Question about garlic scapes

Dak · May 5, 2013

Looks like I have scapes starting to form, I'm guessing they're edible at this point, but at what point are they at their best?

TomNJ · May 5, 2013

Scapes are edible up to the point when they begin to get woody, usually as they straighten up. I pick mine when they are still in the curl and about 18" long. I have 400 hardnecks in the ground now so I'll be swimming in scapes in another month here is southwestern Virginia. Fortunately they keep a good one to two months in the fridge!

TomNJ/VA

Durgan · May 5, 2013

In 2012 I allowed about ten bulbs to retain their scrapes since I wanted some bulbils. Curiously the cloves from the hardnecks ,which had the scapes were more than perceptually larger than the bulbs with the scapes removed. I have always removed the scapes before they straighten out completely, using the much touted assumption that energy will be put into the cloves. Now I dispute this and will do some further testing.

This year I will not remove the scapes,allowing them to grow until harvest to determine if there is any advantage in this practice. Also I don't particularly enjoy eating the scapes.

joseph · June 12, 2013

The advantage of leaving scapes on is that it is less labor, and the difference in size is imperceptible to me.

The disadvantage of leaving scapes on the plant is that they form bulbils, and bulbils can become weedy next growing season.

I leave scapes on because I am interested in growing pollinated garlic seeds, and that requires flower stalks.

Durgan · June 12, 2013

[QUOTE=joseph;355499]The advantage of leaving scapes on is that it is less labor, and the difference in size is imperceptible to me.

The disadvantage of leaving scapes on the plant is that they form bulbils, and bulbils can become weedy next growing season.

I leave scapes on because I am interested in growing pollinated garlic seeds, and that requires flower stalks.

Maybe thou should read this.
http://www.gourmetgarlicgardens.com/overview.htm

joseph · June 13, 2013

Great summary. This is the type of garlic seeds that I am after: The offspring of a grain of pollen landing on the ovary of a flower. The plants I am working with mostly came out of the former Soviet Union, and would probably fall into the purple stripe or marbled purple stripe groups if they were classified.

Father'sDaughter · May 5, 2013

Ever since I started making garlic scape pesto, no one wants basil pesto anymore! And there's a really, really good recipe out on the web for garlic scape carbonara.

Like Tom, I also pick them while they are still curled and they do keep for a really long time in the fridge. I do know they sell for a small fortune around here at farm stands and farmers markets.

bower · May 5, 2013

Garlic scapes are so delicious, but even better, there were a few leftover scapes in my vegetable bin last summer that produced bulbils.

I was amazed to see them produce these 'flowers' that spit off their little cloves while lying in a bin with no water or nutrients. I planted them in the fall, just took the kelp mulch off them this morning and yessirree, I have baby garlics.

They wanted to be.....

Dak · May 5, 2013

So right now, they're at best 6 to 8" long, I should be able to expect that they will get a bit longer before they begin to straighten? So within the week? Last year I waited too long, some were a bit woody.

I think I will try letting one or two flower, just to see a garlic flower would be fun. The varieties I'm growing are Music and Burgundy, Burgundy is a creole garlic, no scapes.

Organic garlic is expensive (with shipping), so I've been saving large heads of garlic from the year before, it really does keep quite well.

Interesting, Durgan, I will try and make similar observations on the ones I let flower vs cut. Sounds like a YMMV scenerio.

Can't wait to try some scape recipes! Thank you all for your help.

rxkeith · May 5, 2013

cut them before they start to straighten. once they start they get woody. music will from a scape about 18 inches long, and uncut will form many little bulbils about the size of a grain of wheat. getting full size bulbs from those little suckers is a three year process. i've done it just to try it. you have to be real patient.
i have noticed that my bulbs tend to be smaller if the scapes are left on.

keith

meganp · June 22, 2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by rxkeith

cut them before they start to straighten. once they start they get woody. music will from a scape about 18 inches long, and uncut will form many little bulbils about the size of a grain of wheat. getting full size bulbs from those little suckers is a three year process. i've done it just to try it. you have to be real patient.
i have noticed that my bulbs tend to be smaller if the scapes are left on.

keith

this season is my fourth year growing garlic and I've always left the scapes on my hardnecks as I read that the bulbs store for longer if they're not cut off. I also use them as an indication of when to harvest - ie once they unfurl. I have also been growing on the bulbils to increase my stock and found it well worth the time and effort. I figure that if I just keep growing on the rounds and largest cloves from the resulting bulbs, it leaves more to eat

Have just reached the point where I'm growing enough bulbs to start cutting some scapes to eat so will be able to judge for myself whether the bulb size and storage is affected by cutting them.
Am growing about 4 varieties of hardnecks which I'm still trying to identify - definitely one rocambole; a porcelain, an Asiatic and maybe a purple stripe, based on bulbil size, number of cloves and bulb & clove wrapper colours.
Have been reading about the work on getting true seed from garlic and will experiment this year (I'm in the Southern Hemisphere 45s 168e so planted this season's garlic at the end of April). They've had two lots of snow cover already and a few shoots have started to peek through their mulch of pea straw.

tjg911 · June 23, 2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by meganp

this season is my fourth year growing garlic and I've always left the scapes on my hardnecks as I read that the bulbs store for longer if they're not cut off. I also use them as an indication of when to harvest - ie once they unfurl. I have also been growing on the bulbils to increase my stock and found it well worth the time and effort.

actually it is the opposite, cutting the scape allows for better bulb growth and storage. growing bulbils is a waste of time imo plant garlic using your stock choosing the largest cloves from the largest bulbs. maybe it works the opposite on the other side of the equator, i mean your seasons are opposite... just kidding.

tom

meganp · June 23, 2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by tjg911

actually it is the opposite, cutting the scape allows for better bulb growth and storage. growing bulbils is a waste of time imo plant garlic using your stock choosing the largest cloves from the largest bulbs. maybe it works the opposite on the other side of the equator, i mean your seasons are opposite... just kidding.

tom

Hello Tom
I grow garlic to eat and unlike you lucky North Americans, there is a very limited selection of hardneck garlic varieties for sale commercially in NZ

. Koanga, one of our oldest heirloom seed companies, only sells one hardneck!
I've acquired all my hardneck stock as gifts/trades from other gardeners and/or as bulbs I've bought for consumption (some of which may have been imported from the US!).
With so few cloves in hardneck bulbs, I want to eat them all and to ensure that I don't lose them, growing on the bulbils has been an inexpensive way to increase my stock.
When I first started growing garlic, I trawled the web for information and this article piqued my interest in growing bulbils. They have found that the size and vigour of the bulbs have been improved when grown from bulbils.
I've also read in more than one article/blog that some growers find that their hardneck bulbs store longer in that they don't sprout so quickly so I think that the juries still out on the question of storage ability.
However, this year I'll be able to judge for myself as I intend cutting some of my scapes, I've held off for all this time and want to taste them instead of just reading about how yummy they are

Durgan · May 6, 2013

http://www.gourmetgarlicgardens.com/overview.htm A Garlic Overview

Garlic, the sweet breath of life! Research story about garlic.

Tormato · May 13, 2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dak

Looks like I have scapes starting to form, I'm guessing they're edible at this point, but at what point are they at their best?

The point they are at their best is when they come in contact with your taste buds.

June 12, 2013	#4
joseph Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2013 Location: Cache Valley, N/E of The Great Salt Lake Posts: 1,244	The advantage of leaving scapes on is that it is less labor, and the difference in size is imperceptible to me. The disadvantage of leaving scapes on the plant is that they form bulbils, and bulbils can become weedy next growing season. I leave scapes on because I am interested in growing pollinated garlic seeds, and that requires flower stalks. Last edited by joseph; June 12, 2013 at 03:07 AM.

May 5, 2013	#2
TomNJ Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2009 Location: Floyd VA Posts: 767	Scapes are edible up to the point when they begin to get woody, usually as they straighten up. I pick mine when they are still in the curl and about 18" long. I have 400 hardnecks in the ground now so I'll be swimming in scapes in another month here is southwestern Virginia. Fortunately they keep a good one to two months in the fridge! TomNJ/VA

May 5, 2013	#3
Durgan Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Brantford, ON, Canada Posts: 1,341	In 2012 I allowed about ten bulbs to retain their scrapes since I wanted some bulbils. Curiously the cloves from the hardnecks ,which had the scapes were more than perceptually larger than the bulbs with the scapes removed. I have always removed the scapes before they straighten out completely, using the much touted assumption that energy will be put into the cloves. Now I dispute this and will do some further testing. This year I will not remove the scapes,allowing them to grow until harvest to determine if there is any advantage in this practice. Also I don't particularly enjoy eating the scapes.

June 13, 2013	#6
joseph Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2013 Location: Cache Valley, N/E of The Great Salt Lake Posts: 1,244	Great summary. This is the type of garlic seeds that I am after: The offspring of a grain of pollen landing on the ovary of a flower. The plants I am working with mostly came out of the former Soviet Union, and would probably fall into the purple stripe or marbled purple stripe groups if they were classified.

May 5, 2013	#7
Father'sDaughter Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: MA/NH Border Posts: 4,917	Ever since I started making garlic scape pesto, no one wants basil pesto anymore! And there's a really, really good recipe out on the web for garlic scape carbonara. Like Tom, I also pick them while they are still curled and they do keep for a really long time in the fridge. I do know they sell for a small fortune around here at farm stands and farmers markets.

May 5, 2013	#8
bower Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Newfoundland, Canada Posts: 6,794	Garlic scapes are so delicious, but even better, there were a few leftover scapes in my vegetable bin last summer that produced bulbils. I was amazed to see them produce these 'flowers' that spit off their little cloves while lying in a bin with no water or nutrients. I planted them in the fall, just took the kelp mulch off them this morning and yessirree, I have baby garlics. They wanted to be.....

May 5, 2013	#9
Dak Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: CA Posts: 494	So right now, they're at best 6 to 8" long, I should be able to expect that they will get a bit longer before they begin to straighten? So within the week? Last year I waited too long, some were a bit woody. I think I will try letting one or two flower, just to see a garlic flower would be fun. The varieties I'm growing are Music and Burgundy, Burgundy is a creole garlic, no scapes. Organic garlic is expensive (with shipping), so I've been saving large heads of garlic from the year before, it really does keep quite well. Interesting, Durgan, I will try and make similar observations on the ones I let flower vs cut. Sounds like a YMMV scenerio. Can't wait to try some scape recipes! Thank you all for your help.

May 5, 2013	#10
rxkeith Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Back in da U.P. Posts: 1,840	cut them before they start to straighten. once they start they get woody. music will from a scape about 18 inches long, and uncut will form many little bulbils about the size of a grain of wheat. getting full size bulbs from those little suckers is a three year process. i've done it just to try it. you have to be real patient. i have noticed that my bulbs tend to be smaller if the scapes are left on. keith

May 6, 2013	#14
Durgan Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Brantford, ON, Canada Posts: 1,341	http://www.gourmetgarlicgardens.com/overview.htm A Garlic Overview Garlic, the sweet breath of life! Research story about garlic.