Garlic Scapes

In the life cycle of garlic its attempt at flowering and producing seed creates what we know and enjoy at the "scape". This long green scallion like shoot has a relatively short window, so enjoy earlier in the season while they last.

Cooking Tips

Garlic scapes have a strong, garlicky flavor, but like garlic cloves, their intensity is diminished with cooking. The entire scape is edible and delicious, from tip to stalk. The brave at heart eat garlic scapes raw, but for the rest of us there are a variety of ways to cook them. Perhaps the simplest manner of preparing these buds is to toss them in olive oil and sea salt, and either bake them for about 25 minutes or sauté them in a pan until tender. Alternately, they can be wonderful when well cooked on the grill or tossed into a stir-fry with other veggies. If cooked long enough, these scapes will have a mellow, garlicky flavor that will make an excellent side dish or appetizer to any spring meal.

Storage Tips

Stored in a plastic bag in your refrigerator, garlic scapes should keep for well over a week.

Nutrition

Garlic is high in antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. Garlic is believed by some to lower cholesterol, fight heart disease, and prevent the common cold. Garlic is anti-bacterial, and was even used as an antiseptic in World War II.

Field Notes

We have our hard-neck varieties of garlic to thank for these treats, which are produced in an attempt at flowering, even though garlic plants are infertile and unable to create seeds. We pick these immature flower buds to encourage the plant to send energy to the garlic heads, and as a bonus get to enjoy these delicious scapes. Hard-neck garlic varieties are rarely seen in grocery stores, but there are an enormous variety of different types and flavors. We grow several cultivars of hard-neck garlic on the farm, and in early summer it is a fun job to go up and down the rows, easily snapping off each plant's scape between your thumb and forefinger.