Grow garlic ---- and attract vampires


In 1994, Norwegian scientists sought to determine once and for all whether garlic did indeed repel vampires. Because no vampires offered to participate in the study, the scientists used leeches. After all, both consume blood. In the lab, they smeared a human volunteer's arm with fresh garlic and left the other arm clean. Leeches were released and timed to see which arm they locked onto quicker.

Results showed leeches attached to the garlic arm in 14 seconds. They dillydallied for 44.9 seconds before latching onto the clean arm to feed. This goes against everything we've heard about vampires avoiding garlic. Apparently, they love it.

If you want to attract vampires or just enjoy the extraordinary flavor of fresh garlic, plan to grow the bulb in your garden. A garlic bulb is composed of many individual cloves. Each clove is the seed of a new plant. You can take a supermarket garlic bulb, divide it up and plant each of the cloves. But garlic lovers will prefer to explore the many unique gourmet varieties developed by cultures around the world and found in online catalogs.

The autumnal equinox is the traditional farmer's date for planting garlic. This allows enough time for roots to develop on each clove before winter sets in. Well-rooted garlic is far more vigorous come spring, with the new bulb maturing over summer.

Fall is also time to dig up last year's garlic bulbs to store over winter. If you fail to dig them up, each clove will sprout the following season, but such close proximity would not yield edible bulbs.

To get started, is a highly useful website that lays out the details of growing garlic in an easy-to-understand way. It offers a virtual primer on growing organic garlic, starting with the simple differences between easier-to-grow soft-neck varieties and unusual hard-neck types.

You'll learn how to plant and tend your garlic. The website details when garlic is ripe for harvest. Most valuable are instructions on how to cure garlic just after it digging it up, and how to store the bulbs so they last for a long time. You'll see there's an art to curing the bulbs for weeks to ensure that they reach peak flavor.

The Territorial Seed Co. offers a great selection of gourmet garlic in its online catalog ( I appreciate the nice color photos and the generous write-up on the unique qualities and flavor of the cultivars, many of which are organically grown. The company also produces a nice free print catalog. Order it by calling 800-626-0866.

Don't overlook garlic's green leaves, which in spring can be minced to subtly flavor foods. And when you learn to braid your cured garlic, it becomes an excellent holiday gift straight from your garden.

But don't forget the risks to growing garlic, including the scientifically proven supernatural attraction to vampires. Those who grow and consume this "stinking rose" must be aware that they will become more appealing victims. So if you live in Bon Temps, La., or upon the misty coast of Washington state, beware of fanged characters lurking around your garlic-scented garden just after sunset.

Maureen Gilmer is an author, horticulturist and landscape designer. Contact her at


