part 3 – Garlic, Garlic Chives, Ginger
GARLIC
– plant every fall for mid summer harvest.
Garlic is a staple in the kitchen of course but there many other benefits that earn it an honoured place in every herb garden. The bulbs grown in your backyard garden may be smaller, but stronger, hotter and in every way more potent than the ones you buy in the grocery store. Use them in homemade salad dressings, pasta sauces, soups and in every other dish you might normally add onions to. Garlic and onions are best friends in any dish.
But medicinally, the key phytochemical in garlic is allicin which has antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, antiseptic and antioxidant properties. It can also be anti-social. LOL
I know, it seems too good to be true, but after a lifetime of using it, I am convinced it really is the super food it boasts about being with all of these properties. The thing to remember is that allicin is most potent when the garlic is consumed raw, and while some people swallow the clove whole, there is evidence to indicate that the allicin is best released when the fresh clove is chewed or crushed. But who wants to chew a clove of garlic right? (see below) Mincing the garlic and putting it into a salad dressing is a great way to eat it. The longer you wait the stronger it gets so you might want to eat it right away before it over powers the dressing.
Heart health:
garlic reduces the risk of heart attack or stroke because it improves blood circulation and lowers harmful cholesterol. Studies have shown that garlic helps reduce blood pressure allowing blood to flow more freely,
Arthritis:
Studies have shown that because of its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, garlic reduces the pain and inflammation associated with rheumatoid arthritis.
Boost to Immunity:
Garlic’s biggest benefit in my opinion is its ability to enhance natural immunity through its antibacterial, antimicrobial, antiviral and antifungal properties. It is a surprisingly good source of Vitamins C and B, as well as the minerals selenium and manganese – all of which strengthen the body’s defense mechanism in fighting infections.
Garlic is an excellent treatment – reducing the severity and shortening the duration of common colds, flues and other viruses, as well as chronic respiratory conditions. Again it is the compound allicin that is responsible for this antiviral action.
Fungal infections:
Garlic’s powerful antifungal properties make is an effective agent against fungal infections such as ringworm and athlete’s foot, and yeast infections such as thrush.
The answer of course is to include raw garlic in your diet. But we all know that garlic has a powerful taste and cannot always be eaten fresh, no matter how much I desire these health benefits. Especially when it should be eaten raw and ‘chewed’ or crushed to best release the allicin.
When my kids were young and more trusting, I could entice them to chew a clove of garlic when they were suffering with a cold. I would crush it and put it on a small piece of bread with peanut butter and honey, and sit beside them with a glass of apple juice to help wash it down. But when they got bigger, it was not so easy to talk them into this course of action. I couldn’t blame them. We use it as much as we can in our diets, but it is not that easy. In the case of garlic, I recommend using garlic oil (made from crushed cloves in olive oil), oil of garlic (essential oil), and high quality garlic supplements that you can buy in the health food store. Normally, I’m all about using what I grow in the garden exclusively, but sometimes garlic needs a helping hand, simply because it is so anti-social.
growing
Growing your own garlic is well worth the effort.
A good time to plant in the Edmonton area is late September or early October. For mid season harvesting, you want them to have time to establish the beginning of a root system before winter, but not enough to sprout. I’ve also planted garlic in the early spring for harvest at the end of the season.
After your first year you can plant next year’s garlic with this year’s bulbs, but to start with, buy from a local garden centre instead of planting the garlic you buy in grocery stores. Select the largest bulbs with the plumpest cloves you can find. Make sure they are firm and clean looking, without any signs of mould or fungus. Break the garlic bulb into cloves. Do not peel them. Each clove will grow into a bulb by the next year but it needs that protective papery covering.
Choose a sunny part of your garden with well-drained soil. Mark the area so you remember where the cloves are next spring. Don’t crowd them. Plant the cloves about 6 inches apart and about 2 inches deep, sprinkling a little bone-meal into each hole as you go. Because you’re going to leave them for the winter, spread about 3 inches of nice clean, organic mulch over the area, chopped up leaves, wood shavings, straw, – to help insulate.
First thing in the spring, gently move the mulch over. You’ll soon see the tender green sprouts. Let nature take care of them, watering when necessary. Remember they don’t like a soggy spot, they need the soil to be well drained. Mid growing season the plant will develop curly tendrils of greenery that come up from the stalk. This is the plant wanting to flower and go to seed. Snip it.
harvesting
When the stalks start to die back, about the beginning of August, you know its almost time to harvest. Give it a week or so, then gently remove one plant to test. Its tempting to pull, but dig so you don’t risk breaking the stalk off. Garlic is ready when it looks like you think it should. Too early and the protective papery wrapping will be thin or non existent. In that case give it another week. When ready, gently dig them all with a fork and lay in a box out of the sun and rain for a couple of weeks to dry out. I like to braid them into a hanging, but you can also cut the stalks off at this point and store for winter.
* GARLIC CHIVES
– wonderful flat chives with more than a hint of garlic in the flavour. Like chives, its root base is a clump of ‘bulbs’. You can cut a handfull just like regular chives to use in the kitchen, and just like chives its root base is a clump of ‘bulbs’. This is super convenient when you want a stronger garlic taste for your dish. Pull up a few stocks from the base to gently separate some bulbs from the rest of the plant. Presto! Garlic bulbs. I have no idea if any of the medicinal properties of garlic are replicated, but the taste sure is. It is the perfect answer for midseason garlic while I’m waiting for my other garlic to ripen.
GINGER
Ginger – nearly everyone can identify its flavour in baking, which is where it is most often used in North American and European kitchens. But the last few years have opened up a whole lotta versatility as we adopt it as a savoury seasoning, not just for desserts. This is very good news.
Ginger can be used fresh, dried, powdered, candied, juiced or even as an oil. Fresh Ginger root is readily available in the produce department of most grocery stores and is so easy to use. It deserves a place in your kitchen. You jut need to discover why, and then make friends with it.
Ginger ale, Gingerbread, Ginger Molasses Cookies, Pumpkin Pies, pretty much any pumpkin dessert . . . Those are the ways we’re most familiar with, but open your mind, and make room for ginger. You’re about to fall in love.
Did you know it also has great health benefits? Ginger is often used to calm an upset stomach, indigestion, motion sickness and other forms of nausea including morning sickness! It stimulates digestive enzymes which is helpful in enhancing digestion, and relieving heartburn and indigestion. It’s an absolute must-have in the kitchen for those times that nothing else is working.
Make yourself a soothing cup of fresh ginger tea by simply steeping a few slices in boiling water. How many slices? Well, that depends on how strong you like it. Start with one or two, and go from there. Chill it as a refreshing cold drink on a warm summer day. Drink it hot in your favourite mug on those cold winter days.
Grate it up to add to a salad dressing, a homemade teriyaki sauce, a curry recipe, or your favourite stir fried vegetables.
Yes, you can buy a bottle of ginger powder from the grocery store, but when you find out how easy it is to dry and powder your own, you’ll never go back to store bought powder again.
growing:
Not so easy to grow ginger in Alberta, but in the spring of 2020, I planted three pots of ginger root just for fun. I chose ginger roots with visible nodules and cut the root to ensure each piece had a few on it. I planted shallowly in a soil, just enough to cover, and kept them in sunny locations on my patio. I nurtured them along, and brought them into the house for the winter. The next spring I brought it back outside, but half way through the season, I kinda got tired of the plant which was interesting enough looking (a couple of tall spears), but not very spectacular. I decided to dig them up, but when I did, I saw that the root was significantly bigger than when I first planted it, so I put it back into the soil and took care of it. Eventually, I dug it up and used it. I was pretty happy to do so, but as fun as the experiment was, we are still dependent on store purchased ginger root in this country.
using:
Ginger honey:
I recently discovered something lovely. Ginger honey. It seemed like such a natural combination – good tasting, as well as a good way of benefitting from the wonderfulness of ginger. I made my very first batch this week and am anxious to taste it in the coming weeks as the ginger has a chance to infuse throughout the honey.
I began with one pint of honey and one tablespoon of home ground ginger powder. It seemed like a lot of ginger, but when I mixed it all in, the taste was surprisingly mild. I think to get the maximum benefit, I’ll probably add more ginger later (stay tuned for update if I do), but I’m gonna give it two weeks before I decide to do that. The reason I chose ginger powder as opposed to fresh ginger root, is shelf life. It stands to reason to me that fresh ginger being moist, it might eventually go bad, and I should probably refrigerate it. I might surprise myself to find out that the honey actually preserves the ginger . . . but then for how long? I just decided to be safe and go with powder for now.
I have creamy honey. I also have fairly solid honey. And I have liquid honey which is very old, given to me from my dad who has long since passed away. I chose to use the liquid because its easier to mix up. If you used a more solid form, I think you’d want to slowly heat it over boiling water to get it to the point that you could actually stir the ginger into it. Personally, I wouldn’t melt it in the microwave. Yes, its quicker and easier, but I think I’d choose a more gentle way of melting it – to keep ‘goodness’ the prime focus. I also chose to use a wide mouth jar, just to make stirring it up easier.
ingredients:
2 cups honey
1 tablespoon (3 teaspoons) ginger powder
directions:
Pour honey into a clean dry glass pint jar – half full. Add 2 teaspoons ginger powder and stir with the blade of a table knife or a chop stick. When fully infused, pour a little more honey into the jar and add another teaspoon of ginger. Stir again to fully emulsify. Top up with honey and stir once more to blend completely.
Put the lid on, label with date and set aside for two weeks.
Enjoy in every way you would use honey: on toast in the morning, in a cup of herbal tea, whatever.
Ginger Tea:
1. Pour hot water over a small slice of fresh ginger in a cup and let it steep 5 minutes. Add a little lemon juice just before drinking if you like.
2. In the absence of fresh ginger, add a small amount of powdered ginger to hot water with lemon juice.
Ginger water:
Add a few slices fresh ginger to a jug of water and leave to steep in the fridge. Sip throughout the day.
Ginger Lemonade:
Prepare your favourite lemonade recipe (using fresh lemons of course), and add grated fresh ginger. Let steep at least ten minutes before serving.
. . . . . more to come on ginger
. . . . .
Tell me about your experiences with these herbs. I’d love to learn from you too.
warmly,
Cindy Suelzle