Tujague continues garlic line

Vampires and evil spirits make sure to steer clear of Frank Tujague’s garden — his line of garlic is 60 years strong.
“My grandmother, Anna Earle Tujague, received a clove of the garlic from an aunt from Texas,” Tujague said. “She planted it at her home on Ann Street 60 years ago, and she planted it every year until her death in 1987.”
“When my grandmother passed away, my aunt Yvonne Tujague continued to plant the garlic at her home on the Basile Road. My aunt always helped my grandmother take care of the plants, and she grew it until she passed away in 2006. I started planting it in 2003, when I lived at University Place here in Eunice.”
Since 1955, Tujague family members have continuously planted, cooked with, replanted and given away cloves from that first pod, and Frank keeps the family tradition alive and well today. Tujague now plants the garlic in a 4 x 20 foot raised bed at his home in Whiteville. He normally plants about 100 to 200 pods each year in October.
“It’s a very low maintenance plant,” Tujague said. “You do have to water it every once and a while. I plant pods 2 to 3 inches deep and cover them with 6 inches of hay to help control weeds.”
“The first year planting in the new raised bed was a success.”
Tujague’s harvests the garlic in late May to early June, and it usually produces another large clove of garlic. He then lets the plants hang for a week or two in a cool, dry place before divvying it up.
“I usually give it away to family and friends,” he said. “It’s way too much for us to eat.”
Tujague’s wife also gives some to family and friends, and he hopes that one day his three children — two daughters and a son — will keep the garlic growing tradition alive.
When not moonlighting as a garlic grower, Tujague is a CPA in Eunice. He estimated that he gives about 50 to 75 cloves of garlic away year while keeping some for replanting and others for cooking.
“I will probably increase the amount I plant since my family is getting bigger, and I have more room to plant,” Tujague said. “I also make arrangements for my wife using the flowers. They make a pretty cool arrangement.”
Even though his grandmother’s former home is no longer in the family’s possession, Tujague’s garlic family tree can likely be found all over the parish and a bit closer to his heart.
“I still own my aunt’s property on Basile Road,” he said. “I still find some garlic growing out there.”