Spanish Roja cloves for planting or cooking. October is when we plant garlic, and we saved our largest cloves to plant first, and though these cloves we have separated out are smaller, they are just as viable for planting and just as flavorful for cooking. We have further separated even smaller cloves that we will dry and convert to garlic powder; however, these medium size ones are still quite adequate for seed garlic; even though the larger the cloves you plant, the larger the garlic bulbs you will generally get. Spanish Roja is our signature garlic crop. This is the variety of gourmet garlic that got us into growing garlic. This heirloom garlic, came to the Portland, Oregon area over a hundred years ago. Being a Rocambole garlic, its flavor is very robust, a good, hearty garlic. It has the deep, rich, complex flavor of gourmet garlic at its very finest. It has been described as the most piquant garlic in the world. If you are interested in growing gourmet garlic, Spanish Roja, in my estimation, is the among the finest
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Spanish Roja cloves for planting or cooking. October is when we plant garlic, and we saved our largest cloves to ... more

Elephant Garlic Bulblets (also known as Bulbils, Korms, or Corms) are garlic seeds that are formed on the outside of the garlic bulb and gathered and dried with the rest of the garlic at harvest time. When planted, bulblets produce a "round" the first year, which is basically a bulb without divisions into individual cloves. You can dry these rounds and replant them, which will then produce a full size elephant garlic bulb the second year having about six individual cloves, or you can use the rounds themselves for cooking, and note that the rounds are usually larger than an individual cloves. In the attached photo, I am holding both a full size elephant garlic bulb and a "round", so that you can see the approximate size difference the first and second year of planting. Also, please note that garlic is usually planted about the first or second week of October, and so simply leave the bulbils in the perforated paper bag that we package them in, at room temperature, and they will store fine until October planting time.
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Elephant Garlic Bulblets (also known as Bulbils, Korms, or Corms) are garlic seeds that are formed on the outside of ... more

Loofah or luffa plants are extremely easy to grow in our environment. I grow them every year and use them all around my house. Loofah is a climbing vine related to gourds and cucumbers vegetables, they are widely cultivated for food and when allowed to mature and dry on the vine, loofah can be harvested as a sponge. The loofah sponge is popular because they are organic, and inexpensive. Loofah sponge is very good for removing dead skin cells leaving the skin smooth and conditioned. Loofah as kitchen sponge: Loofah is an excellent sponge to remove stubborn food particles in plates, pots and pans. Loofah is also gentle enough to use on delicate cookware (Teflon) which cannot withstand normal abrasives.
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Loofah or luffa plants are extremely easy to grow in our environment. I grow them every year and use them ... more