Tips & Tricks: What are garlic scapes?

Garlic scapes grow out of hardneck garlic plants, they are the stem and flower bud that if left alone will turn into a garlic flower. There are a number of options for these, as you can leave them on the plant and grow a flower (but the plant will put all the energy into the flower and not the bulb) or you can harvest them (this will allow the plant to continue to focus on growing the bulb)

Leaving the garlic scapes on

Although a lot of gardeners do not do this, as it required more time and dedication you can save the seed from the garlic flower - which will grow if you leave the garlic scapes on - this will allow you to have many seeds which you can sow the next year, but will mean you will not get a good bulb out of the clove you planted.

Garlic seeds take a lot longer to produce a garlic bulb than a clove, as the first year they grow to the size of a clove and the second year they grow to the size of a bulb. However, a good idea if you're looking for a wild area for bulb garlic as it's basically free and produces a ton of garlic.

Leave the flower on to dry out
Once dried cure the flower seeds in a well ventilated area for a few days
Store in a dry place out of direct unlight
Plant in the fall

Why take the scapes off

There are a number of reasons why you would want to take the scapes off, they are extremely tasty, it allows the bulb to continue to develop and stops the bulb from going to flower, they make fabulous allotment gifts as you cannot buy them in the supermarket so most people will have never tried them. They taste like onion, spring onion and garlic blended.

You will see them popping up between late spring and early summer, giving you a second harvest of garlic goodness
Cut off the entire stem tip, roll up and store or eat
Cook them in recipes that you would usually use garlic cloves or spring onions
Sautee, puree, roast, pickle, fry, raw, in soups, omelettes, pestos or salads