Because it has been such a cold and wet summer there has been no need to irrigate at all. Clearly the garlic doesn’t seem to mind!
By mid June the garlic is well on its way. In the pics you see the scapes starting to develop on top.
In the next few weeks once the scapes have grown a full loop they need to be removed. The plant responds by redirecting its energy into producing a bigger bulb. Scapes are an excellent early season treat found on hard neck garlic varieties. They have a similar crisp veggie crunch like asparagus with a mild garlic flavour. They can be similarly roasted or pickled much like asparagus. Stay tuned for recipes!
Should scapes not be removed, they will eventually produce blossoms, and the plant will rightly want to puts its efforts there in order to produce another generation. Here they grow garlic “seeds” or bulbils. Which, depending upon the garlic variety, can be used to successfully grow garlic. In the future, if there is interest and I can find them I would like to try growing them here. Anyway will check in again when the scapes are ready to be removed. Cheers till then!
