@Whwoz; near/past plantin' time Down Under?

The Gotch

Pretty garlic, Gotch! The leaves on mine are starting to yellow a bit so I pulled one to see where they are. Half of the bulb had started to develop cloves and the other side was still round. Last year I harvested them June 15th and since these were planted the same time as the previous crop I guess they've got a few more weeks to go.

Cornelius_Gotchberg wrote: ↑Fri May 13, 2022 5:45 pm @Whwoz; near/past plantin' time Down Under?

The Gotch

Slap bang in the middle Gotch. This part of the world has a four month planting window depending upon the group to which the variety belongs. I have just put in a few today, but had most in a couple of weeks ago as per my glog. The earliest ones, being the non day length sensitive ones can go in as early as mid to late February, the only one I have is Italian Red. There are three others in Oz that I am aware of, these can be planted in colder sub-tropical areas, so south eastern Queensland and Northern New South Wales. In Tasmania they grow these in greenhouses. Season then progresses through Turbans and like, with the last of the Purple stripes being able to be planted in late June. It is possible to plant some creoles and silver skins in spring and get a reasonable crop off them apparently. I have not attempted this.

@GoDawgs; yer too kind...but June 15th? The humanity! That's Scape Scalping Season*** up this way.

The Ides of July is the rolling average in these here parts; be interesting to see the effect this cold, outlier Spring has on that.

With *** in the On Deck Circle, I'm looking forward to hearing some Garlic Rancher's Scape Recipes (you's too, @Whwoz)

One of my faves is to dice 'em up and add them raw to my (arguably) famous Tricked Out Spud Salad.

The Gotch

@Cornelius_Gotchberg I can tell you that degree days do matter to garlic. Our seasons are so variable here, there have been years when the garlic wasn't ready to harvest until September. Late July has been the earliest, with the average season being ready to pull by first or second week of August.
I don't think it matters if spring was extra cold, as long as you get warmed up and stay on track, you could still be on time, or even ahead of normal if it happened to be hmmm... extra warm and nice for a change?

@Bower; S-S-S-S-S-September??? Holy Buckets! The Ides of July has been an unerringly consistent pull date 'round here; we'll see.

Just took some of 2021's crop (which has stayed remarkably fresh/precious little "sprouting"!) upstairs for the lovely and long-suffering Mrs. Gotch to dice up to coat for my (arguably) superb Crispy Garlic Parmesan Crusted Salmon, which'll be put on the grill later.

https://cafedelites.com/crispy-garlic-parmesan-salmon/

The Gotch

Yesterday was finally time for me to to tally up survival rate for autumn planted garlic. Of the 559 planted 554 are now growing. 18 varieties had come up 100% and five had one missing in the row. This is the best survival I have ever had. Last fall I culled 10 varieties from planting and halved my regular planting amount. I was a bit concerned that if there will be losses, then our harvest will be much smaller than before. So far this season looks good.


Sari

@svalli; 559? Whoa Nellie! That's half again what we plant.

And Siberian right up front, there. Appropriate, you's not being too awful far FROM Siberia, and all...

The Gotch

So glad to hear the water voles have stayed out of your garlic patch this winter.

Our recent rain, last Sunday's watering, and the fast-approaching warm sunny weather, and this here crop's gonna Climb The Ladder!

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The Gotch

Sonofagun! Went out this a.m. and the scapes, like, kinda, you know, appeared overnight.

Little on the early side; others?

The Gotch

I have harvested about half the scapes on my hardneck garlic. Waiting for the others to finish curling.

Alright Garlic Ranchers (regardless of Hemisphere of Domicile, [ahem @Whwoz])...time to break out-n-post yer favorite Scape Recipes.

The Gotch

I have pickled the scapes:
https://www.seriouseats.com/pickled-garlic-scapes
I have made pizza with smoked moose meat, red onions and pickled garlic scapes. It may sound strange, but it was excellent combination.

I have made canned scape relish:
https://dishnthekitchen.com/dill-icious ... pe-relish/

I like making garlic scape pesto with sunflower or pumpkin seeds:
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/101 ... cape-pesto

I have dehydrated the chopped scapes to grind in a spice mill, but the pieces are so hard that the cheap spice mills break. I have also used the dried pieces in slow cooked stews, where they will soften.

Fresh scape season is so short, that I have tried to find multiple ways of preserving them.

Sari

@svalli; thanks, though moose meat's a little difficult to procure in this here neck of the woods.

We're heading up to Iron County, WI later this week, and along with visiting Little Finland (http://www.littlefinland.org/) and reading the local signage/mail boxes, expect to be awash in double-vowels...

The Gotch

Nothing fancy done with scapes here @Cornelius_Gotchberg , just cut up into 1/2 inch lengths, blanched, frozen and then added to vegetable stir fry.

My favorite use for fresh scapes is the simple one, as above. Cut up in bite size pieces and added to any stir fry, just cooked until emerald green.

Another favorite use for fresh scapes is to dice them up small 1/2 cm or less and add them raw to potato salad or use as a pizza topping, complementary to many flavors!

6-8 inch pieces of the flower end can be roasted, grilled or lightly fried and used in dramatic platings (as seen elsewhere!). I think this might be the most expedient way to use up scapes when you have too many. Other than passing on armloads to family and friends.

I tried it but am not a fan of the scape pesto, I prefer the full fire of garlic bulbs in my pesto.
I have tried freezing them both blanched and unblanched, either way they didn't seem to be long keepers in the freezer and lost some quality compared to the fresh article. A friend tried making pickles, but I think they were overcooked. They lose too much character for me when they pass that glowing emerald green moment from fresh. And maybe the recipe had too much vinegar, the delicate taste of the scapes was overwhelmed.

After years of composting scapes, this year worked out a deal with a market grower in the area. He came out and picked the patch over the course of 10 days. This year they came on quick and mostly all at once. Somewhat unusual here.The price they bring at market is unbelievable He guessed they weighed out to 150 plus lbs. That will be buy a tank full of gas or two this summer.

Never could find a way to use them in cooking. Too strong for my tastes. Last years cloves are still being eaten so no need for scapes.

Market indeed, is a great place for scapes to go. There's lots of demand for the fresh article. I do often unload a bunch to my friends for their CSA, as well as my full circle of relatives.

This stuff was planted in December. Came up a little late, maybe. But looking good with the extra wide spacing, and the dozen or more carp under each raised row in spring of 21. That is real-deal long term fertilizer.

Pics from 5/31. Some have scapes starting a few days back. I plan to let a good percentage develop bulbils and try that route.