Oh gosh, today’s piece is about a garlic delivery. I didn’t get a sentence into it before getting excited, does garlic do that to you, too? I’m one of those people where if a recipe says to add three cloves, I know it means nine. And if you’re using minced garlic from the jar, I’m the person who will give you a garlic intervention. Maybe I should get my own garlic delivery too.
Growing garlic … now that one I’m not as savvy at. Garlic grows in abundance in my neck of the woods, but not as well in my garden. I think it’s because I tend to it a little too well, water it a little too regularly, and garlic wants a little struggle. I just love it too much to leave it alone! But today’s story isn’t about growing garlic at all (for that, check out another story, Scaping Lessons).
In fact, it’s just a fun story about what it’s like to live a mile from your mailbox when you get your crates of garlic delivered. In the story, the author Sandra Snyder writes, “This year, the garlic arrived with an envelope containing what looked like a check. I opened the envelope—and discovered a small refund check. I must have overpaid for the garlic. I was excited to cash the check until I realized that maybe I’d overemphasized my delivery requirements.” Keep reading to find out what happened.
A Garlic Delivery
This funny story comes from our archive that spans over 30 years and includes more than 130 magazine issues of GreenPrints. Pieces like these that inject the joy of gardening into everyday life lessons always brighten up my day, and I hope it does for you as well. Enjoy!
LEAVE IN BOX
By Sandra Snyder of Westfield, VT
One of the last things we do each year to button up for the Winter is to plant garlic. We get the garlic from an area plant supply group, and if I can’t drive to get it, they will mail it. I no longer have a car, so this is especially helpful.
We live on top of a mountain, and sometimes this makes getting our mail delivered challenging. Delivery trucks can’t always get here in bad weather, our mailbox is an entire mile from our house, and the mailbox itself is too small to fit many of the packages we order.
To help delivery people (and us!) navigate these challenges, we put a wooden crate near the mailbox for larger packages. We also ask shippers, when possible, to add a note on any larger package to tell the driver to “leave it in the box.”
This year, the garlic arrived with an envelope containing what looked like a check. I opened the envelope—and discovered a small refund check. I must have overpaid for the garlic. I was excited to cash the check until I realized that maybe I’d overemphasized my delivery requirements. The computer that wrote the check didn’t make it out to “Sandra Snyder.”
Nope, it made my check out to “Leave In Box.” ❖
By Sandra Snyder of Westfield, VT, published originally in 2022, in GreenPrints Issue #130. Illustrated by Christopher Reid
Do you have any funny garlic delivery (or other) stories like this? Let me know in the comments.
