 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 8th year on the Internet, we hope you will enjoy this issue of our “ezine” being sent our friends in the garlic gardening and gourmet cooking community.
HOLD ON, HOLD ON, THE GARLIC IS COMING This is just a short update to let you know we are working hard to make the 2004 garlic season the best ever. Our early August newsletter will give all subscribers a heads up on the final lineup we will have for this fall’s planting and announce the opening of our site for advance orders. THE 2004 CROP - REPORTS FROM THE FIELD It looks like it is going to be a great harvest. Here at Yucca Ridge, our relatively warm winter allowed for early emergence (February) of most varieties. Scapes appeared on the hardnecks three weeks ahead of schedule. They seemed surprised, but otherwise unharmed, by the late May snows which Mother Nature likes to send us, just to prove who still is boss around here. The weeds, of course, have thrived as well. Does anyone know of a market for organic weeds? We can give some folks a really good deal. Weeding is key this time of year. Garlic hates competition. Perhaps it is a rather vain plant, and doesn’t like to share the row with anything else. But when you see vibrant green German Porcelain swaying almost four foot high, you can perhaps ascribe the plant’s exclusiveness to self confidence rather than vanity. Anyhow, the cycle of nature continues, and harvest should begin pretty soon here on the High Plains. We are among the last to harvest, given our altitude. Our fellow growers in the Pacific Northwest and Northeast are reporting good crops as well, at least for those who had ample rain and/or irrigation . What early spring? Our Gladiator flowering alliums wore their “hat” of spring snow here at Yucca Ridge as winter gave it one last shot on May 24th WHEN TO HARVEST The Chief Clove gets lot of email each year asking about “when to harvest” and “how to cure.” Keep in mind all sorts of handy growing tips are always available right on our web site (just click on the How To Grow link on the banner on the top of the page). But here are a few pointers: Much of the garlic bulb growth occurs in the last 4 weeks or so of the plant's nine month life cycle, so early digging may mean smaller bulbs. But once they are mature, leaving them in the ground won’t make for bigger bulbs, just split wrappers and spoiling cloves. The best guideline is to harvest when the leaves on the lower third to half of the plant have largely browned. Ignore the brown tip that sometimes appears on the upper leaves. The plant senesces from the bottom up. If in doubt, do a test dig. If the bulbs are of acceptable size and the cloves are clearly differentiated, you can consider harvest. If the wrapper is starting to split, it is getting late and you’d best dig in a hurry. Curing the garlic is critical. The bulbs need to dry in a shady, rain-protected place. Hanging them in a 3-sided pole barn, like we do here at Yucca Ridge, works very well because you get plenty of natural ventilation. If you must bring them inside, be sure there is ample ventilation. Try a fan. It usually takes 3-4 weeks for full curing. When the outer wrappers are very dry, like paper, and loose to the touch, you’re getting close. WHAT ARE THESE THINGS?? Another frequent email question received by The Chief Clove is from first time elephant garlic growers. Upon harvesting their big bulbs they are surprised to find hard, pointy tipped, little yellow “thingies” gripping their bulb’s wrapper. Relax. They are not parasites or aliens. They are called corms. It is just another way the plant tries to propagate. Just pluck them off. It is rumored that after drying, come fall, you can replant them, rather like hardnecks bulbils, and get a small garlic set the next season. It in turn can be replanted and a year or two later you get a big elephant. We have not tried this yet. Anyone out there had any success with planting corms? Or is there any other use for them that has escaped our attention? The Garlic Gazette would like to hear from you. TheChiefClove@TheGarlicStore.com GARLIC: HERB OF THE YEAR FOR 2004 For those who didn’t hear, this year, 2004, our favorite, garlic, has been selected the “Herb of the Year.” So when you pass around your upcoming harvest of beauteous bulbs to your amazed and envious friends, you can also brag that there is no more virtuous “herb” in the garden patch this summer. A NEW GARLIC COOKBOOK - lists sources for garlic, including, of course, the Garlic Store at Yucca Ridge Farm. It's title is Everything Tastes Better With Garlic, and the author is Sara Perry. (ISBN 0-8118-3816-1) 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. © The Garlic Store/FMA, Inc., 2004 Order online at www.TheGarlicStore.com	PRIZE WINNERS Grower James Weistart of Minonk, IL was glowing like a proud parent when he sent us this picture of his prize winning Georgia Crystal garlic bulbs, blue ribbon winners in the 2003 Illinois State Fair. “I like the satin wrap and fine light brown lines on these Porcelains, and believe the judges did too,” he noted. They had to be entered in the “onion” section to compete, however. Now, we LOVE onions, our second favorite allium. But it’s time we demand equal rights for all alliums at the state fair! Yeah! EARLY HARVESTS - EARLIER AVAILABILITY Since the crop is coming in early this year, we expect to have several varieties available before our usual early August opening of the web site for advance orders. We already offer elephant garlic cloves and bulbs, Mexican Red purple stripe, Asiatic Maitake and California Early. Check our What’s Available in 2004 link on the home page for updates of which varieties are available for shipping and advance ordering. This page is updated almost daily during the new crop season. AS IN PAST YEARS: If the bulbs are available (A) you can order anytime. If it is not yet ready, we will accept advance orders (AO). We will open up the web site for Advance Orders by the second week of August, 2004. As usual, we will ship your order as soon as all your varieties have become available for shipping, usually shortly after Labor Day. If ordering food items, or books, you may wish to separate the orders. That way the in-stock items will not get delayed waiting for the garlic to cure. NEW VARIETIES IN 2004 We hope to offer several new varieties come August. A new softneck - French Tarne - is eagerly awaited, as is its cousin Ail de Pays Ger. A turban called Chinese Pink is doing well. Hardnecks in the field include Armenian, Vekak Czech, and two Japanese varieties, Hokkaido Zaitai and Sakura. GARLIC KILLS PEOPLE Normally we like to tout the healthy aspects of garlic. But we could not but help notice this sad news item that came out of China on June 5th via the Xinhua News Agency. “Shelves stacked high with garlic collapsed and killed 15 workers at a cold storage warehouse in Central China. The accident in the city of Zhengzhou buried more than 30 employees under a pile of garlic shoots and broken shelving, the Beijing Times reports.” Is it possible the above news report and this picture that came out of China last year are in some way related? Maybe OSHA should open a branch office in China? QUESTION FROM THE CHIEF CLOVE Several have written this spring asking whether they could start garlic inside, such as in a greenhouse, and then transplant the shoots to the garden later in the spring. Our few tests with garlic transplanting were pretty much flops. Has anyone had a positive experience with garlic transplanting? If so, we would like to share this with our readers. Please reply to TheChiefClove@TheGarlicStore.com A NEW GARLIC RECIPE FOR YOU… This salad recipe is very simple and makes a great side dish for summer treats from your grill. Although the garlic has a long cooking time, it practically takes care of itself. Just remember to keep the temperature low. Warm Garlic & Spinach Salad 1 package (10 oz) spinach, rinsed 3 tbsp olive oil 2 heads garlic, cloves separated and peeled 2 tbsp pine nuts, toasted Salt and pepper to taste In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat the oil over low heat and add the garlic cloves. Allow to simmer on low, covered, until garlic cloves are tender OR bake in oven at 350 degrees F until tender. In a bowl, mix the spinach with the hot garlic and oil, stir in the pine nuts, adjust the seasoning and serve warm. Serves 4. The Garlic Grower’s Video/ DVD Makes a Great 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 ($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).