[Seasons: Spring V]
What’s the first sign of spring? My grandma used to say it was the crocuses. “I’ve seen them bloom right through the snow.” I’ve never witnessed that phenomenon, though I’ve seen them in bloom while snow was yet scattered in pockets of shade.
I have seen something else sprout through the snow. Every year, it seems. And they come up at least two weeks before crocuses.
Garlic.
If there’s anything I’ve grown heaps of year in and year out, it’s garlic. And garlic, despite popular usage, is not a seasoning or garnish. Sure, it’s used in those ways, but for my family it is medicine. My children learn the word antibacterial an antiviral at a very young age, and they learn it in reference to Papa’s garlic.
It’s “medicinal" in another another way. Since it’s a staple at our house, it hits the hot pan of oil before anything else, emitting an aroma that signals dinner is approaching. The scent is medicine for the heart—it’s a reminder that when the world is adrift, a warm, healthy meal is an anchor of safety and acceptance.
When the garlic pokes through the snow, we take inventory of our stores in the garage. We’re on our third year now that we’ve managed to store the exact amount we need to last us until harvest the following year.
Seasons come and go. Garlic, for us, remains. We all need nourishment that transcends the season. Something that is there in the middle of winter but also in the in-between times. We all need something healthy that sprouts before the snow melts and lasts through the summer glow.
What’s your perpetual garlic?
