Green garlic is just baby garlic (think veal) and is typically harvested when farms are thinning out their rows of garlic, though many farms plant garlic specifically to harvest it as green garlic. So let’s get down to all of the great ways you can prepare green garlic and garlic scapes, and also see how they can be used instead of hard garlic for a more mild flavor in many recipes. I love garlic, so for me, the more ways you can use its various forms the better. Trimming the scapes allows for two things to happen, 1) you get to enjoy the tender stems before they get too woody and are inedible, and 2) by removing the scapes you reduce the drain on the garlic’s nutrients and allow the garlic to better mature before being harvested and hardened. Scapes typically appear in spring and early-summer and are trimmed off before the pods open.
Garlic scapes, on the other hand, are the bright-green curly stem and seed pod/flower that appear on a more-mature garlic plant after it is no longer green garlic. In fact, green garlic is probably at your local Co-op or locally-sourcing food store right now, so I highly suggest getting it before it goes out of season. I loved watching Wheel of Fortune as a kid (I had a thing for word games and puzzles), and I became truly giddy just now because green garlic and garlic scapes are a true “Before & After.” Green garlic is young garlic that is harvested in later winter / early spring before the bulb has started to grow, while the leaves are still tender and the stalk is more similar to a thin leek.
“Pat, I’d like to solve the puzzle! Green Garlic – Garlic Scapes!” You’re welcome, Wheel of Fortune.
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