Single Clove Garlic, A Growing Experiment

Single Clove Garlic
Single clove garlic has appeared in the shops of late, all the way from China, it looks great, taste good, you can roast it whole in it's skin and scoop it out to eat with a teaspoon, or slice into coin sized discs and fry crisp, a pure delight.

To Grow your own you need 'Bulbils'

If you want to grow your own it's going to take you two seasons as

far as I can work out from my research on-line.

Getting 'Bulbils'

It's not that hard, plant some extra garlic now, let it grow, don't remove the scape/the flower head that forms, as one normally would do to force growth energy into the bulb, instead leave this to grow and let the flower-head fully develop, you'll notice that it's made up of tiny cloves or 'Bubils' let the plant run the season and yellow out. At this stage cut the flower head and store the 'Bulbils' in a dry place. Harvest the bulb as normal or leave it in the ground where it'll produce garlic grass for you to enjoy in Spring

Nb. If you leave the garlic bulb in the ground over winter by Spring it will grow flat leaves like Grass this may be handy for those of you that don't have 'Wild Garlic' naturally growing in your area, like on a rooftop in Manhattan.

What to do with the 'Bulbils'
Plant them as you normally would in November and leave them

to grow as one would, and single clove garlics will/should be produced.

I came across references to growing single cloves while researching availability of 'Wild Garlic' in the Philadelphia area in March for a demo I was doing there at the International Flower Show. Luckily I was neglectful of some garlic last year and out of curiosity I kept the little tiny garlic cloves' or 'Bulbils' as I now know them to be and have them planted. I have the ' Garlic Grass' growing,stage one is complete! See below for updates.

RESULTS IN!

July 16th 2012.

I planted a few bulbs of shop bought garlic in a patch on the allotment early April, not the normal recommended planting time, one would usually plant October -November for the next seasons crop. I paid no particular attention to them and let nature take it's course, the weather has been terrible in many senses this year mainly wet and the slugs rampant, by early July the tops had disappeared and I thought I'd lost the garlic to white rot or something. At the weekend I proceeded to dig the ground over to make way for a sowing of lettuce and was delighted to find though the tops were gone there was garlic there and that most of it was single bulb, a result, true, though not by by my proposed method. Most of it is small only a couple of them making size of the store bought grade, but then they always use standardised selections for sale.Some of the bulbs had started to divide into cloves also suggesting a randomness in growth stage has something to do with getting a crop of single bulbs. Indeed the single bulbs for sale in the shops maybe a bi-product as opposed to being a specific target crop. Approximately 85% of the the harvest were single cloves. So for a crop of single bulbs the easy thing to do at the moment it seems is to wait until late March /early April ,buy a couple of regular bulbs from any greengrocer and plant them and crop them in July.

Single clove garlic grown 2012 in Ireland, not a lot, not massive but a result and they

taste fantastic! Fresh Irish Single Clove Garlic.

Nb.I'm Still waiting for results from the ' bulbils' I planted and currently letting my one of my Elephant garlics go to flower in anticipation that the 'Bulbils' method works as Elephant garlic cloves are expensive to buy. .

9-5 Thesis, Be a Food Protester!

''I'm all lost in the supermarket,
I can no longer shop happily,
I came in for that special offer,
A guaranteed personality"
 The Clash - Lost in the Supermarket.

I always liked these opening lines, and find them a good way to sum up the way we've been sold our eating style since the 'ad-men' had us forsaking the 'Larder' rolling in the 'White Goods', leading us down  aisles of the multinationals prepackaged flavour .Tradition was dismissed, the Future portrayed instant satisfaction and
sophistication, all blah blah blah that resulted in bland food, bad for us.

Be a Food Protester!
Easter's always a good time for a new start, think about where your food comes from.Check your fridge,store cupboard and shopping list. Look around you,check out what local products there are available on your high street or farmers market.

Shop Locally
Try at least once a week to eat a meal that is comprised of as much local produce as you can get. It doesn't have to be Organic or Free-range, if you can put a name, face or place to your food the experience will be enhanced. Eating a smaller portion of  good quality food prepared at home is better for you than over indulging and consuming a larger portion of mass produced precooked product.

Guaranteed Freshness
Provide something for yourself, if you don't have a garden or if there isn't a community project in your area grow some herbs in a pot or window box.Take a stroll and pick some wild food, nettles are in season at the moment and make a good healthy soup.If you haven't baked in a while or have never baked try something simple first, like scones or soda-bread. Even baking once a month will help create a food memory for those that share your table, that's important.

Most of all think about where your food comes from and what happens to it along the way before you value it and make a purchase.

errata slip/note;  re the Horse meat Scandal  of 2013, a direct result of globalisation.

Join Jamie's Food Revolution Today:
http://www.jamieoliver.com/foundation/jamies-food-revolution/petition.php

Also, closer to home check out Slow Food Ireland at:
http://www.slowfoodireland.com/

Blackthorn Blossom, Tastes like Almonds?

Blackthorn bushes have many uses, the flowers that taste like almond are used by some for a syrup, leaves that are edible as salad or used for tea, the tight frame work of branches with thorns that make a good impenetrable hedge for livestock and in autumn they are prized for the Sloes.
There's strong medicinal properties attached to the all parts of the blackthorn, so do some more research before you decide to use the leaves or flowers.
My first impression of the Blackthorn was its use and value as a walking stick, my father made a couple of these some years ago whilst tidying up some hedgerows, not every bush will provide the necessary spec's for a good stick and the eye of the maker comes into play, my father had a good eye for such things and the craft in his hands to turn them into good sticks, each with their own personality.

Blackthorns flower from late winter until early summer depending on location. This Is a good time to seek the out and plan your 'Sloe harvest'.
Take a walk along the road and look for the Blackthorns white flowers in the hedgerows.Once you find them, if you wish pick a handful or two for syrup, moderation is the key.
To be honest I would place more value on leaving the flowers to develop into fruit, the almond taste mildly survives the syrup process. The novelty factor is there but as is often the case with wild edibles they have an astringent or bitter taste that needs to be tempered with honey or sugar.
I've included a recipe, should you desire to make it. I will be waiting for the sloes, besides the Elderflowers are appearing now and they really do make a great syrup.

Recipe.
275ml/ 1/2pt Water cold
220 gms 8oz Blackthorn blossoms
200 gms Sugar

Method
Place the blossoms in a saucepan with the water and bring to the boil, then drain the lquid through a sieve into a large bowl or jug.
Return the water to the pot add the sugar and bring to the boil.
Pour into a jar or bottle seal and keep for later use.