How do you use garlic?

Discussion in 'Gardening Other' started by Palm Tree, Feb 26, 2008.

  1. Palm Tree

    Palm Tree Young Pine

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    I simply love garlic and so do my dogs. I wonder are they herbal- or organic dogs - if they do not eat herbs, they bathe in it. I happen to grow some garlic near the roses so as to deter greenfly and aphids. But my dogs happen to think that is makes wonderful chewy stuff. I noticed that my garlic plants were struggling and then I got the whiff of my dogs' breath - garlic breath. That brings me to the uses of garlic:

    Put some chopped garlic in your dog's food to keep him/her free from ticks and fleas.

    Problems with weevils in wheat or mealie bins - place a few cloves of slightly crushed garlic in the bin or food container where you want to keep the weevils out.

    Do you keep poultry? Peel and finely chop cloves of garlic as a standby for curing coccycidiosis in poultry.

    Do you need a spray for potato and tomato blight - make use of chopped garlic and onions. Chop two bulbs of garlic and 4 large onions, boil with 3 litres of water, cool and strain. Use shortly after preparing.

    Aphid problems - Make a garlic extract to control aphids in your garden. Add two crushed cloves of garlic to 570 ml of water and spray on the afflicted plants. Add strongly scented plants like rue or basil for best effect.

    Use Garlic as a companion plant.

    Could the Stewbies please share their garlic tips?
     
  2. petunia

    petunia Young Pine

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    P.T. I have so far planted 5 garlics in the house that are growing. I did put some out in my herb garden at the end of the season so I'll see later if those will come up. I don't know any tricks to using it throughout the garden. But my hubby uses garlic when he cooks. He crushes it up and mixes it with margarine or butter and makes a garlic spread to spread on french bread- makes great garlic bread. mmmm Garlic works great as a seasoning on almost anything that is cooked.
     
  3. CritterPainter

    CritterPainter Awed by Nature

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    Great tips, I usually just lightly sautee it to use as a people repellent, lol! Chronic garlic breath can be countered somewhat with several cups of mint tea so it's good to grow a container full of that nearby.
     
  4. Droopy

    Droopy Slug Slaughterer Plants Contributor

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    I give the horses powdered garlic to keep the gnats and ticks away from them during summer. We like garlicy food, so we might be scaring visitors. I like to split a clove and rub inside the wooden salad bowl. It gives the salad just a tinge of flavour. I haven't tried growing it so far.
     



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  5. Palm Tree

    Palm Tree Young Pine

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    Oh CritterPainter - you mean vampire repellent :D . We also love eating garlic and I am truly grateful for the tip regarding the mint tea.
    I shoudl maybe look into the possibility of giving the dogs some mint leaves to chew. (I first need to check with the vet though)

    Petunia - I cannot think of anyone who does not like garlic bread.

    Droopy that is fantastic - even the horses can benefit from garlic. I must try that salad trick sometime.

    I was not sure where to place this post/thread whether in herb gardening, organic gardening or recipes. It seems like garlic can spread over all three these categories. I just knew that one can learn a lot of greatr culinary tips on garlic alone.
     
  6. Sapphire

    Sapphire Seedling

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    One use I get uot of garlic is lighty heating up crushed garlic in saucepan (dont want to fully heat it, maybe about 30 secs or so) with extra virgin olive oil and letting it set. After letting it cool pour into a dropper bottle and using it as eardrops. Both of my daughters had ear problems this winter and that is a safe and strongly effective way to combat earaches!
     
  7. kaseylib

    kaseylib Young Pine

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    in anything and everything...I love the stuff. A woman I used to work with from Latvia would go on a garlic diet a few times a year to "clear her system". Well, she managed to clear out all of the halls around her too!!!
     
  8. Sjoerd

    Sjoerd Mighty Oak

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    Well, I do not grow garlic, but my, oh my...how I do LURVE eating it. I even nibble on a raw clove sometimes. To me it tastes so good in cooked foods.
    This is an interesting string...
    thanks, Palm Tree.
     
  9. Palm Tree

    Palm Tree Young Pine

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    Oh gosh Kasey - I can just imagine how everyone steered clear of old garlic breath. Hahehehheh.
    WHen it comes to medicinal uses Garlic is also great and Sapphire you touched onto that aspect as well.
    The Xhosa traditional healers in South Africa use a garlic decoction of the leaf and bulb. This decoction is used as a febrifuge and they sometimes even add wild wormwood (Artemisia afra).
    I am sure there must be many more uses of garlic as a medicinal herb.
     
  10. bsewnsew

    bsewnsew Hardy Maple

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    I use garlic in my Italian dishes. Pizza , spaghetti, meatballs.
    When I can stewed tomatoes it goes in there .
    Also in garlic Bread.
     
  11. trudy

    trudy In Flower

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    I grow garlic an although I use it in cooking I find I have so much left over that I dehydrate whats left, then powder it as I need it for garlic powder. That way they don't go bad, of course I will use some of the largest cloves for next years seed first.
     
  12. Palm Tree

    Palm Tree Young Pine

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    Now that is a great idea Trudy. SO far I only chpped my garlic fine and stored them in extra virgin olive oil. But then I am still time bound. By dehydrating the garlic they can be stored longer. Great tip 8)
     
  13. trudy

    trudy In Flower

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    Thank you Palm. My first year of doing this it works really well. Then I read somewhere that by powdering all at one time that it would loose its potenancy before I could use it all up say in a year. And it was recommended that by slicing it into 1/2" thick slices an dehydrating them they would be as good as the day I dryed them. Then only powder up what you would need for a recipe at a time.
     
  14. flowerpower313

    flowerpower313 Seedling

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    Trudy, do you use a food dehydrator for the garlic?
     
  15. toni

    toni Mistress of Garden Junque Staff Member Moderator Plants Contributor

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    My family will eat garlic bread but they don't like garlic in their food so I don't cook with it.

    I do make up the bug killer recipe that was posted on GardenStew a couple of years ago, Randy sprays the yard a few times in summer when I start becoming the entre' for some unknown bugs out there.
     

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