Scapes are a surprise treasure from the garden.
Last Spring a girlfriend excitedly posted on Facebook that it was garlic scape season in Vermont. She was making pesto.
A dozen questions popped into my head including, “What the heck is a scape?”
So, I hit the Internet, and it turns out I’d been missing a golden opportunity in my garden. The flower shoots for garlic (and onions) are called scapes and they are edible.
They are a mild, yet wonderfully flavored, predecessor to the garlic bulb I’ll harvest later.
And, by clipping the scapes off, I am actually transferring those flower producing resources into a bigger, better garlic or onion bulb.
I love learning new things.
My first harvest yielded a few scapes from my elephant garlic and a cluster of onion scapes. We were barbecuing so I got out the cast iron skillet and tossed in:
- a splash of olive oil
- 1 1/2 cups brussel sprouts, halved
- 4 slices, pre-cooked bacon chopped
- 3 garlic and 6 onion scapes, cut into 2 inch pieces
- Montreal Steak Seasoning, to taste
We put the skillet on the grill next to the steaks and stirred occasionally until the steaks were done.
Yu-um!
Now I’m just as excited as my friend for “scape season.” Hopefully the rest of my garlic scapes will pop up around the same time so I have enough for some pesto.
Tip: If you need to hold onto your scapes for a few days, just wrap the cut ends with a damp paper towel and store in the refrigerator.
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