Stinking rose cures athlete’s foot
The scent of garlic might keep fleas off your pet poodle, but that is not the only reason we love it. Based on my experience, it apparently deters vampires, prairie dogs and missionaries with no harmful side-effects.
In late summer 2010, two garlic bulbs sprouted in my kitchen, and I separated the cloves and planted them in my new garden site. The following spring I harvested several bulbs, kept the best three or so for another planting, and the tradition began.
Thursday, July 9, 2020, I harvested 51 bulbs – direct descendants of that initial planting. This garlic has never left the property. It survives our winters and matures by late spring/early summer ready for another campaign.
I credit my garlic affinity to my Sumerian heritage. As you know, Sumer was the kingdom east-southeast of Mesopotamia between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, a gnat-infested quagmire leading to the Persian Gulf. Sumerians were way rad for many accomplishments, but the big three were, in order, beer, garlic and civilization.
Sumerians used decoctions and infusions of garlic to treat fevers, settle loose bowels, reduce swellings, soothe sore muscles and bolster immunity.
In his book The Healing Benefits of Garlic, John Heinerman related this Sumerian tradition: “Garlic was soaked in beer from one full moon to the next and regular swigs of it were guzzled down to get rid of worms or else rubbed on the skin for common aches and pains.” Heinerman also recounted losing a filling one weekend, and to ease the pain he crushed a garlic clove and stuffed it into the cavity. “I was able to put to the test a 4500-year-old remedy with good success.”
Egyptians used garlic as currency, even to the point of putting clay garlic bulbs in tombs for barter in the afterlife. The slaves who built the pyramids were fed garlic daily, and they revolted when a flood caused a garlic shortage.
Garlic also has had its detractors. Greeks who smelled of garlic were not allowed in certain temples, and Spanish knights would be banned from society for a week if they reeked of garlic. Highbrow British society saw “the stinking rose” as fit only for the lower classes. There was also the perception that garlic excited the passions, so monks and widows were enjoined to abstain.
However, since mid-20th century, public opinion has turned in favor of garlic for its culinary uses and medicinal value. The United Nations claims the world invests 2.5 million acres in garlic cultivation producing 10 million metric tons annually. China by far produces the most – way more than I do.
Sumerians knew. Hippocrates knew. Garlic does more than keep fleas off Fifi. Our modern medical community concurs with ancient wisdom regarding the wonders of garlic. Research indicates it boosts the immune system, lowers the risk of colon cancer, reduces blood pressure, acts a probiotic and anti-inflammatory, and it even fights the fungus that causes athlete’s foot.
I prepare a bed in late summer with plenty of compost, leaf mulch, aged horse manure, wood ashes and dolomite if I have it. I dig it in thoroughly and give it time to settle. Garlic likes loose soil and good drainage.
In early autumn, I plant the cloves about one hand apart just deep enough to be covered well, but then I add a healthy layer of leaves and grass clippings. To keep the leaves from being blown away I lay an old hammock over the bed to contain the leaves.
The leaves emerge soon enough, and winter cold might beat them down. However, the mulch protects the bulbs and in spring the leaves perk up again. By early summer, like clockwork, it is harvest time, and a garlic beer toast is in order to our Sumerian forbears.