SPRING HATH SPRUNG!
The first day of spring, 2003 here on the High Plains reminded us that Colorado experiences all four seasons - often before noon. Depending were you were along the Front Range the vernal equinox blizzard dumped between 6 and 88 inches (that’s not a typo) of snow. Here at Yucca Ridge we think we had about 15 inches. We say we think because four days of 30-45 mph winds made accurate measurements impossible. It was either bare ground or 8 foot drifts. And the photograph shows one such glacier in training sitting smack atop one of our garlic varietal test beds. The garlic had already emerged to about 6 inches before the storm began. Given that the snow had the density of oatmeal, we anxiously waited see what the thaw might bring.

We have to keep reminding ourselves that the center of origin for garlic is southern Siberia. Cold and snow don’t phase this superb herb. And ten days later, when our monster drift finally trickled away, there were the shoots, hale and hearty, and I’d swear an inch taller. Our grower friend Bryce in Littleton, CO had even more snow over his garden. And while he reported some breakage of the leaves, rapid regrowth started as soon as the snow was gone. Allium Sativum is one tough plant! Anyway, now that we’ve experienced the joys of spring, on to summer and a great 2003 harvest!

WHAT'S IN THE GROUND FOR 2003?
The Garlic Store Gazette summer issue will let you know when we will begin accept advance orders for the 2003 harvest. This should be right around August 1st. The following are some of the varieties that we hope to be offering:

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, Italian Purple, Killarney Red, Korean Red, Leah 99, 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, Acropolis Greek, Ail Rose de Lautrec, Beijing, 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!

And of course, there will be more and better sampler packs, elephant garlic bulbs and cloves, and several giant allium flower varities.

We hope to offer more and varied garlic sampler packs this fall as well.

For eastern U.S. aliophiles, Saugerties, NY is the place to be. Scheduled this year on 27-28 September, believe me, these folks know their hardnecks! Some of the best growers in the northeastern “garlic belt” will be there, along with some mighty fine bulbs for sale. And their garlic ice cream is great, too. Find out more at www.hopefarm.com/garlic.htm.

But for real lovers of the Stinking Rose in the great Heartland, the crème de la crème of festivals is The Garlic is Life Symposium, Festival and Grower’s Conference, held on the campus of the Oklahoma State University-Tulsa. This year it is scheduled for 30 October through 1 November. It has become the premier garlic event in the nation for the serious grower and aficionado. The event covers the gamut from academic lectures, to practical sessions on garlic growing, a grand garlic dinner, and a fun day of sales and special events. Mark your calendar. Their web site, www.GarlicIsLife.com, will be updated with new info soon, so you can keep tabs there. And the Chief Clove hopes they will have garlic ice cream this year (but the garlic bread pudding ain’t a bad substitute. Seriously.)

FRESH SPRING GARLIC
Our special cold storage process kept our bulbs nice and firm through the winter and early spring, but the 2003 crop is going fast. So it’s time to turn to the southern hemisphere for those who just gotta have some nice fresh bulbs. We have a nice, conventionally grown Argentinian white artichoke softneck and a new Mexican purple striped hardneck grown without pesticides or herbicides.

NEW PRODUCTS AT WWW.THEGARLICSTORE.COM
The great success of our sampler packs last year gave us an idea - six packs. Not of beer, but of rare, exotic garlic bulbs. We are planning several six packs featuring a half dozen of hard to find varieties so folks can give these extra special bulbs a trial in their garden.

And new food products are on the way: a new garlic chutney, dried gourmet hardneck garlic flakes, a great artichoke-parmesan cheese-garlic spread, a great olive-garlic tapenade, a very refined garlic oil, and several new pickled garlics.

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 ($24.95 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.
© The Garlic Store/FMA, Inc., 2003

SPRING PLANTING UPDATE
More and more visitors to TheGarlicStore.com reported they were trying spring planting this year. Based upon our tests last year, funded through a Specialty Crop Growers Grant from Colorado State University last year, we think that is a good idea. Our field tests showed the resulting bulbs, though a little smaller than their fall planted brethren, were of excellent quality. If you spring planted this year, come harvest time, let us know about your success or lack thereof. Fall planting will most times be the better alternative, but if circumstances prevent getting those cloves in the ground, it’s nice to know Mother Nature is willing to give you a second chance.

A tounge-in-cheek garlic study:
LEECHES by Don Ramon
I am surprised that the use of leeches in the practice of medicine in Huntsville, Texas, has declined so precipitously with the advent of acupuncture and the discovery of New Age crystals and the reduced practice of our beloved local physician, Dr. Hal Conwell. The recent scientific research in Europe may lead to a rethinking of this phenomenon. The research is reported in an article in The British Journal of Medicine entitled "Effect of Ale, Garlic, and Soured Cream on the Appetite of Leeches." The research, done by Anders Baerheim and Hogne Sandvik, went like this:
"Six leeches were dipped briefly in one of two different types of beer (Guiness stout or Hansa bock) or in water (control) before being placed on the forearm of one of us (HS). We measured the time from when the leech touched the skin until HS felt it bite. Each leech was exposed three times to each liquid in random order."
Although the authors did not note a marked preference, on the part of the leeches, for one liquid over another, the leeches themselves made a clear distinction.

First leech (superciliously): "I found the "stout" a bit thin (You'll forgive the pun) compared to the Hansa bock. It seemed to lack complexity and gave no hint of its cooperage. It was rather like the Calista Flockhart of beers."
Second leech: "It was somewhat shallow and uninteresting on the first dip, but it seemed to improve with subsequent dippings."
Third leech: "Hic."
Fourth leech: "For my part, they could have left off the water completely. I mean, please! Remember what W.C. Fields said about water-like what fish do in it?"
Fifth leech: "All that dunking. It was like they were administering the Christian rite of baptism."
Sixth leech: "Don't remind them of initiation rites. Remeber, I'm Jewish."

Six other leeches were then placed on the same author's forearm without being dipped in beer or water. The left forearm was either not prepared or was smeared with soured cream. The right forearm was smeared with garlic.

Other leech #1: "What is this crap? Soured cream? Where's the beer?"
Other leech #2: "This is discriminatory. You can't treat medical leeches this way. They get 6 dips of beer and all we get is soured cream. That sucks, so to speak."
Other leeches #4 and 5, who got the garlic arm: "Aaauurrggh!"

We analyzed the median time from application to biting.
Some of the leeches that got no beer: "I'll bite that SOB."
After exposure to beer some of the leeches changed behavior, swaying their forebodies, losing grip, or falling on their backs.

An observation by Don Ramon - This is not unlike the behavior of a number of university students who frequent such establishments and are exposed to beer. In addition to swaying their forebodies, losing their grip and falling over on their backs, these students often suggest to members of the opposite gender the value of engaging in mating behavior as an alternative to biting a medical researcher on the arm.

Two leeches placed on the forearm smeared with garlic started to wiggle and crawl without assuming the sucking position. They were placed in water, but their condition deteriorated." (Actually, they died, which was taken as a sign of a deteriorated condition.)
The garlic leeches were heard to say: "Aaauurrggh." And then "Blub, blub, blub," just before they died.
For ethical reasons the garlic arm was abandoned at this point. (We can only hope this arm was not used for surgery or some other terapeutic activity that would be diminished because of the arm's abandonment.)

The final comment contained these words: The exposure to beer tended to disrupt the leeches' normal behavior and made them erratic.
Although their behavior was somewhat erratic, these leeches did express a certain amount of contentment and a willingness to participate in future experiements involving beer.
We want to thank Ole Helland, Hansa Brewery, Bergen for supplying sufficient amounts of their precious liquid to satisfy the needs of all the participants of the study.
Since I am a man of science myself (I taught biology at a community college in Parkersburg West Virginia to earn money to put myself through graduate school in communication at Ohio University) my critique and commentary of this study will be from a scientific point of view.

Sample selection. How were these particular leeches selected? Randomly? Matched samples based on their propensity to beer? One potato, two potato? The authors give us no information on this important matter.
Description of experimental conditions. What was the condition of the arm on which the leeches were placed? Hairy? Tattooed? A hairy arm could adversely influence the leeches' tendency to bite. Tattoos are mostly just disgusting.
Beverage selection. Why just Guinness stout and Hansa bock? Why weren't American beers and perhaps even microbreweries represented? A biased sampling of brews if ever I saw one. There was no test for "goodness of fit" and no test/retest measure of reliability.
Finally, why did the researchers drink most of the beer intended for the poor leeches? Although there were problems with the experimental design and the execution of the study, my personal commentary as a man of science is - Cool.

Says the Chief Clove: the moral of the story? Next time you plan to wade through a swamp, smear yourself in garlic!

© 2002, 2003 Don Ramon (used with permission). Don has been writing articles for newspapers, magazines, and journals for some 40 years. You can reach him at donjan@lcc.net.

OTHER RECENT RESEARCH NOTES:
Garlic is reputed to ward off a wide range of ailments from heart disease to infections. According to recent research published in China, it may have another benefit - reducing the risk of prostate cancer. Men who consume at least 0.33 ounces per day of foods from the allium group, which includes onions, leeks, shallots and, of course, garlic, dramatically cut their risk of developing prostate cancer. The risk reduction is on the order of 50%.

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!

Garlic "Soul" Beans
This garlic-bean-pepper recipe is richly delicious!
1 cup dried black beans, soaked overnight
1 ancho pepper, halved and seeded
2 bay leaves
1/4 cup white cooking wine
1 large onion, chopped
1 ancho pepper, chopped (you may use green bell pepper as a substitute)
6 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup dry sherry
2 tbsp wine vinegar
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 jalapenos, minced

Cook beans in 6 cups of water along with pepper halves and bay leaves. Simmer until beans are tender, 2 hours or longer. Check beans for liquid during cooking. Sauté in white wine the onion, chopped pepper and garlic until softened. Add sherry, vinegar, cumin and jalapenos. Simmer. When beans are soft, add the sautéed mixture and continue simmering another hour. Remove bay leaves and green pepper halves. Salt and pepper to taste. Serves 6.