Buried Treasure in Your Garden Unlike regular garlic or onions, elephant garlic produces little "seeds" underground, near the bulbs. Sifting for them, and then selling them, is a way that kids can earn a little pocket money.
One bulb of elephant garlic can grow up to a pound in size!
flower bud shoot
leaves
A reference grid helps you know what size the things in a picture really are. These lines are half an inch apart.
bulb
Scientific nam e: Allium am peloprasum
Sometimes it forms bulbs like an onion. Sometimes it grows cloves like a garlic. And, sometimes it hides from drought inside a hard shell that resembles a snail!
roots
That's a m outhful, even for an elephant!
RECIPE!
ELEPHANT GARLIC CHIP OR VEGGIE DIP
1 pint fat-free sour cream 1/4 cup fine-chopped elephant garlic or onion (or 3 teaspoons dried onion) 2 tablespoons soy sauce
Serve with cucumber spears, carrot sticks, celery sticks, or potato chips.
An even more ancient heritage: Another name for this plant is "Levant Garlic". "The Levant" is the region east of the Mediterranean Sea. The word comes from French "levant", which means, to rise. "Levant" is a cousin of Spanish "levantar" (to stand up) and English "leavening" (something that makes bread rise). When the Old Testament of the Bible says "onion", they are probably referring to elephant garlic.
Elephant garlic is actually a kind of leek. It is less bitter and more sweet than regular garlic. It was brought to Texas by the first German settlers, and is still grown in gardens here today. It's a true heirloom crop! The leaves are 20 inches tall, and grow in a fan shape. With enough water, it will grow a single stalk with a flower shaped like a pompom. Before they flower, these stalks are called shoots, and they are edible, too. They can be added to stir-fry, soups, or sauteed like asparagus. It survives partly because elephant garlic produces hard underground clove pods, round with a sharp point, that can survive drought and flood. It's a self-seeding crop. They are usually planted in fall here, but really, anytime from November to April will do. They prefer well-drained soil that is crumbly, not packed-down. (The process of hunting through the dirt for the hard seed pods is good for the soil.)
A "maze" is a puzzle to confuse you but a "labyrinth" is a path to enjoy.
The Farmers' Market is held on land that belongs to United Methodist. Pflugerville United Methodist Church has a labyrinth made of stones, with a gravel path. It's open to the public anytime. It's a "classical 7 circuit" design, the oldest and most popular traditional labyrinth. That means it's made by laying down seven circles, one inside the other. For some people, it is for prayer, and for others it is simply a meditation. Labyrinths are good for practicing walking while making as little sound as you can, taking deep breaths, and seeing things you hadn't seen before.
Generally, a labyrinth has a spot in the middle that you'll reach. The beauty of the design is that you will travel every bit of this path once going in and once coming back out again. There are many other labyrinths open to the public. Labyrinth fans like to travel all over the world just to walk on them! If you can't get out to walk on one, the next best thing is to take a pen and trace one, trying not to touch the edges. Take your time, and remember to breathe deep. For more information: http://www.labyrinthsociety.org/
SOUR CREAM
If you trace the same path each time, visiting every aisle once, at the grocery store, that's a form of labyrinth.
Don't forget the sour cream!