Garlic (Allium Sativum)

Garlic It’s easy to grow, hardy, and not usually attacked by pests or diseases. In warm to mild climates it can be grown all year, unfortunately though, our Canadian winters don’t allow for such warmth and so we can trick these little cloves by planting them inside!

Start off with a Canadian grown organic head of garlic. You can choose to refrigerate your garlic for a few weeks prior to planting or placing the potted garlic in the fridge later on, whichever works best for you (I refrigerate mine prior so that the dormant period for proper growth has already occurred). Separate each clove, trying carefully not to peel the skin from each one. 

In your chosen pot filled with nutrient-rich soil, dig a small hole about 3-4 inches down for each clove and place the cloves in each hole with the pointy end facing up. Garlic does well in an acidic soil pH so if you have any leftover coffee grounds sprinkle a handful across the top to help with growth and then cover the cloves with soil. Leave in a sunny place and water every other day to avoid root rot.

Your garlic sprouts will push through usually within a few days (this is when you should store refrigerate, shortly after they sprout, if you didn't prior to planting) and will grow high green stalks which will eventually form beautiful flowers at the tippy top, however, if you want large garlic bulbs it’s best to cut off the stalks before they flower so as to ensure all of the energy goes into bulb growth. These stalks, or garlic scapes as they are more commonly known as, can be used as a garlicky addition to many culinary dishes in the meantime. 

When the leaves at the base of the stalks (I like to have at least 4-5 left at this point) have yellowed and dried, it’s harvesting time - this could take 8-10 months. From what I've seen in harvesting garlic, the number of green leaves remaining at time of harvest equal the number of intact wrappers surrounding the head. A few weeks prior to harvesting reduce the amount of water given, then dig up your bulbs.

Leave your fresh picked & washed garlic laying out in a warm, dry environment for a week or two so they develop several 'wrappers' of dry material around them. Store them in a mesh bag to keep for months, replant and/ or enjoy them right away.

Cooking with garlic

Crush or cut the garlic, then leave for 10 minutes to allow the allicin to fully develop before adding to recipes. Add the garlic about five minutes before the end of cooking - this way you apply just enough heat to convert the allicin into medically active compounds.

• Purée fresh garlic, canned garbanzo beans, tahini, olive oil, pinch of salt and lemon juice all together to make quick and easy hummus dip.
• Sauté steamed spinach, garlic, pinch of salt and fresh lemon juice.
• Purée roasted garlic, cooked potatoes and olive oil together to make delicious garlic mashed potatoes. Season to taste.

Fresh garlic has many useful properties such as:

• Antibiotic (anti-bacterial) 
• Anti-viral
• Fungicide
• Blood thinner. Use it to treat high blood pressure, lower cholesterol, dissolve blood clots, help prevent heart attacks and strokes 
• Expectorant, good for bronchial and pulmonary secretions
• Immune stimulant
• Cardiovascular health. A number of studies have found that garlic reduced the accumulation of cholesterol on the vascular walls 
• Sulphur source
• Reduces platelet aggregation 
• Gastric stimulant. Helps with digestion, acts as an anti-flatulent, carminative and diaphoretic

Happy Healthy Harvesting from our family to yours, 

Sherri.

The Slow Poison

What if someone were to tell you that a chemical (MSG) added to food could cause brain damage in your children, and that this chemical could effect how your children's nervous systems formed during development so that in later years they may have learning or emotional difficulties?

What if there was scientific evidence that these chemicals could permanently damage a critical part of the brain known to control hormones so that later in life your child might have endocrine problems? How would you feel?

Suppose evidence was presented to you strongly suggesting that the artificial sweetener in your diet soft drink may cause brain tumors to develop, and that the number of brain tumors reported since the introduction of this widespread introduction of this artificial sweetener has risen dramatically? Would that affect your decision to drink these products and especially to allow your children to drink them? What if you could be shown overwhelming evidence that one of the main ingredients in this sweetener (aspartame) could cause the same brain lesions as MSG? Would that affect your buying decisions?

And finally, what if it could be demonstrated that all of these types of chemicals, called excitotoxins, could possibly aggravate or even precipitate many of today's epidemic neurodegenerative brain diseases such as Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, ALS, and Alzheimer's disease? Would you be concerned if you knew that these excitotoxin food additives are a particular risk if you have diabetes, or have ever had a stroke, brain injury, brain tumor, seizure, or have suffered from hypertension, meningitis, or viral encephalitis?

Would you also be upset to learn that many of the brain lesions caused by these products in your children are irreversible and can result from a SINGLE exposure of these products in sufficient concentration?

How would you feel when you learn the food industry hides and disguises these excitotoxin additives (MSG and Aspartame) so they can't be recognized? Incredulous? Enraged? The fact is many foods are labeled as having "No MSG" but in fact not only contain MSG but also are laced with other excitotoxins of equal potency and danger.

All of the above are true. And all of these well known brain toxins are poured into our food and drink by the thousands of tons to boost sales. These additives have NO OTHER purpose other than to enhance the TASTE of food and the SWEETNESS of various diet products.

I don't know about you, but I feel as though I am now forced to box myself in and start from scratch... *sigh*

Hidden Sources Of MSG In Foods From the book
'Excitotoxins- The Taste That Kills'
By Dr. Russell Blaylock, MD