Harvesting Garlic Scapes

In the fall we posted about planting our garlic.  It currently continues to grow however it has recently grown curling flower buds called garlic scapes and it's time to harvest and eat them!

A garlic scape is the flower bud and attached curling stem of the hard-necked garlic plant. The entire curl and bud are removed around late June before it flowers and while it is still curled to promote larger bulb growth.  When you see it curled, remove the entire stem and bud as far down (close to the leaves) as possible without breaking the leaves.

Harvested Curling Garlic Scapes

The garlic scape smells like garlic, tastes like garlic, seems like a scallion, has a texture similar to asparagus, and can be eaten in any way that garlic itself is eaten!  In my opinion, it would be a shame to waste the garlic scapes, especially since they are considered a delicacy in other countries!  Bonus for my family :-)

One Curling Garlic Scape

Some recipes for cooking garlic scapes:

• Parmesan Roasted Garlic Scapes
• Garlic Scape Pesto
• Grilled Garlic Scapes

Parmesan Oven Roasted Garlic Scapes

Too much to eat all in one day?  No worries, you can store the garlic scapes in a paper or produce bag in the refrigerator for several weeks to a month!  If you have a lot that you know you won't eat within the month (like me) then you can freeze them as well!  You can choose to blanch them or not, however I just put them in quart size freezer bags, suck out as much air as possible, and put them in the freezer.  So simple!!!

Stay tuned for our next post "Harvesting Garlic."  Follow us on social media or e-mail us so you don't miss it!

Thank you for visiting :-)

Sincerely,