WHEN GARLIC BOLTS: MANAGING AND USING GARLIC SCAPES

Have you noticed a flower stalk on your garlic plant? Here is how to handle it so your garlic bulbs can reach their full potential.

If your garlic goes to seed, cut off the flower stalk. This helps the plant focus its energy on growing the garlic bulb instead of producing seeds. Leave the garlic bulb underground to grow bigger. It will need more time to mature after the flower stalk has been removed.

Discovering the best ways to care for garlic as it matures underground can lead to larger, more flavorful bulbs. Read on to uncover effective methods for optimizing garlic bulb growth for a successful harvest.

REMOVING GARLIC SCAPES FOR BETTER BULBS

When your hardneck garlic plant starts to produce a tall stem with a flower on top, called a ‘scape,’ it is making seeds. Garlic scapes are the curly, green shoots that grow from the top of garlic plants before the bulbs are fully grown. To help the garlic bulb grow bigger, remove the scape as soon as you see it. Removing the scape will allow the garlic to redirect its energy to focus on growing a larger bulb. According to a 2017 study by the University of Guelph in Ontario, garlic yield increased by 20-30 % when the scapes were removed. Removal of scapes will ensure that your garlic bulbs will be as big and tasty as possible when you harvest them.

Let the garlic bulb keep growing after you remove the scape. It needs more time underground to become fully developed. When the leaves turn yellow and start to die back, usually in late spring or early summer, it is a sign that the garlic bulb is ready to be harvested. When you leave a scape on your garlic plant it will begin to straighten up. Tall, straight scapes are a sign your garlic is getting close to ready to harvest.

GARLIC SCAPES: TASTE AND PRESERVATION TIPS

You can leave the scapes on your garlic, but it is possible that doing so will make the garlic cloves taste more bitter. The scapes may absorb some of the flavor and aroma that would have been available to the garlic bulb otherwise.

Note that the scapes are edible and have a unique taste. Some describe it as a blend of onion, scallion, and garlic. Milder than garlic cloves, they have a fresher, green taste. Scapes can be harvested for use in cooking, though don’t expect the exact flavor you would have from a garlic clove.

Many process scapes for later cooking in the following ways:

Freezing: Place chopped scapes into ice cube trays for adding flavor to recipes in convenient servings. Store the frozen cubes of scapes in a freezer bag. Frozen scapes are good for up to six months.
Drying: Using a dehydrator or a low setting on your oven, dry the scapes. Dried scapes can last for a few months when in a sealed container and kept in a cool, dark place.
Refrigerating: Scapes can last up to three weeks in the fridge if kept in a sealed container.

SCAPES ARE POPULAR WOLDWIDE

Many countries and regions have culinary traditions that prominently feature garlic scapes in their cuisine. Here are a few examples:

South Korea: Garlic scapes, known as “maneul jjong,” are commonly used in Korean cuisine. They are often stir-fried, used in soups, or pickled to enhance dishes with their mild garlic flavor.
China: Garlic scapes, referred to as “suan miao” or “garlic flower stems,” are frequently used in Chinese cooking. They are stir-fried, added to noodles, or used in various vegetable dishes.
Italy: In Italian cuisine, garlic scapes are known as “aglio scapece” or “aglio di serpe.” They are used in salads, pasta dishes, and as a topping for pizzas, adding a fresh and slightly garlicky flavor.
France: Garlic scapes, termed as “tiges d’ail,” are utilized in French cooking to impart a delicate garlic taste to dishes such as soups, stews, and sauces.

CAN YOU PLANT GARLIC SCAPES?

You can plant garlic scapes. They are not only tasty in cooking but can also be used to grow new garlic bulbs. If you let your scapes grow, they will develop into a flower that has bulbils. Bulbils look like miniature garlic cloves. A flowering garlic plant will produce 20-100 bulbils in its flower. We counted the bulbils as we plucked them out of our largest garlic flower. There were 37.

Because a garlic plant produces many more bulbils than cloves, it is more cost effective to plant new garlic from bulbils, especially if you are growing garlic for commercial use. Do keep in mind that growing garlic from bulbils will take much longer than growing garlic from a clove. You won’t see a bulb the size of a single clove of garlic for an entire year. Be prepared to wait a full 2-3 years for a bulbil to produce a harvest size garlic bulb, with cloves similar in size to what you see in grocery store garlic.

Here are some steps for planting garlic scapes:

Let your garlic proceed to flower by not harvesting the scape.
Once the garlic has flowers, break apart bulbils and dry them in a well-ventilated area for a few days. They will dry faster than garlic bulbs because they have not been underground.
Store dried bulbils in a cool, dry place.
Plant the bulbils in well-draining soil in the fall. Be sure to plant them away from your grown-from-clove garlic so that you don’t accidentally harvest bulbil-grown garlic too soon.
Mulch around the bulbil-grown garlic and keep it weed free for 2-3 years.
Watch for clumps of garlic as the newly formed bulbs multiply. Separate the clumps and space the tiny garlic bulbs out to create more thriving garlic plants.

The bulbil-grown garlic is perennial and will reappear each spring, like other other bulb plants, such as iris flowers. Garlic plants naturally repel bugs so you could use it as a long-term pest deterrent around your favorite plants while you wait.

We found a wonderful, related article on the website Practical Self Reliance:
Find it HERE: GROWING GARLIC FROM SEED (TOP SETTING BULBILS)