Garlic

Another food you can grow easily in your yard, or in a container on your patio or deck is garlic.  Garlic has been known for both its culinary uses and it's medicinal purposes for eons.  Garlic is a member of the allium plant family which includes onions, leeks, and shallots. 

Who has not used garlic in their cooking?  It can be used "straight up" as "garlic butter" (whole heads of garlic roasted until the cloves are all soft and squishy that can then be spread on bread) or it can be chopped finely and included in virtually any recipe.  Sauteing garlic lessens its taste potency.

Medicinally, it is a virtual treasure chest for health.  It has significant anti-microbial properties.  In 1858 Louis Pasteur was perhaps the first person to prove this.  It was used in WWI and WWII as a powerful battlefield antiseptic.  More recently, as I have mentioned in another blog entry here, garlic extracts have been used successfully to combat even antibiotic resistant staph infections (MRSA).  

Garlic has a powerful effect on the respiratory tract, digestive and cardiovascular system. It aids digestion and raises good cholesterol while driving down total cholesterol.  It is an expectorant, so it helps decrease coughs from a variety of causes.

Get some raw garlic.  Separate out the cloves and just plant them and watch them grow!