Origins
Garlic has been long used since the ancient era or ancient times, it was favored by many nations who knew it’s healing qualities. It has been used by the Egyptians, Greeks, Babylonians, Assyrians, Romans and the Chinese as well. In Asian countries they learned to transform or caramelize garlic into Black Garlic which will typically involve heating bulbs of garlic over the course of many days to weeks. Black Garlic is loved for it’s rich antioxidants. For over thousands of years (Probably roughly 5000) it has been used for consumption, medicine, money, even as well for potion making and magic. It is debated where it first ever originated from as it is one of the oldest cultivated crops though it is believed to be native from Asia and Siberia. It is closely related to onions (It pretty much is an onion being in the same genus “Allium” though the word is Greek or Latin for Garlic) and related to shallots, leeks, green onions, and chives.
Nutrition and Medicinal Qualities
Allium sativum otherwise known as the “common garlic” has 202 calories per cup (136g) this is typically roughly one whole garlic plant itself not just one clove of it. One clove is 3 grams and only 5 calories and no fat. For the general whole root of the garlic plant I’ll give the rest of the nutrient facts below:
- Total fat 0.7 grams
- Saturated fat 0.1 grams
- Polyunsaturated fat 0.3 grams
- Monounsaturated fat 0 grams
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Sodium 23 mg
- Potassium 545 mg
- Total Carbohydrates 45 grams
- Dietary Fiber 2.9 grams
- Sugar 1.4 grams
- Protein 9 grams
- Vitamin A is 0%
- Vitamin B-6 is 85%
- Vitamin B-12 is 0%
- Vitamin C is 70%
- Vitamin D is 0%
- Calcium is 24%
- Iron 12%
- Magnesium 8%
Percent daily values are based on a 2000 calorie diet need. Your daily values may be a higher or lower depending on your calorie needs. Sources include USDA for the nutrient facts. Many of the healing properties of raw garlic are linked to its strong antioxidant qualities. These antioxidant properties are largely attributable to allicin, the same compound that is responsible for the antifungal properties of crushed raw garlic. Allicin has been noted as one of the most potent antioxidants found in foods. In addition to allicin, garlic delivers antioxidant vitamins and minerals such as vitamin C as shown above and selenium as well as zinc. According to a large-scale review of epidemiologic studies, the strongest evidence for anti-cancer effects of raw garlic pertains to stomach and colorectal cancers. For even more information on it’s high medicinal properties, the link below can take you to the original source where I obtained some of my research from.
Source: http://www.healwithfood.org/medicinal-uses/garlic-healing-properties.php#ixzz4Yb8UgpGH
Replanting
As shown in the photo above with the garlic I am holding this is typically around the timeframe of what garlic looks like when it is trying to regrow its self, but most people don’t know this and when they see this result they usually just toss it and they think the garlic has gone bad. This is often the case with onions when they regrow themselves as well and then also likewise when potatoes turn green from to much exposure from the sun but what is really happening is that even the root potatoes are re-growing themselves and chlorophyll is being produced this will make a chloroplast cellular wall that only plant cells can make thanks to their organelles called chloroplasts. So when this happens it is time to give back to nature and re-plant your food/plants. Plants will naturally do these things with the helps of erosion, certain animals and insects. Mostly all root vegetables can do these things as well fruits that will branch out underneath such as the peanut and make more peanuts or strawberries when they make another stem and dive into the ground once again, they are called “runners” typically by most farmers and people.
When planting garlic, you take the clove and with the tip or pointy part up you dig a small hole an inch to an inch and half deep however most people on average will do 2 to 3 inches deep to be on the safe side, I personally plant about one inch in and have no problem doing so, so when replanting and it’s already sprouting (The green stem) it will be even easier to grow because it is already doing so without any nutrients from soil! So from my personal experience watching this happen after replanting them I saw that garlic grows if not 3x faster when already sprouting again. You can regrow from the clove or from the seeds which are located at the top of the flower before it buds and turns pink, though it is typically better to let them grow through the full growth cycle as once they flower they can be pollinated and it is even easier always to grow from the clove. You can grow them indoors as I am a firm believer in you can grow anything anywhere at anytime so long as you can manipulate the environment or control the environment and make it hospital for that plant. Growing garlic indoors in pot will require a very big pot 12 inches deep at least, during my experience at first I thought it would be less needed but garlic roots go deeper than I originally had thought. Spreading the cloves or seeds should be 6 inches apart but you can probably get away with 5 to 5 1/2 inches apart so long as you are diligent about it. Your next best bet if you are growing indoors would be to constantly have the garlic near an open window it needs much sunlight and fresh air to grow. Without the spacing requirement and soil depth needed as well as the sunlight and fresh air this will be a pain in the ass to grow as it will keel over and not reach it’s full growth cycle. Most plants indoors will require these basic requirements for max potential, those small pots are only good for starting out on most and certain plants but then you will need to transplant them. You won’t be able to do that with root vegetables nor peanuts and corn and other certain plants. Small pots are mainly good for starting seedlings such as tomatoes and peppers and then you can probably get away with keeping certain herbs in a small pot for it’s full growth cycle as most of those won’t travel to deep with their roots but the key is the bigger the pot the more room for potential for those roots and the bigger the plant can get. However if you grow them indoors they will smell so you have been warned but they will keep certain pests away as well. If you are looking to do companion planting garlic will grow great with peaches, apples, roses and tomatoes. Bad companion plants for garlic will include peas, beans (probably anything from the Legume family with that being said), strawberries and cabbage so don’t plant it near those plants.
Holy and Spiritual Advice
We all have heard of those myths and tales where onions have taken bad spirits or bad spiritual energy out of the air and absorb the negative energy or curses from a witch or where garlic can ward off vampires who really knows if any of that could be all true but what is actually happening is that onions are actually taking the toxins out of the air and the environment, it can even do this with chemicals from fresh paint in the air if you were to leave an onion in a room with fresh paint. Onions are rich in sulfur containing compounds that are responsible for their strong odor or smell. Sulfur is a very powerful detox element and helps the body to release toxins, especially for the liver. Foods that are naturally high in sulfur will also help the body to detox from heavy metals like arsenic, lead and cadmium. What is a fact though was that during the black plaque or the bubonic plague in Europe was that the plague doctors did in fact use plants like onions and had some effect with leaving an onion in room or onions for that matter to prevent illness this did work in some cases and this was carried on even until the modern era to prevent the flu or influenza during the early 1900s. So what is not to say that if vampirism was real and we look at it as some sort of disease or retrovirus that garlic would repel the entity haha? Well we do know that garlic worth while to obtain either way to treat illnesses but on the spiritual note of growing plants this is important you should talk to your plants even if the theory can just be the CO2 from your breath can help it grow faster or if you believe the quantum mechanics of that showing your love with plants and talking positive to those plants will help it grow either way. The positive energy you display to your plants will make the yield bigger and the quality of the plant in every way better but this will require diligence and patience as well. If you are firm believer in Jesus Christ like I am and follow certain teachings as well you may want to pray and add holy water to your plants to help them grow faster and stay healthy, I myself have had great experiences with this.
Spiritup111 