Harvested garlic scapes today

Oh boy! Thank you so much! I'm excited for the first garlic. Thank you again for your help. LM

we have scapes!!! .....just found them a couple days ago....

this is the first time to grow garlic with real scapes.....we do have one volunteer garlic from last year that sent up a flower......and we wernt sure if that was a scape or not....it still has its flower...

some of our other garlic in our SFG has scapes.....long curly ones....they are so cute!!

i read thru this thread....havent been to any of the links yet....but im still confused on what to do.....what happens if you leave the scapes on the plant?....if they have to be cut off how far down do we cut them.....do you eat only the top part that looks like a dragons tail

hugs

rose who is off to read the links

LM, it is advisable to not pull the garlic out, but lift it from underneath with a fork, to loosen the roots before pulling the bulb up.

Thanks for thread guys & gals , proir to this year I have never had garlic that produced " scrapes " .

I wonder if letting one go further will produce tiny bulblets which can be used for starting new garlic ?



I have only used supermarket garlic's this year .. Chinese , Spanish French and elephant garlic where I can't remember it came from ( senile old fella that I am )

About 50% has the scrapes on it , so tomorrow I'll cut the biggest scrapes and see what thay turn out like when we eat then with our smoked haddock kedgerie and sugar snap peas as they have just started to uncurl and get a starting to firm up stem.

We cut our scapes before they have straightened out, but after the pocket where the bubils are forming has started to swell. Bear in mind, there are many, many different varieties of hardneck garlic, your type may have a different scape dynamic. The long, pointed tip protecting the developing bubils can be tough and grassy past the bubils, so I cut it off before cooking the scapes. Just feel along the sheath above the bubils to ascertain where it becomes fibrous--usually about 1/2 to 1 inch above the bubil pocket. How long you cut the scapes, again, depends on variety and age. The older the scape, i.e., larger bubils, the shorter I cut them because as they uncurl, obviously they are getting tougher. The pizza we had last night had 6-7" scapes arranged on it with the bottoms in the center, the lightly curled scapes fanned out toward the edge like petals--pretty. (I'd steamed the scapes about 3 minutes to assure they would cook adequately on the pizza.)

I recently read that you should leave one or two garlic scapes to grow straight and set viable bubils to indicate the plants' maturity and readiness for digging. I'm testing this theory to see (a) if the bulb is really that much smaller, and (b) if it is an accurate indicator of maturity. Would like to trade results on this theory with others willing to try it. And yes, the mature bubils can be planted for a new crop....you just have to wait a year or two for them to grow to a marketable size. Nonna

Oh, forgot with above post, but read in newspaper the other day about a delicious way to serve scapes....with your barbeque! Take trimmed scapes and toss with a bit of extra virgin olive oil, then lightly salt with coarse sea salt (used a smoked sea salt). Lay scapes on the grill around your burgers, steak, whatever. After they've developed a bit of char marks on one side, turn them and cook a bit longer, to crisp-tender. Remove to a nearby plate and eat as an appetizer while you finish cooking the meat, other veggies, etc.

This is the first year I've grown garlic so I'm completely unfamiliar with when to harvest. I found this link yesterday regarding the scapes as I had noticed them and wondered if that meant it was time.

Anyway, having read the thread, followed the links and gaining some knowledge, I snipped mine this morning and made the pesto on the maryjane page. I have to say...it's powerful...and it's divine...

I plan on eating it tonight with some lightly toasted bread I made today accompanied by a nice glass of red...bliss!

TheGinPalace wrote:This is the first year I've grown garlic so I'm completely unfamiliar with when to harvest. I found this link yesterday regarding the scapes as I had noticed them and wondered if that meant it was time.

Anyway, having read the thread, followed the links and gaining some knowledge, I snipped mine this morning and made the pesto on the maryjane page. I have to say...it's powerful...and it's divine...

I plan on eating it tonight with some lightly toasted bread I made today accompanied by a nice glass of red...bliss!

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