GARLIC By Barbara Babcock DBA: Tailgate Garlic, Thoreau, New Mexico
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“Potter-head” author, JK Rowling, has written: “We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.” If GARLIC could read, and perhaps it does, this statement might be its personal green mantra. As a personal garlic convert, I still do believe that garlic, a member of the lily family, contains magic. And according to myth and legend, others have believed the same for thousands of years. Consider the history of thwarting vampires; thieves during the Great Plague, with garlic necklaces escaped death; and hung over the door of newlyweds, forecasted blissful togetherness. Not content to influence mere mortals, planted at the roots of a rosebush, it causes aphid-demise,
30 June 2020
and mites mysteriously disappear. Six dried garlic bulbs were even found in King Tuts tomb, nothing like having the power to influence the afterlife. My mother was the first to bring garlic into my life, by telling me that I wouldn’t like it. Her prediction clung to me until I moved out of her house. As I learned to cook for myself, I relied on dried garlic powder, and then moved on to garlic salt. I have no memory of my own first garlic bulb encounter—after all the dry forms certainly saved time and effort. I had yet to learn that taste is as unique as one’s self and I had a lot of exploring to do. Garlic is a plant that makes the world a more flavorful place. The bulb is rich in minerals, especially sulfur compounds. It also contains potassium, calcium, phosphorus, iron, riboflavin, and vitamin C. It is low in sodium and free of fat. It has been used as currency among the Roman legions and fueled the pyramid builders of ancient
