... and talks Meadhouse philosophy with me:
This video goes to the max of what YouTube lets you upload: 15 minutes. Why is it so long? To indulge anyone out there who would like to luxuriate in the ambiance of the Meadhouse garden. There's some advice about garlic, dieting, politics, pancakes, etc.
July 10, 2011
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"Law and Garlic"
That can be your legal cooking show!
Althouse: "What's the medicinal benefit of garlic?"
Vampires!
I moved states in the fall, so didn't have my garlic in for the spring. But I tried an experiment in which I started garlic inside in tubs, then when it was about the size it normally gets before the frost, I put it in the freezer, thinking perhaps I might outsmart the garlic and trick it into thinking it was just winter. I planted it before the last frost so it wouldn't know the difference.
It didn't work. The bulbs rotted in the ground and died. So far my only successes in this new climate are potatoes and beets. And herbs, of course. But any retard can grow herbs.
I grew garlic, leeks and french shallots this year in one of the raised beds. You just can't miss with garlic and fresh french shallots are incredible. Plus...bonus...the deer won't eat those plants.
We are making steaks this afternoon with roasted garlic paste. Nom nom nom
That would have been the first vid I ever watched on a smartphone but it failed. This is my first ever Blackberry post, here's hoping it works.
You just can't miss with garlic and fresh french shallots are incredible.
A friend of mine grew shallots this year, and you're right: fresh shallots compared to store-bought are just incredible. He's an amazing cook, too, and I'm going over later for a leg of lamb. Your steaks-with-garlic-paste has already sparked my appetite! nom nom nom indeed.
"Lat. noun ... Opium Scrotum?
Wait ... what? Can you run that by us again?
Excellent video. Never grown garlic, but now I know a little bit more about doing so.
My mom (who was born in 1905), used to say that her mom would tie garlic around the necks of her children. To ward off the devil? To ward off colds?
I never understood how you got the garlic "to hang." And, I assumed you had to stick it in an old sock, first. But now I see that the garlic (like a rose), had a "stem" ... growing along with it.
The things you never notice at the supermarket at all.
I bet you could weave great necklaces, now, with the scrape. Which I had once thought only happened to your knees.)
It's like discovering that milk doesn't come from milk trucks.
Now, what are you gonna do with all that garlic? Don't tell me, that to use it up, you'll put it on ice cream.
I like garlic. But it has its limits.
Great, fun, video, by the way! Meade gets to have a good time while he gardens. In England, this could become the pilot of a TV show.
Okay. I'll shut up.
Very impressed with Meade's erudition.
WRT less is more in foods, onions are another good example. Onions are a good source of vitamin C; in fact, during the Comanche wars, a troop of cavalry on campaign in the Staked Plains was suffering from scurvy and came across a garden left by Chinese miners and devoured the onions to alleviate the scurvy.
As I've said before, you live in a nice place. That view reminds me of my Aunt Claribel's house.
Jason (the commenter) said...
Althouse: "What's the medicinal benefit of garlic?"
I believe garlic is supposed to help with cholesterol.
PS I still refuse to believe you two call each other, "Meade", and, "Althouse" at home.
PPS Ann asks Meade's permission to post videos of him?
Meade serves Ann breakfast (in bed or not)?
You guys are still honeymooning, aren't you?
PPPS Thanks for the weather report.
And pardon me, madam ... but isn't that vegetable garden located in your front yard?
I'm telling you, we're living in lawless times here folks.
I grow a small, red variety of garlic.
Very potent, but small yield in comparison to white garlic.
The red stuff is also difficult to peel.
But, I love the flavor.
I watched a video earlier today on how to field dress big game. It was just offal.
Looks good!
When traveling, and thinking about the food, I tend to divide countries into the "garlic-eating countries" and the non garlic-eating countries.
The garlic-eating counties tend to have better food -- Italy being a prime example.
Not sure the garlic-eating corresponds to politics, though.
Surprisingly, peppers grow very well in my garden at 1100 feet in the Catskills.
I grow jalapenos, Chinese red spear peppers and habaneros. All very potent and tasty.
Is anyone else bothered at all by the sort of "pussy-fication of the American male" that is on abject display in this little vignette here?
I mean ... here we have Meade doing the gardening while his (rich bread-winning government official) wife stands idly by discussing his duty of delivering to her pancakes in bed each morning.
Meade ... dude ... you need to go shoot a deer or something. Have Ann go with you on a hunt and show you ripping out the red bleeding heart and taking a huge bite out of it.
So we know you actually HAVE a fucking penis.
Shouting: interesting that you are at 1100 feet in the Catskill "Mountains" and I am at 1033 feet in Kansas on an inland plateau with no mountain feeling whatsoever. 100 degrees today and tomorrow.
The discussion about eating small portions of intense flavors caused me to crave braised sauerkraut with bacon.
Cool husband!
I think the next video should demonstrate Meade's method for peeling Ann's grapes while she lounges on her chaise.
Would be a nice "how-to."
I think Althouse has a good gig. She films while Meade slaves. What a guy won't do for a pretty blonde and with a brain to boot!
Don't see any vampires hanging around either. I guess the old wives tale is true.
"I think Althouse has a good gig. "
She has a great gig.
We pay her $170,000 a year in taxpayer dollars and she produces useless lawyers who aren't employable.
While Meade peels her grapes.
That, my friends, is a sweet gig.
And Rush says the femi-nazi's didn't win.
Bah!
Is anyone else bothered at all by the sort of "pussy-fication of the American male" that is on abject display in this little vignette here?
Absolutely not.
I garden for pleasure, and because I love the food my garden produces.
I suspect that Meade does just the same. Meade strikes me as a totally old fashioned he man.
He's a stand up guy who believes in right and wrong. He's proven that to me.
You need to pay closer attention to the ways in which he's causing Althouse to change.
My late wife, Myrna, built our garden with 24 inch raised beds. Gardening was just in her blood. She was part Filipino, part Chinese. She taught me some very mysterious things about gardening. Like how plants complement one another.
Allium sativum ophioscorodon
@edutcher, at her standup desk, while she puts up her first morning's post. I serve her so she can serve you all. And by "all," you might ask, "nevadaboob too?"
Yes, nevadabob too.
I used to have problems with gophers and chipmunks taking my root plants.
Myrna introduced me to gopher purge.
The gophers and chipmunks hate the smell and the taste.
Best thing about gopher purge is that it's a perennial. And, God, does it propagate. I have to pull up and throw away dozens of plants, because the damned stuff will take over the garden.
I serve her so she can serve you all.
We are on this earth to serve one another.
"Yes, nevadabob too."
I'm just yanking your penis, dude. So you remember you got one.
Go gut something.
Be a man.
Nice video.
Meade, the tenderhearted, is macho in a non-traditional way. Knowledge over power. Submission as a form of loving dominance. A solid guy, Bob notwithstanding.
Never underestimate people who know the earth and work the soil.
ok I'm gonna watch it.
True, Shouter.
Btw, wanna know who is a lot of fun to watch a Brewers game with? That's right - Ann Althouse. She sees all kinds of things most people miss and she asks excellent questions. Plus, she's cute.
This video goes to the max of what YouTube lets you upload: 15 minutes.
One day my YouTube account messaged Congratulations and said I had some higher limit. I don't remember if there was one or what it was; the longest I've uploaded is 40 minutes though.
It was a spontaneous upgrade, possibly from having a history of uploading videos Pt 1...8 in shorter segments.
I'm just yankin your boobs, bob.
Now go make your woman happy.
Be a man.
Btw, wanna know who is a lot of fun to watch a Brewers game with? That's right - Ann Althouse. She sees all kinds of things most people miss and she asks excellent questions. Plus, she's cute.
That's because she doesn't know shit about baseball. So, she focuses on all the non-baseball stuff.
Myrna was a sports fanatics. She did have a bitch about basketball. She couldn't tolerate the bloused out shorts that MJ introduced to the game. She thought it was very rude for the boys to refuse to show their butts.
OT: My favorite YouTube videos are all produced and directed by rhhardin.
"Submission as a form of loving dominance."
Huh?
OK, I give up.
What the fuck does this newspeak mean?
Are you saying that Meade is bitchslapping Ann by doing her gardening and fetching her breakfast? That this is the new male dominance? Making women dependent on us with our ability to withhold the maple syrup?
This sounds like it came right out of the Women's Studies department at Wisconsin State Gynoversity.
Please ... expound.
Not true, Shouter. She's one of those girls who knows more about baseball than most guys do. Plus she has far better language skills than most guys and she's funny as all get out. Also, she doesn't get all stupid stinking drunk like a lot of guys do.
Irene said...
The discussion about eating small portions of intense flavors caused me to crave braised sauerkraut with bacon.
If it wasn't the discussion, you're pregnant.
nevadabob said...
While Meade peels her grapes.
Lots of guys would love to peel Ann's grapes.
Meade said...
@edutcher, at her standup desk, while she puts up her first morning's post. I serve her so she can serve you all.
Well, thank you for that.
I'm in a similar boat and serve The Blonde supper. By late afternoon, her ankle is hurting enough that I'm the only one mobile.
PS I think your wife is right. You obviously know a lot about food and plants. I think you doing a blog on that would be a good way of sharing your knowledge.
But I do appreciate your reticence. I've been trying to get The Blonde to start a nursing blog (after 43 years in most specialties, she has a lot to share), but she's very tentative about getting up on the electric Internet.
I don't get it, bob.
A husband and wife should submit to one another.
And, Althouse is less of a feminist every day. I can see it slipping away.
She never was a fierce feminist, I don't think. She just took advantage of the apples that fell off the tree.
Can you blame her?
I don't even get a rabid gay activist vibe off Althouse. More loyalty to her son than anything else. She's a doting mommy.
edutcher said, "If it wasn't the discussion, you're pregnant."
That would be the immaculate conception.
Also, she doesn't get all stupid stinking drunk like a lot of guys do.
Well, let's hope there are times when she gets all stupid stinking drunk.
Proper time and place, of course.
I'm one macho SOB. I bend rusty nails with my teeth. I've killed men just to watch them die. And, of course, I ride a ferocious Harley.
Still like to garden and cook. Nothing like having your herb garden a couple dozen yards from your kitchen.
I don't get to cook for large groups so much, now that my daughters aren't at home. I miss that.
I would say a husband and wife need to submit to something higher than themselves.
If Meade were a fish, he would live long and grow large and fat. He is very cautious when rising to the bait.
I would say a husband and wife need to submit to something higher than themselves.
That, too.
"I would say a husband and wife need to submit to something higher than themselves."
Something like Irene's gift. Or at least to her poodles.
Myrna introduced me to gopher purge.
OMG Is that what that is?? We have it all over the place and I just thought it was a sort of nice looking weed and eliminated it from some areas around the roses.
I will give it much more respect from now on.
We are at 3500 feet and our growing season is always shorter than lower elevations. Can barely plant anything outside of a greenhouse until the end of May or mid June. (Temp today in the high 90s and low 100s all week but it cools off to the low 50s at night.)
Gardening is really satisfying and non gender specific. Now that I have time to do more than just keep things alive, it is great fun.
Irene said...
edutcher said, "If it wasn't the discussion, you're pregnant."
That would be the immaculate conception.
Didn't think about that.
My sincerest apologies.
One of my favorite cooking scenes ever in a movie is when the wise guys are cooking tomato sauce in prison in "Good Fellas."
The bit where one guy shows another how to slice garlic really really thin with a razor blade is classic.
So, if Mafia guys can garden and cook (and they do), gardening and cooking are tough guy approved.
No offense taken, edutcher. I thought it was funny. Epecially because I put pickle brine in my sauerkraut!
Meade or Anyone: Funny that this video was posted today. I just got done cutting off the scapes from my garlic patch, and am now wondering what to do with them. I will make a garlic scape pesto tonight to put over pasta, and will try them on a salad, but the question I have is, can I freeze the scapes? Any thoughts?
I have a rather generic question, I hope any of you could answer.
Occasionally I see a comment that says "comment deleted by author." Did the commenter do the deleting or did the blog owner do the deleting?
I ask because I thought Ann was the blog "author" and was doing the deleting. Now, I am not so sure.
"I would say a husband and wife need to submit to something higher than themselves."
God?
Ann gives off the vibe of an athiest. (I really have no idea whether she is religious, but I suspect she is not).
I suspect Ann's "higher power" may be Cleopatra.
"Let them peel me grapes."
(For those of you unfamiliar with humor, may I suggest you take my comments as they are intended ... with tongue firmly in cheek.)
"Did the commenter do the deleting or did the blog owner do the deleting?"
(I believe it's the case that) If it says "comment deleted by author" that means that the person who wrote the comment deleted it (not possible with LiveJournal or other authentication, but possible with Google's spythentication).
Occasionally, Ann will delete some of my more biting commentary. In that case, it will say the comment was deleted by a "blog administrator."
My favorite garlic dish... very simple.
Yellow zucchini sliced and sauteed in olive oil. Couple of tablespoons of very thin sliced garlic added toward the end.
Topped with flat parsley. Salt and pepper. (Good fresh pepper, not that stale store bought crap.)
Irene said...
No offense taken, edutcher. I thought it was funny. Epecially because I put pickle brine in my sauerkraut!
I have a comeback, but I dassent.
And thank you.
"So, if Mafia guys can garden and cook (and they do), gardening and cooking are tough guy approved."
That's funny because ... when I was watchin' Goodfellas I didn't see no goombas delivering no fucking pancakes to no broads.
Capiche?
You get nipped, eh, you might haveta maka the pasta.
Don't do the crime if you can't do the time.
But wiseguys don't deliver pancakes to no dames.
"He[Meade]'s a stand up guy who believes in right and wrong. He's proven that to me."
I second that. Saying Ann has a good gig just means Meade goes for what he wants. May I remind us that only Meade stepped up to ask the Professor out on a date. Doesn't sound pussy to me.
Next....Meade....Chopping Broccoli.
Shouting Thomas:
Your simple recipe - olive oil and sliced garlic in a quick saute is wonderful with numerous vegetables. Done just till tender crisp. Try asparagus spears, cut in thirds on the diagonal this way also. yummo!
@Montana, I don't know about freezing the scapes but if you want to increase your stock, save all those bubils and plant them in Sept-Oct. You can broadcast sow them just like real seed, then dig them up next July. When you plant them the next Sept-Oct., they will grow over the winter into full-sized heads.
Try asparagus spears, cut in thirds on the diagonal this way also. yummo!
I have... but...
Asparagus is not a vegetable. It's a fungus!
Used to garden like crazy, raised beds you could stick a trowel into like butter. Mulch, the whole bit. that was back east. Now in the hot, dry center of the USA it's too unpredictable and too many varmints.
Actually, you're getting it a bit on the early side. I see several scapes not yet upright.
Once harvested, hose it off well to remove most dirt. Bundle by tens with a zip-tie about ten inches up from the bottom, so it won't flip over. Then hang it to cure in a warm, shady place -- we use a bunch of 9-ga wire -- for a couple of months.
Come late September cut off the tops and store the garlic in mesh bags in the basement ... about 60 F. At the beginning of February sort through it, take the best, and refrigerate them, lest they dry out, shrivel, and become generally uninteresting to eat.
The two of us consume about 30 kg of garlic per year, and so we grow a lot of it. Not one of our commercial crops, but definitely a big deal in the garden.
WV: homys ... you can make good homys with your garlic.
Meade
have you had to amend the soil at Meadhouse much?
@Bart Hall, wow, that's a lot of garlic - sounds like about 1 head/day! No bugs on you, bro.
@caplight, it was pretty good soil when I got here but I have added peat moss and leaf mold.
Why are people so ashamed of wearing their gardens in the front?
(That was not a question for Peter)
"Is anyone else bothered at all by the sort of "pussy-fication of the American male" that is on abject display in this little vignette here?''
-----------------------------------
Wrong! Woman like to watch men do man-stuff (Althouse's supposed recording for the blog was a flimsy excuse just for the pleasure of watching Meade). Fixing a car, playing sports, gutting a fish, tilling the soil (see Meade's small scale example above) it's all in the same general category. They may not like the activity itself but they like it that men do it and the men that do it.
Althouse is going to swoon and when Meade guts a deer.
@centralcal, "comment deleted by author" would indicate that the commenter deleted his own comment. AA very rarely deletes even the most outrageous stuff. For the most part - you write it, you own it.
"That's funny because ... when I was watchin' Goodfellas I didn't see no goombas delivering no fucking pancakes to no broads."
That's because most goombas are afraid of girls. Except for their mothers. They live with their mothers. Actually, that's who they are most afraid of.
RE: The statement you pulled up the garlic because it's going to rain, tonight.
Does that mean if you go out. And, take your umbrella. When, you open it, it's no longer a parasol?
Nice video but if I could hear Meade, Althouse was blaring out of the speakers. If the volume was set to suit Althouse, could nor hear Meade.
There is nothing I love more than a man who can show technical competency, as this is an area that is challenging for me. I just love it, and I could watch it for hours on end. Computers, that's ok, but more mechanical (pre-computer) stuff is better, with computers as a side bonus.
Something tells me that though Meade was gardening here, he knows how to operate (and repair) power tools. I hate the noise they make, but I just bet he knows how to operate them that minimizes their noise. I just bet.
(Or not)
Bike commute
Corn
Soybeans
videos
In my case, comment deleted by author often means that some Blogger glitch has posted my comment more than once. Since once is more than enough for many of my comments, I delete the extras.
Since this garlic is now hanging,upside down, indoors. I'd LOVE to see a photograph of that!
6:35 PM. rhhardin:
Corn's not as high as an elephant's eye.
And, I didn't see any cows? I didn't see any soy beans, either.
But at least I know what cows look like.
I got a real kick out of this drunken fucking cunt whining about those two economists who were getting their dicks sucked by Paul Ryan.
Jealous much, Prof. Winebox?
Is anyone else bothered at all by the sort of "pussy-fication of the American male"
Huh? He's working, and with his hands. I know tastes differ, but I enjoy watching my husband--a very, very handy and hands-on guy, including in the gardening department--doing things. It's endearing. And sexy. And useful! And reassuring.
I certainly wouldn't speak for women in general, much less all women. But I will say that I know for a fact that I am far, far, far from alone in my reaction to men who are handy and in enjoying watching them do things.
Corn's not as high as an elephant's eye.
Elephant's eye is Oklahoma.
Ohio would be the 22nd of July.
Carol_Herman said...
RE: The statement you pulled up the garlic because it's going to rain, tonight.
Does that mean if you go out. And, take your umbrella. When, you open it, it's no longer a parasol?
A parasol to my understanding, is different from an umbrella. It's constructed to keep out the sun, as opposed to the rain.
I'm sure the two aren't mutually exclusive, but I don't think the combo is all that common.
Meade wrote: AA very rarely deletes even the most outrageous stuff.
She ought to delete the comment at 6:49. It serves no purpose but to foster hatred.
@Bob
Submission.
There is the comparison between the servant and the bondservant.
The servant submits and is submissive by action and, usually, nature.
The bondservant goes further and does more than what his master requires, thereby showing dominance. "Sure, I'll do what you require of me, but, I'll do more, by my own free will.
Imagine the master's predicament and confusion.
Right, Phil?
"I got a real kick out of this drunken fucking cunt whining about those two economists who were getting their dicks sucked by Paul Ryan."
Well it was rude and stupid to make a scene in a restaurant, and we all know the woman was drunk since she admitted it, but I think calling Assistant Professor Feinberg a "fucking cunt" is a wee bit harsh.
Also, welcome back dave. It's good to see that your long stay in the sanitarium and the Thorazine haven't dampened your special "charm".
Corn is my favorite. But Soybeans is my other favorite. They're both... favorites, so either one is good, but if they have both, I'll watch Corn, because Corn is a little more favorite.
"Nice video but if I could hear Meade, Althouse was blaring out of the speakers. If the volume was set to suit Althouse, could nor hear Meade."
Yeah, because I'm holding the camera. I could have meticulously adjusted the volume each time he spoke. Next time. We were both speaking at the same volume in real life.
"There is nothing I love more than a man who can show technical competency, as this is an area that is challenging for me. I just love it, and I could watch it for hours on end."
Yeah! I love watching Meade do stuff like that (and explain it). As you can probably tell.
"Something tells me that though Meade was gardening here, he knows how to operate (and repair) power tools."
He tends to use hand tools, like a reel mower. We love quiet!
"... I enjoy watching my husband--a very, very handy and hands-on guy, including in the gardening department--doing things. It's endearing. And sexy. And useful! And reassuring."
Damn right! It's a good test: What can he do with his hands?
While you can "luxuriate in the ambiance of the Meadhouse garden" everyone else is going broke from your rational decision-making.
There's a lesson in there somewhere,...
The best soil for garlic is rich in both calcium and sulphur: gypsum is your amendment of choice, about 3 pounds per 100 square feet. Wood ashes aren't bad either, about one quart per 100 square feet in the autumn ahead of the garlic. Other years, don't bother.
Also, hang the garlic the way it grows, with the feet down, not upside-down. It will cure better as the leaves draw excess moisture from the bulbs. This is particularly beneficial when it is harvest a touch on the immature side as Meadhouse's was.
Our pasta sauce usually has three big bulbs of garlic in it, and we often make a roasted-garlic pizza with about six or seven bulbs. Two bulbs in two cups of hummus ... it adds up fast.
Our friends are surprised we don't smell like garlic all the time, but when you consume as much as we do the body seems to process it much more efficiently, especially when cooked or roasted.
Not sure the garlic-eating corresponds to politics, though.
Mr Potter, of "A Wonderful Life", referred to the borrowers from Bailey Brothers bank as "garlic eaters." I suspect that was a New England reference with real bite.
One question. Meade mentions small apples as having better flavor. I bought my house a year ago and the apples trees in front were covered with small apples. This year, no blossoms or apples. We have a couple of feet of snow. I don't know why they didn't bear this year.
He tends to use hand tools, like a reel mower.
The modern reel mowers are a joy to push, but do it with a bit of fraud.
They're designed to lift up over any grass that's too hard to cut, instead of locking up the wheels and sliding like the ancient reel mowers did.
That's okay but it leaves a bunch of uncut grass.
Eventually a lawn like mine consists entirely of hard-to-cut grass. There's some grass with a really fine hair-like blade that a reel mower can't deal with.
So I went to a scythe. Nothing survives a scythe.
If you have a reel mower, you also need screen-door slam noise occasionally to get proper summer sounds.
My garlic is flowering, as I didn't chop off the scapes.
Thank you all for your kind words yesterday re: My Mom. There's no service until her ashes come to Madison, for interment in Forest Hill.
The locally grown naturally grass fed beef and Scottish Loch grown organic salmon are twice the price but taste totally different and satisfy you with half the serving size. Win, win.
Bulbs? Not cloves?
A bulb gets to live forever in my refrigerator. Where I just pull off a clove, or two, at a time.
To "peel" ... I smash the sucker on my wooden cutting board. With the flat end of a cleaver. It sounds dangerous. But it is not.
For a salad, however, I gotta peel the clove, and rub it along the rim of my wooden salad bowl. Which has never been washed. The buildup provides a magnificent bouquet.
Then, of course, the Diamond Kosher Salt is sprinkled carefully over my clean greens. And, the olive oil is just mixed with a splash of vinegar. (Or my favorite. Half a lemon, squirted.)
The Crack Emcee said...
While you can "luxuriate in the ambiance of the Meadhouse garden" everyone else is going broke from your rational decision-making.
There's a lesson in there somewhere,...
Good one, Crack. The link is a killer.
My compliments.
Tradguy......grass fed beef, and from a cow who gets to roam around, is wayyyyy better than Nebreaska fed lot meat.
"Fixing a car, playing sports, gutting a fish, tilling the soil (see Meade's small scale example above) it's all in the same general category."
Sorry, but "harvesting garlic" and "fetching pancakes for the princess so she can solicit Amazon handouts" are not in the same general man-category with "transmission replacement" and "hunting big game."
While those may be worthy pursuits in their own right, they're just not the same thing, sweetie.
Garlic (and onions and other members of the genus Allium) are sort of like those chemical glow-sticks that light up when you break an internal ampule full of one material which in turn reacts with another material in the stick. The compound most associated with the smell of garlic, allicin, doesn't actually exist in undamaged bulb. But when tissue damage occurs (such as crushing, slicing, chopping &c) an enzyme (alliinase) catalyzes a bunch of reactions, most importantly with a sulfoxide (alliin) that is also present in the plant tissue, producing allicin, which is a pungent sulfur compound. This is why whole roasted or cooked garlic bulbs aren't particularly garlicky tasting or smelling, since the cells aren't damaged and therefore allicin and the other alliinase-catalyzed reaction products aren't produced. Allicin breaks down at something like 75 degrees fahrenheit after a while, which is why you want to peel and use only fresh garlic, and forsake those horrid pre-peeled cloves and worse, pre-crushed garlic in a jar.
This, beautifully, is the Allium-genus plant's way of defending itself against consumption by animals. Unfortunately for the alluim, and unusually among animals, we humans actually like doses of this pungent material that makes our eyes water and our tongues burn and our breath (and bodies) stink (allyl methyl sulfide, a gas which is produced when we metabolize garlic, is absorbed into our blood and travels to our lungs and skin pores where it causes us to stink).
There's always a lot of talk about the health benefits of eating garlic. As a major consumer of garlic, I'm sure benefits exist. Unfortunately the one people most often talk about, the effect of oral consumption of allicin on blood cholesterol, doesn't seem to be true. Studies showed that consumption of garlic didn't seem to help lower cholesterol. I say eat it because it tastes good, and if there are health benefits as a side effect, great. Allicin is a fairly potent antibacterial agent, so it might have that going for it if you cut yourself and have nothing to rub on the wound besides a clove of garlic. You can also use garlic juice to glue china back together....
As a part-time perfumer, it's interesting to note that sulfur compounds are present in quite a few things that you'd never think of as smelling sulfurous, such as a lot of tropical fruit odors and grapefruit. The problem is that if you try to reproduce the lovely smell of tropical fruits or grapefruit in a fragrance, it's very difficult and even when it works it only lasts minutes on the skin. Put in a proper amount of sulfurous material and you end up with garlic perfume, put in a discreet amount and you end up with something that smells pleasant but not like a mango or passionfruit.
Have I told the story of when my son was still in diapers, and we roasted a chicken with 20 or 30 cloves, and discovered he liked the roasted garlic, and fed him at least a dozen cloves?
Oh how he smelled the next two days. And his diapers! Yikes!
Absolutely agree about small fruits being more flavorful. The subject of apples is one of my favorite lamentations. Supermarket apples, for the most part, are varieties bred for their size and appearance, and I believe are responsible for many people's indifference toward apples. I was never a lover of apples until I tasted, years ago, some very old cultivars. It's like a revelation biting into one of these apples; you finally realize what all the fuss was about. If you have a chance to try some older, smaller, (and often uglier) cultivars, jump at it. My favorite eating apples are Esopus Spitzenberg, Newtown Pippins and Cox's Orange Pippins. Wonderful, complicated flavors. And if you're into apples for cooking, there are some really amazing ones, such as Calville Blanc d'hiver, which is absolutely great for apple tarts and other desserts when you want the apple to hold its shape and also taste beautifully, and Blenheim Orange, which also has a wonderful flavor.
Also, try making apple desserts without cinnamon. I think the flavor of good apple is ruined by the over-application (apple-ication?) of cinnamon. I prefer cinnamon in a savory context.
This discussion of small fruits and vegetables being tastier also applies in a weird way to natural materials used in perfumery. Often the materials with the highest and finest odorous principles are grown at the very edge of their climatic range. For instance, the best rose oil and absolute comes from Bulgaria, from roses (Rosa × damascena, if you care) grown at high altitudes and rather chilly, moderate temperatures. The same goes for lavender; the best oil is usually from plants grown at high altitudes and cold temperatures. Maybe it has something to do with the idea of the plant conserving resources and concentrating its essences in the face of less-than-hospitable climate.
I forgot another favorite apple: Ashmead's Kernel. Hmmm, Ashmeade's Kernel...
You kid me not, Palladian. And, just to be sure you weren't pulling my leg I Googled Ashmead's Kernel. Which is an apple (a variety that's more than 200 years old). And, may taste like pear.
Pears are my favorite, when they're good. Or they just taste like rocks.
Thanks for the lesson.
And, even the play on Meade's name.
Wow. This blog has so many things about it that remain a wonderous assortment of photographs. And, comments.
Now, I want to try an Ashmead's kernel apple. There's a picture of it, too, that I saw. Green underneath ... but covered in russet. Like a Golden. Sounds so YUM.
I read a story once, about Abraham Lincoln. It said he never bit into an apple in the middle, as must of us do. Instead he started from the bottom. He ate it all.
And, I'm sure they were small apples, too! Because if you were going on horseback all day ... you'd want an apple that you could keep in a knapsack. Or one you could just pluck off a tree.
I wonder what seed Johnny Appleseed tossed about?
The Ashmead's Kernel seems to have been very special.
And, I also always thought you'd only use green apples in a pie.
Michael K, at 7:46 PM. Didn't JK Rowling have a bit about "garlic eaters" in her story? It didn't make sense to me then. But it does now.
I wonder what seed Johnny Appleseed tossed about?
Liquor, Carol, liquor.
Yes, Crack Emcee. I'll second it.
Your 7;43 PM link to "everyone else is going broke" ...
is SPECTACULAR!
And, you know what got to me? I didn't grow all that much older since 2008. Yet, Obama has aged ten years. Minimum.
What does this job do to people that brings on aging like that?
Can't speak for others, but I've been well pleased for a lifetime now with the garlic bulbs I buy at my local supermarket. Frankly, there was never a day that I declared that garlic responsible for a bad tasting dish.
reader_jam? You can't fool me!
Johnny Appleseed threw apple seeds! He didn't spray anything from a liquor bottle! And, he didn't spray it from his penis, either.
I just thought what grew up were red apples.
Then, I learned the supermarkets were spraying the red ones with wax. And, I shunned them.
"This year, no blossoms or apples." said Michael K.
Two possibilities: either a late frost killed the flower buds, or your apples are of the variety that tends to be biennial -- only flowering and fruiting every two years.
Apples are very hard to grow most places. Frequent spraying is needed to keep away the pests and diseases. Pears, on the other hand, are dead easy.
I've seen better posts from Crack. Not so sure that using quotes from the Chicago Sun provided by special interest, government subsidized, minority groups is tantamount to anything more than self-serving statistics, as presented.
Then Crack refried those "potatoes" to suit his own "tastes", shall we say?
Let's ALL of us take a shot at that in my next comment down.
I cut out some things to shorten this up...but here's the crux...
"In 2004, the median net worth of white households was $134,280, compared with $13,450 for black households, according to an analysis of Federal Reserve data by the Economic Policy Institute. By 2009, the median net worth for white households had fallen 24 percent to $97,860; the median net worth for black households had fallen 83 percent to $2,170, according to the institute."
Care to add your own "herbal spin" to the above?
OK, net worth is ASSETS minus LIABILITIES.
All that you OWN minus all that you OWE.
Penny, which "white" households were they measuring. The one with the first wife? Or the family formed with the second?
If you then "blend in" your numbers, you'd show a down draft.
Besides. When testing for these numbers ... it's like fishing.
You're saying there's no variance between any spot where you throw your line. All rods are the same. And, if fish don't bite your apt to be a white person. Rather than some poor black ... sitting on a stump ... and maybe, even using white bread as bait, to catch catfish.
I never trust numbers like this.
I don't even care if it would help me learn to do math better. It just leaves me with a big, huge, "so what."
I thought JK Rowling did spectular stuff with "cruxes."
Let me add my "parsley".
Given the terrible savings rate of nearly all Americans, my parsley is that much of the difference in the above statistics comes from Boomers having paid off mortgages, and that no matter how much their home values have gone down, their original commitment to both saving for, what was back then, a sizable down payment, plus their commitment to working hard after that to pay off that monthly debt, has, in the end, not only been THEIR saving grace, but the saving grace for our country.
"I never trust numbers like this."
So? You only trust numbers like that?
Carol Herman ^ ?
OK, so now I am going to add some "marjoram".
In addition to my paid off house, I have a 401k retirement savings plan. It goes up and then down and lord knows where it will end...
BUT it's mine...all the way UP and all the way DOWN to zero.
So...Just wondering?
Is a public worker's guaranteed pension their ASSET?
Heck, I don't know, but if I had to make a guess, I'd say NO.
Think about it. It really isn't their money.
BUT, it isn't their debt either?
So whose debt is it then???
Please don't answer that last question..."mint" will be here soon enough. ;)
You know what's weird?
All of a sudden I feel like I am "fighting" other WORKERS. Other gardeners. Tillers of the soil.
And that makes no sense at all.
"And that makes no sense at all."
Excellent tutorial, Palladian. Thanks.
@Bart Hall, have you grown any of the Porcelain varieties of Ophio? I've grown 'Melody' and 'Italian' and I got very good results. Any others you would recommend?
@caplight, I'm glad you asked about soil amendments because I want to encourage anyone thinking about growing their own garlic, especially in urban or suburban soils, to begin by having the soil tested for heavy metals such as lead. Alliums have a powerful ability to absorb metals from soils. That's great for taking up micronutrients in clay soils that have been unlocked by humic acids. But if heavy metals have accumulated in your soil, those too will be taken up and translocated throughout your garlic plants, making them unfit to eat. So I recommend calling your county ag extension service and asking how you can have your soil tested. In Wisconsin, go HERE.
reader_jam? You can't fool me!
Johnny Appleseed threw apple seeds! ...
Carol: Not all apple seeds are created alike, any more than all apples are, much less the uses to which the various types are/were put.
wv: parta
Sometimes one needs to needs to acknowledge that certain histories are parta mythology. ; )
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