Garlic scapes

As the garlic bulb grows, the stalk (or stem) of the plant grows and starts to curl. The garlic scape is the stalk of the garlic plant and, if harvested when still curly and tender, can be used in a number of recipes. If the scape is not cut off, the plant's food and energy is divided between it and the garlic bulb. Farmers will harvest the scape in order to direct all the nutrients toward the garlic bulb to help it grow.

Garlic scapes are now on sale at the Gore Place farm stand. Pick some up and try them out in your next meal!

Garlic scape

Three scapes

Update on garlic plants

The garlic that was planted in October grew well during the winter and will be ready for harvesting in July. The tops of the garlic can be cut off in June and eaten.

Garlic field

Close-up of Garlic plants

Garlic

Scott has started to plant garlic in the field north of the cottage. Not knowing which variety of garlic will perform well in our soil, he has selected three different varieties, all of which are reported to be very cold hardy and are of the hardneck type. Softneck varieties of garlic are the ones which are most commonly found in supermarkets. The hardneck varieties have a rigid stem, called a scape, that coils from the top of the garlic and has bulbils growing from it. Bulbils look like mini bulbs and can be cut off the top of the garlic and eaten or replanted.

The three varieties of garlic being planted are German Extra Hardy, Siberian, and Chrysalis Purple. A total of 65 pounds of seed garlic will be planted and if all goes well, we should have a total yield of 300-350 pounds of garlic around mid-July. The garlic will then go through a curing process of about 3 weeks.

North of Cottage field planted with garlic seed.
There will be four 100-foot rows of each garlic variety.