Re: Growing medicinal foods and cold prevention

In article <snowshoe-5D3BF8.23224229062008@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
 Jan Flora <snowshoe@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:

> > I was just trying to grow what I bought at the grocery store. I remove

> > the outer covering from a head of garlic and set it in water until it 
> > starts to sprout, then separate the cloves and plant them.  I always
end 
> > up with a mild, onion-looking thing at the base...
> > 
> > And they never bloom.
> > 
> > I have a stand of wild onions and a HUGE patch of garlic chives that 
> > re-plant themselves every year! They do well.
> 
> First off, quit stripping the paper cover and pre-sprouting them. Just 
> plant the individual bulbs. Don't break the clove up into bulbs until 
> you're ready to plant. Use lots of compost. You're in Texas, so you're 
> up to your eyeballs in bull**** down there -- shouldn't be hard to find 
> some good composted cow manure. *smile*

<giggles> True dat!

> 
> Okay, now go read the stuff on Filaree, figure out which "types" will 
> thrive in your climate, then go hit the Seed Savers site and see if they

> sell what you want. They're way cheaper than Filaree. (Not to diss 
> Filaree, but in this economy, we have to be frugal if we aren't rich.) 

Absolootly. Might be fun to try one of the elephant varieties if I can 
get them to grow.

> Seed Savers won't tell you if they're hardnecks, softnecks, etc., so get

> variety names from Filaree and look for them by name at Seed Savers.
> 
> ****pping from Filaree to you guys down there in the small states may be 
> cheap(er). It's expensive as hell to get them to ****p to me in Alaska, 
> but I've done it and their stock is first rate.

It's expensive to ****p anything to Alaska. Are you greenhousing up there?
What about growing indoors?

> 
> Some types of garlic store well (mostly the softnecks that will grow 
> well down south) and some won't. Some are great for braiding into those 
> picturesque garlic braids, which sell like crazy for lots of money at 
> Farmers Markets, if you're so inclined.

Those are widely available south of the border for cheap. I had one for 
years by my front door, the cats finally tore it apart one day. Nearly 
every little shop in Nuevo Laredo has one by the door.

> 
> Different garlic varieties are like different wine varieties. Figure out

> which you like. Some are HOT. Some are mild with a long aftertaste. Some

> are great for roasting. You'll crack up when you read a real garlic 
> nut's descriptions of the flavors.
> 
>    Long live the stinking rose : )

<lol> Indeed!

> 
>    Jan
> 
> PS: If you eat a lot of garlic all winter long, you won't get sick, 
> because people with germs/colds/the flu won't get close enough to breath

> on you and share their germs. Works for me!

I work nights. That helps me avoid a lot of it since there are not 
nearly as many people. Good handwa****ng practices will remove a LOT of 
exposure to the cold virus. Did you know that the majority of flu' and 
cold viruses are passed hand to eye? I learned that in our annual 
infection control inservice. I work in health care. :-)

Thou shalt wash thy hands every time you come home from shopping! It's 
not paranoid to keep a container of hand disinfectant in the car and 
clean the steering wheel from time to time... Doorknobs and telephones 
at work get cleaned nightly.
-- 
Peace! Om

"Human nature seems to be to control other people 
until they put their foot down." -- Stephan Rothstein