I went to Kroger's last night (a large U.S. grocery store chain) and
saw what they were selling as "elephant garlic". The heads were
smaller than my 7 year old's fist, and the price was $7.00 PER!

I guess I know what to grow for the farmers' market next year...

Mark

(Mark) wrote in message . com...
I went to Kroger's last night (a large U.S. grocery store chain) and
saw what they were selling as "elephant garlic". The heads were
smaller than my 7 year old's fist, and the price was $7.00 PER!

I guess I know what to grow for the farmers' market next year...

Mark

Holy camoly. We've got Kroger's here (Savannah), but I've boycotted
two of the four (2 1/2 years, yay!!) due to horrible (and I mean
HORRIBLE) employees, and I seldom go to the others. But I went to the
24 hour one a few days ago, and they had elephant garlic at regular
prices (can't remember what it was, but it was certainly reasonable).
On the other hand, purple peppers were around $3 each (!!!!). The
good news is, since the staff at the Krogers here in town is so bad,
she charged me for EGGPLANT, which is by the pound, so it was around
$.50 or something. If it was someplace I respected, I would have
corrected her, but to heck with that if you can't treat your customers
well, or even nicely, or even below-adequate.

I generally shop Publix (best in town for large grocery, anyway), but
sometimes Kroger's has better produce. Fortunately, we've got a
couple independent grocery stand/stores that have GREAT stuff, GREAT
prices, and GREAT staff (Davis and Polk, in case anyone reading lives
in the area and is taking notes). IMO, customer service beats a
slightly lower price ANY day of the week.

In fact, I got some Pink Lady Apples last year from Davis and made a
sorbet for the restaurant. The folks who own Davis came to the
restaurant, heard we had a sorbet from their apples, and got my number
from someone and left me a message at home to say how much they
enjoyed it, and then, though we'd never met until then, recognized me
the next time I went in to buy stuff.

Now you got me all sentimental and stuff. When I was a chef in
Tucson, I had a couple who had a very small farm. For some reason
(I'm assuming randomly) they picked me out of the phone book to call
to see if they could sell to us and to ask what I'd like them to grow.
They had a stand, but could only do enough volume to support one
restaurant plus their stand, so I jumped at the chance. (heh, Yong
Rieb is the woman's name, can't remember the husband, in case anyone
in Tucson is taking notes, I'm a horrble plugger :P ) It was SO NICE
to have REAL PEOPLE grow stuff for you, to take pride in what they're
doing, to apologize if a crop was short that week, heck, even to say
"we always let the squash blossoms go, you mean you'll PAY for them??"
Anyway, I worked there for a few years, and when they got extra
space, the Rieb's would ask me for advice on what they should grow and
what I'd buy. Everything I got from them was great, and if sometimes
something was sub-par, they'd charge me less or try not to charge me
(food cost was always under, so I'd make them take SOME payment
anyway). They never brought anything less than great, but to them, if
the basil was a little wilted, they felt they were ripping me off by
charging full price. I'd say you can use basil like that for many
dishes and it'll still taste perfect, but they felt bad. THAT'S
customer service.

Sorry to get so long-winded and off-topic, but starting to talk about
produce, then customer service (my fault) led me to think of all that.
Well, since it's the internet, I can hit "post" then try to forget
about it before I have a chance to regret my ramblings. Ahhhh, what a
few dirty vodka martinis can do. :P

Anyway, hopefully someone will get something out of all that drivel.
I do read here daily, even if I don't post much.

Jeffrey

Be careful with the Elephant Garlic, Many growers send these to market
because they can obtain a very large size in the blink of an eye. However,
when you compare elephant garlic to other garlic's they have very little
taste to them.

Growing can be a challenge to say the least. If you start with seed sown
directly into the garden plot, more times than not; you will end up in a
race with root rot. I avoid this by starting all my garlic and onion seed
in flats prior to placing into the soil. When your seedlings are doing
good, select the ones with the largest leaf (greens and stems). Many
people are left wondering why they get such small cloves at the end of their
growing season. The early start helps greatly. The better the leaf growth
is, the larger the clove will be in the end. Though the growing challenge
is far from over!

Garlic does not compete well with other plants. I use companion planting
but must be very careful which companions I plant them with. Keep this in
mind if you companion plant---don't put it with the fast and vigorous
growers. Personally, I grow a great deal of things on topiary fencing which
I have built so that I don't have to worry as much with the competition of
some of my plants. My whole garden is surrounded with the 4"x4" square
meshing. In this I fashion a fence which is 50' long x 4' tall x 12" deep.
Supported this with untreated bamboo stakes every 4'. We leave the bamboo
stakes long and drilled holes in the tops to run garden twine through to
create a bit of an umbrella with vining beans.

Bottom layer of moss. Work your way up the meshing one square at a time by
pushing the moss to the outside and filling the inside with compost and
soil. The moss remains on the outside while the soil is snuggled on the
inside. I leave my tops open and grow rooted vegetables like radish,
carrot, sections of garlic and onion. In the sides I plant (decorative
shapes) lettuce of many colors and varieties. Last year we did a Celtic
design which ended up beautiful. Kind of like taking the maze garden off
the floor and moving it to the wall if you will. The garlic was the best
crop last year I have ever had. Not to mention the lettuce was
FANTASTIC---I couldn't keep up and was taking it to everyone I knew. If
your space is limited, try a topiary fencing. The cost for the live fence,
All Supplies were around $65 per 50' section, for everything needed,(
stakes, mesh, moss, extra soil) , but I will be able to re-use it again this
year with no problems. This year I will re-enforce one end with untreated
2x4s so that I can add a gate and extend the fencing.

Anyhow, the Garlic loved this and the chive varieties grew fantastic out of
the sides, not the top and added an almost "frilly ribbon" look to the whole
thing. In the past I have been a big fan of chicken wire, but my son's new
dog is not almost fully grown and the bugger tops 140 pounds---needless to
say, that chicken wire no matter how tight it was-----Moose would manage to
bend the dickens out of it and made it quite ugly to look at. He didn't
touch the topiary barrier at all (perhaps he didn't like all the hot peppers
growing on it)

As Garlic is prone to many diseases make sure you rotate your garlic around.
Have fun most of all!

Timber
www.timberslodge.net
....a Step Through Time

"Mark" wrote in message
om...
I went to Kroger's last night (a large U.S. grocery store chain) and
saw what they were selling as "elephant garlic". The heads were
smaller than my 7 year old's fist, and the price was $7.00 PER!

I guess I know what to grow for the farmers' market next year...

Mark