Do you know what these are? They are garlic scapes. I am growing garlic for the first time. I planted the bulbs last fall, and they've been doing well this year.
I really don't know much about garlic growing but I do know that hard neck garlic forms a "scape" or curled seed pod that needs to be removed. I know that the scapes are edible but I'm not sure what to do with them. I added them to a chicken asparagus stir fry the other night and they were delicious. They tasted like mild garlic.
Here is my little garlic patch. There is four short rows, two of hard neck garlic, and two of soft neck garlic. I just put on some compost so the bed looks real good right now!Garlic is super simple easy to grow. Just plant in the fall, and other then keep weeded, there is nothing to do until the late summer harvest! Now that is my kind of gardening! Last year I ordered my garlic bulbs online and found that many varieties were sold out in the fall. If you are interested in growing garlic, I would place your order now.
Any of you have any other ideas to use garlic scapes?
I too am a novice garlic grower. This is the first time that I have grown the hard neck and the garlic scapes were new to me. I appreciate the tip about removing them and using in cooking for mild garlic flavor. Do you know if it would hurt to leave them on? I wondered if it effected the garlic bulb negatively if you don't remove it?
ReplyDeleteThanks again and enjoy this growing season!
Josie-
DeleteMy understanding was that you will get a better bulb if you cut off the scape. If you let the scape on, the garlic plant will try to make seeds instead of putting it's strength into the bulb.
But you can try cutting off half the scapes and seeing if there is a difference.
Gina