Around The Garden Garlic and Peppers, More Pictures and Reminder About Free Seed Share and Lecture.

Dear Folks,

When is garlic not "the" garlic?

When it is Society Garlic or Elephant Garlic (but that is for another post).

The gorgeous orchid-like, lavender flowers of the Society Garlic (Tulbaghia violacea), comes in a plain or striped leaf (I have the striped) variations.  This is a perennial member of the larger Amaryllidaceae family.  The "family" includes onions, garlic, leeks and Amaryllis.

Society Garlic is a strong garlic flavored plant.  The leaves and flowers are used not the roots.  It grows in clumps and should be separated every few years.  It will thrive in dappled shade, but can tolerate more sun.

The name comes from a feature people have reported -- no garlic breadth!  This lovely plant is worth adding to your garden, even if you prefer true garlic.

This spring I got two new-to-me sweet pepper plants from Suzanne Vilardi (of Vilardi Gardens) a very unusual and rare with a very long name Paradicsom Alaku Sarga Szentes Pepper from Hungary.  ("Paradicsom" short name.)

I gave the plants a challenge by planting in one of my large pots with a southern exposure.  They settled down but it took all summer (I planted late) and now are pushing out a lot of fruit.  A "pumpkin" or "scalloped" shape they are meaty and sweet.  I am trying to decide if I will try stuffing them with something or just use in salads and pastas when they are fully ripe.  Most of these are about an inch and half or slightly bigger.  Reportedly they can get up to 3 inches across.

I am trying to establish a larger amount of sweet peppers in various areas of my gardens to give me a more consistent harvest.

Sun/Shade Tips.  While the peppers need the sun and warmth it is clear to me from my plants responses, that they appreciate some afternoon shade.  While they grew well in the middle of the summer, fruit not shielded from the sun by the leaves got sunburn.  This is particularly true for the fatter bells and this Paradicsom because they tend to fruit high on the stems, while my Lipstick/Gypsy peppers are more pendulous and hang below the leaf canopy.

I have prepared the bed where I will plant out my garlic on October 1st.  If you want head garlic in the spring, you need to plant no later than October 31st to ensure all the winter chill/cold necessary to force the garlic to produce clove heads.

It looks like a muddy bog right now and that was intentional.  I dug, sifted a bunch of gravel out of it, it was flooded and leveled.  This particularly area gets flooded for watering, so it is necessary to have it level.

I will plant very close together to have "green garlic" to pull through the winter for cooking.  Green Garlic aka Garlic Scallions is used just like a green onion/scallion - only garlic flavored.  Pulling every other plant during the winter gives me this great green garlic and slowly expands the area for the remaining plants to grow fat clove/filled heads.

Reminder:

Free Seed Share at the Mesa Farmers Market this week.

Free Lecture at the Mesa Urban Garden, MUG, Mesa's public community garden.


-- Catherine, The Herb Lady

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25 Days of Herbs and Celebrations - December 17

Dear Folks,


Celebrating the Multicultural festivities of December, I thought I would pick an herb or spice which is referenced in the Bible (land of three of the Major Religions of the world) and used in many cuisines around the entire world, as a way of gathering together all the wealth of diversity around us - in true celebration.

Day 17

Herb:  Garlic (Allium sativum) Numbers 11:5 “"We remember the fish which we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic,”

Garlic, elephant garlic bulbettes and elephant garlic

Both regular garlic (Allium sativum) and elephant garlic (Allium empeloprasum) are members of the onion family.  Elephant garlic is not actually a "garlic" but rather a Leek on Steroids, and has a milder (some think too mild) garlic flavor.  You can't see the leaves in the picture, but they are 'strappy' like leek and could be used to flavor foods.  In fact, even the stalk and leaves of either plant, which are generally disposed of after harvest, can be used to flavor soup, stews, and broths.

Other “named” garlics are Garlic Chives, aka Asian or Chinese Chives, Allium tuberosum, and Society Garlic, Tulbaghia violacea.  Garlic Chives like onion chives are grown for their leaves and flowers to be used in cooking and has a milder garlic flavor.  Society Garlic is a totally different plant family and is grown for its beautiful orchid like flowers and leaves in cooking.  Society Garlic is said to have the Anti-Garlic affect on your breath.

End of my harvest after "curing."

Garlic is best known for its edible cloves contained in a ‘head’ which have from 6/8 and up to 14 cloves depending on the variety grown.

Garlic has long been known for its health benefits dating back to 2000 BC and Galen eulogized it as the "rustic's theriac" (cure-all) – wikipedia

Garlic has antimicrobial properties and has been suggested for use, and researched in issues like cholesterol, cardiac, cancer and the common cold.

And it makes many foods taste wonderful, which is why the ancient Jews lamented the lack of them in their food!

Planting:

We plant garlic October 1-31^st in the desert garden do ensure enough winter chill to form the heads in April.

But a lesser known type of growth is ‘green garlic’ where the young plant is pulled, similar to an onion scallion and the whole bulb and green tops are used to provide a mild garlic flavor in cooking.

In the desert garden you can plant the cloves now through mid-February, every 2-3 weeks, to provide a continuous crop of Green Garlic to your kitchen.

Recipes:

Herbed Butter

     Herbed butters, so called "compound butters" because they mix herbs and spices with butter and occasionally oil, are an excellent way to add flavor to your holiday cooking.
     All fresh herb butters should be refrigerated and used within 5-7 days.  Can be frozen as a log and sliced and used when needed.

1 stick of softened butter
1 teaspoon of chopped Garlic
1 teaspoon of chopped parsley
1 teaspoon of chopped celery leaves
     Blend well. Spread mixture in a long "tube" on wax paper, roll and store in the refrigerator.  Cut slices for use.
     Uses: use in mashed potatoes or on top of baked potatoes, top steamed vegetables, herb toasted bread, slide chilled slices under the skin of poultry, place a small pat on just grilled steak, or place a small slice in center of crescent roll dough before rolling up and baking.
     A Better Butter can be made my blending (your blender will work better with this than a food processor) equal parts of olive or avocado oil and softened butter, to which the herbs can be added.  This creates a sweeter, spreadable butter mixture.

Roasting Whole Garlic Heads

Most Preferred: Slice off the tippy top of the garlic head to expose just a small part of each clove. Drizzle a bit of olive oil on the cut top.
1) Roast on the grill on indirect heat for approximately 40-45 minutes - squeeze to test (don't burn yourself!) - it should feel softened.
2) Oven: at 400 degrees for 45 minutes.

Second Most Preferred: Separate the clove from the head and do NOT not peel. Toss in along side of any roast you are cooking, or place in a single layer in a pan and oven back at 400 degrees for approximately 25 minutes - squeeze to see if they have softened.

Roasting garlic mellows the flavor, bringing an incredible nutty taste to it. Squeezing the pulp from the skins is the easiest way to express the roasted garlic out. Add to mashed potatoes, spread on toasted bread with or without added tomatoes, basil and cheese, add to salad dressing and sauces.

Freeze in air tight container for long term storage. Refrigerate and use within a week for short term keeping.

 

Music:

Mistletoe and Holly

Frank Sinatra

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WFsr4gRlow

 

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

Bruce Springsteen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYIVYxZOWwo

 




-- Catherine, The Herb Lady

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Disclaimer: Clicking on links on this blog may earn me a small commission if you purchase something. Your price does not change.