Hello Friends, how is your garlic growing? Our plants are looking great and the early varieties have scapes just starting to poke their beaks out. In another 10-14 days we'll begin to pick garlic scapes, we will offer these on our website and send out an announcement when we do. Garlic scapes ship well and have a storage life of 4-6 weeks if kept bagged and in the fridge upon arrival.
Perhaps you're asking "What's a scape? What do I do with it?"
A garlic scape is the stem and flower bud of a hardneck garlic (softnecks do not form a scape). To maximize your bulb size snap or cut off this scape after it has curled and before it begins to uncurl. This redirects the plants energy down into forming a larger bulb, rather than forming a flower and the subsequent bulbils (tiny little bulbs that can be planted for tiny little garlic plants).
Garlic scapes are a tasty bonus treat to growing hardneck garlic.
Scapes are similar in texture to asparagus or green beans and can be prepared similarly (roasted, steamed, grilled, stir fried, deep fried, sautéed, pickled, etc).
Scapes can be used in the same way as the garlic bulb, minced and used to flavor any dish the way you typically would. Many people who cannot tolerate garlic cloves can enjoy the scapes. This includes FODMAP diets and similar.
Scapes can be chopped and frozen or dehydrated for year-round use.
Scapes make a delightful pesto either on their own or combined with other herbs such as basil, cilantro, parsley, nettle, or any combination. Here is a basic recipe from our Guide to Growing Garlic. I'll often make this without the nuts and cheese and freeze in an ice cube tray for winter use, adding cheese and nuts when I want to.
Garlic Scape Pesto
1 Pound Garlic Scapes, cut in to 2" pieces
1-1 1/2 Cups of Shredded Parmesan Or Pecorino Cheese
1 Cup Quality Olive Oil
1/2 Cup Pine Nuts, Walnuts, or Sunflower Seeds
1 Tbl Lemon Juice
Black Pepper to Taste
New to growing garlic? Check out our FAQ's page:
Looking to plant a variety? Check out our garden samplers:
Our samplers feature adaptable varieties that do well across Northern and Southern parts of the US, they also come with our Guide to Growing Garlic to give you the knowledge needed to get your garlic off to a great start. Garlic samplers can have shallots or 1-pound bags of mixed culinary garlic as add-ons at a substantial discount.
Let us know if you have any questions. We're always happy to help.
Stay tuned for more tips and advice on growing great garlic!
We'll let you know when we have garlic scapes listed on the website.
We hope your gardens are beautiful and bountiful.
Sincerely,
Andrew & Kristine Winniford
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