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Garlic bridges ancient wisdom and modern science as a protective ally – nourishing our bodies, healing soils, and guarding gardens in an era that needs its resilient spirit more than ever.

~Jay Drysdale

Dear Reader

I honestly don’t know how I have lived 66 years without experiencing garlic scapes, yet somehow I have. I actually had never even seen a scape until my first beds of garlic produced them last season. Whether it is possible for me to make up for this significant loss in my remaining years, I am unsure, but I am willing to give it a noble try.

For the past 10 days, I’ve been snapping off a few of the curly-q scapes each morning to add to whatever was on the menu.

Then some good rain followed by bright sunny days, and it’s now a scape-splosion. Although I have slipped them into egg dishes, salad dressings, soups, and risotto, their starring role in Kale Pesto had me swooning. Having had good luck last summer freezing pesto in silicone one-cup molds, I will most certainly be batch prepping the remaining glut of scapes this weekend.

The onslaught of scapes brought on a strand of garlic thoughts that have woven themselves through my entire week. They specifically came in handy as I lay for hours under bright dental lighting, a rubber dam around my molar, and a root canal underway. Only able to hold world peace in my mind for so long, I turned to my garlic-planting plan for next season. Counting rows, organizing varieties, and companion strategies. While the doctor and technician tested each other on the plural of obscure words as if I wasn't present, it was garlic that saved my sanity.

With a desire to share my love for garlic and my yet limited experience, I turned to two trusted sources. The Old Farmer’s Almanac, published right up the road from me, has this to say about garlic:

It’s also one of the oldest healing plants in history. For more than 5,000 years, garlic has been celebrated as a food, a medicine, and even a source of folklore magic.

Today, garlic is grown worldwide on every continent except Antarctica. Its long lineage through human history and across all cultures is one of the many draws to garlic for me. Just holding the cloves in my hands as I sink them into the soil feels like a timeless, sacred act.

Soil health champion, Jay Drysdale, states

Garlic is the soil alchemist. Beneath the soil, garlic is not merely sitting there, waiting to be harvested. Its roots release sulfur-rich compounds into the surrounding earth, chemical messages that can influence microbes, suppress certain pathogens, and help shape the biological atmosphere of its immediate root zone. In other words, garlic does not simply grow in soil. It participates in deciding what that soil becomes.​
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In my two seasons of growing garlic, I have observed all of this to be true. I have watched with my own eyes garlic transform the lifeless soil in our front garden and protect a variety of crops with vigilance.

My inner pacifist appreciates that garlic does not protect itself with thorns or speed, but by literally altering the conditions around it. And according to Drysdale, who can be quite poetic,

Garlic has the ability, in the soil where it grows, to interrupt disease cycles, support more resilient rotations, and remind us that the most important conversations on a farm are often the ones we cannot hear.

So, where has all of this deep dive into garlic led me? It has brought me to a place in which I marvel at the alchemical qualities of garlic in soil. It certainly has me planning to up my garlic game in 2027, and I’ll cue you in September when it's time to plant. And on a spiritual note, it has me wondering, if garlic is the alchemist of the plant world, what is its equal among humans ? How might I rally the alchemist within to be more fully of service and retain the humble nature of garlic? Interesting thoughts to ponder as I head into next week with an eye on these energies:

Friday 19 June The Sun transits through Gate 15, the Gate of Extremes, asking us to remember that action speaks louder than words, and nothing is more honorable than decency.

Chiron moves into Taurus on the same day, beginning a whole new cycle of healing wounds around materialism and reconnecting with our physical body and the earth.

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Thursday 25 June, the Sun transits through Gate 52, the Gate of Inaction, asking our inner sage to contemplate in stillness. This seems an appropriate preparation for the illumination of the Full Moon in Capricorn, Monday 29 June, and the many and often opposing forces through 8 July. It feels like a significant stretch of time to call on all of our tools to stay centered and respect our inner guidance.

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Until next week,

Follow the Sun June 19th-30th

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