The Garden at 485 Elm
People growing together:
a collaborative community garden in Montpelier, Vermont

Garlic scapes

Maybe you’ve seen them at the farmers market and wondered, “What is that and what do I do with it?”

For a brief time in late June, we relish the rare treat of garlic scapes. A scape is the flower bud of the garlic plant. Like garlic from the bulb, garlic scapes are delicious raw and cooked.

We snap off the garlic scape from each plant to redirect those nutrients for growing the garlic bulb, our intended crop. Removing garlic scapes is an easy garden task with a very tasty reward.

Here’s information and recipes for garlic scapes from Cedar Circle Farm in East Thetford, Vermont.

There is one scape per garlic plant. We take them all.

Garlic scapes lie alongside delicious pansies atop a bed of tangy wood sorrel. I chopped the scapes into small pieces and tossed them into a large salad.

Elephant garlic scapes are as beautiful to look at as they are delicious to eat.