Gilroy, eat your heart out

Perhaps the Thais will never turn their garlic growing into a vacation destination the way Gilroy has done with its annual Garlic Festival, but I'll bet they can't compete with Thailand for its interesting and efficient growing method.

Individual cloves are placed on top of the ground rather than planted in the ground as they are in most of the rest of the world. Then the cloves are covered with the straw-like leaves that are left over from the rice harvest. Covering the cloves with rice leaves instead of planting them in the ground requires less labor while offering similar protection. The rice leaves also hold in moisture, so the rice can be grown during drier seasons. As the garlic shoots grow, they easily sprout through the rice leaves.

Thai garlic bulbs tend to be somewhat smaller than Gilroy's, but they're every bit as tasty. That's good: I can't imagine spending three months without a good dose of garlic.