How to Grow and Harvest Garlic Scapes

How to Grow and Harvest Garlic Scapes

I’ll never understand why garlic scapes aren’t more popular. Outside of the community of garlic growers, most people I talk to have never even heard of them!

Most grocery stores don’t sell them, though if you are lucky you may be able to find them seasonally at your local co-op or farmers market.

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The truth is that these long, swirly green stems you see growing out of garlic plants in early summer are not only edible, they’re exceptionally delicious.

They have a mild garlicky flavor and can be eaten raw, cooked, or even pickled – my favorite.

What’s more, they are a natural part of the plant’s growing process and a cinch to harvest. Continue reading to learn all about growing, picking, and using garlic scapes.

Scapes form naturally as part of the reproductive cycle of hardneck garlic plants. Note that most softneck varieties do not form scapes.

These round, firm stalks shoot out from the center of the plant in early summer and are ready to harvest about a month or so before the bulbs.

They grow above the height of the leaves, eventually curling around once or twice.

If you don’t remove them, they will first form a cluster of small flowers and eventually produce bulbils, which can be harvested later and propagated to form new plants.

Though it is possible to grow new plants from the bulbils, it takes much longer than sowing cloves, about two or three years from planting to harvest.

The flowers and bulbils are edible as well, though it would take quite a bit of effort to peel and cook enough of the tiny bulbils to flavor a dish.

If you