Probably the best answer to the question can be found in the link below. It is not only a question of which ripens first, but in knowing how to recognize when each type is ready to harvest. And since the site also has photos & descriptions of every garlic in SSE's collection (just click on the 'Garlic' button) it is good garlic-flavored eye candy. ;-) Here is a link that might be useful: Heirloom Vegetable Archive - Garlic FAQ

I have no idea why this popped into my head yesterday morning and I have to agree that it is not a technique I particularly enjoy. The answer is indeed yodeling. **** for Annette, Nancy, Bobbie, and TM! From my research: All human voices are considered to have at least two distinct vocal registers, called the "head" and "chest" voices, which result from different ways that the tone is produced.[22] Most people can sing tones within a certain range of lower pitch in their chest voices and tones within a certain range of higher pitch in their head voices and spring into their falsetto (an "unsupported" register forcing vocal cords in a higher pitch without any head or chest voice air support). In untrained or inexperienced singers, a gap between these ranges often exists, although more experienced singers can control their voices at the point where these ranges overlap and can easily switch between them to produce high-quality tones in either. Yodelling is a particular application of this technique, wherein a singer might switch between these registers several times in only a few seconds and at a high volume. Repeated alternation between registers at a singer's passaggio pitch range produces a very distinctive sound. Most experts agree that yodeling was used in Alpine folk music in the Central Alps as a method of communication between herders and their stock or between Alpine villages, with the multi-pitched "yelling" later becoming part of the region's traditional lore and musical expression. The calls may also have been endearments shepherds used to express affection to their herds. The earliest record of a yodel is in 1545, where it is described as "the call of a cowherd from Appenzell".[3][4] In Persian classical music, singers frequently use tahrir, a yodeling technique that oscillates on neighbour tones. It is similar to the Swiss yodel, and is used as an ornament or trill in phrases which have long syllables, and usually falls at the end of a phrase.[5] Tahrir is also prevalent in Azerbaijani, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Turkish, Afghan, and Central Asian musical traditions; and to a lesser extent Pakistani and a few Indian musical traditions. In Georgian traditional music, yodeling takes the form of krimanchuli technique, and is used as a top part in three/four part polyphony.[6] In Central Africa, Pygmy singers use yodels within their elaborate polyphonic singing, and the Shona people of Zimbabwe sometimes yodel while playing the mbira.[7] The Mbuti of the Congo incorporate distinctive whistles and yodels into their songs. Living from hunting and gathering, they sing hunting and harvest songs and use yodelling to call each other. In 1952 ethnomusicologist Hugh Tracey recorded their songs and they have recently been released on compact discs. [8] It is thought that yodeling was first introduced to the United States by German immigrants in Pennsylvania in the early 1800s. As the new settlers traveled south through the Appalachian Mountains and beyond into the Deep South they came into contact with Irish immigrants, Scandinavians (practictioners of a unique yodeling called k�lning), and other nationalities including African slaves who communicated with "field hollers", described by Frederick Law Olmstead in 1853 as a �long, loud, musical shout, rising and falling and breaking into falsetto�. German yodeling may have converted southern field hollers into a more musical form and combined them with Irish narrative ballads, resulting in the unique form of the yodeling tradition in America. British stage performances by yodelers were common as early as the nineteenth century.[9] Sir Walter Scott wrote in his June 4, 1830 journal entry that "Anne wants me to go hear the Tyrolese Minstrels but...I cannot but think their yodeling...is a variation upon the tones of a jackass."[10] In 1839 the Tyrolese Minstrels toured the United States and started an American craze for Alpine music. During the 1840s, dozens of German, Swiss, and Austrian singing groups crisscrossed the country entertaining audiences with a combination of singing, yodeling, and "Alpine harmony." So, congratulations all. TM, enjoy your unexpected vacation. Hope all the rest of us are sharing the unexpected warm temps. We fenced the little back area. Four minutes after we finished, The Wild One had jumped over the fence into the garden area (which only has three things still living there). He wouldn't jump back out. I had to unroll some of the fencing we had just stretched to the house so I could get in and out, to let him out. *sigh*. He didn't seem pleased to be inside that space, so maybe now he will stay out. Darn dog can leap like a gazelle. At least our two have stayed out so far. Happy Sunday everyone. Cynthia Here is a link that might be useful: Roy

My husband, 2-year old daughter, and I, were sitting behind this guy at a religious meeting, so after the final prayer, I introduced myself and welcomed him. He was with some friends of ours and it turned out that he had just met them the week before. He had been traveling with his wife and small daughter to move to another state, when a drunk driver hit them head on in the desert fog. His truck was totalled. The baby was in a car seat and was fine. His wife suffered many serious injuries and was taken to our local hospital. That's how he came to meet my friend, who had been called when people of our same religion had requested help at the hospital. Well, anyway....he was thin and stressed and trying to figure out what to do. There was no instant connection--no attraction. I invited him to dinner with us, but he declined. As it worked out eventually, the wife was air-lifted to a hospital in the city where her parents lived, where my (DH) was moving. Because of the wreck, the ensuing lawsuit against the drunken woman who had just chalked up her 4th accident while DUI, and both vehicles totalled, DH lost the job transfer to the new state. A few months later, he was back at my meeting. He had to return to fight the legal battle in person, so got a job in my town. His wife, on finding out that she was getting a nice sum as a settlement for her injuries, decided to stay with her parents, keep their daughter, and divorce him. Within another year or so, I found myself divorced about the same time his divorce was finalizing. I moved into a room for rent as a temporary measure while saving to move to California. He was renting another room in the same house. Somehow...some way.....without ANY prior notice of each other in the preceding 2 years, we became friends. A few months later.....we both moved out of the house...and into our own place as husband and wife! One of the things we both thought was funny as we began dating, was finding out that he thought I was nice to show a concern for him but he never gave me another thought. I felt bad for his situation, but he seemed to have no real personality. Until we started to really talk while living with the family that owned the house, neither had much opinion of the other. Red

Aha.. this is fun but it's turned into a little of "one for me, one for you".. and fast moving towards "two for me, one for you"! I am loving the recommendations and have added some to my own list! I hadn't thought of Breakfast at Tiffany's -- a timeless classic.. and I think it's perfect for the niece heading to college in New Haven/short train ride to NYC. Richard Feyman is great for bf.. just trying to remember if he's read it. Not related but it reminded me of the Freakonomics books which quite delighted him. The Big New Yorker books are also great gifts! I like the dog cartoon one also. Sorry to not call out more of those mentioned but as I said, "2 for me.. " I've added a lot of the above to my own list!