growing garlic: part 2

Summer Solstice (June 21st) is when I stop watering my garlic patch.

But this year Mother Nature had other plans and watered it for me.

Fortunately, I was watching the 10-day forecasts

and knew there was some chances for rain coming up

so I hadn't broke ground yet.

Now the forecast is for 10 days of dry weather and the garlic is looking ready so I'm breaking ground.

How do I know they are ready?

The soft-necks have several dry leaves for one.

And the hard-necks' scapes have started their curling loops.

To "break the ground" I take a three-prong spade and insert it between the rows of garlic.

I gently pull back to break the roots but not entirely yank the garlic out of the bed.

The garlic is left in the bed in this state for 10 days. When you break the roots the garlic stops growing.

It's important that your garlic stays dry during this time because if it gets wet the bulbs could mildew.

Some leave the scapes on and let them make their "seeds"

(like small garlic cloves).

I find these too bothersome to keep and peel,

so I cut the scapes off and eat them.

They can be eaten raw and added to salads.

Or added to cooked dishes.

You can even steam them and eat them like asparagus.

Recently our lunch had them added to all three items:

Chopped raw in both the green and chicken salad.

And chopped pieces added to some leftover mashed potatoes,

a beaten egg and some seasonings to make fried potato pancakes.

Stay tuned for the upcoming harvest.