Garlic scapes are thought of as sort of a byproduct of growing garlic. But they are a very tasty and useful byproduct.
Many people look forward to the garlic scape harvest every year. It comes a month or so earlier than when your garlic will be ready to harvest.
Though it is often thought of as a sort of accidental harvest, garlic scapes are a delicacy to many chefs and home cooks.
There’s another reason to pick garlic scapes, and that is for the size and quality of the plant (and the resulting harvest of garlic bulbs).
Here, get the down-low on how, when, and why you should pick garlic scapes...and a bit about what to do with them after.
Jump to:
- What Are Garlic Scapes?
- Why is it Important to Pick Garlic Scapes?
- What Types of Garlic Grow Scapes?
- When Do Garlic Scapes Grow?
- When Should You Pick Garlic Scapes?
- Pick scapes even if they’re more curled
- How Do You Pick Garlic Scapes?
- How Can You Use Garlic Scapes?
- Want to Know More About Planting and Growing Garlic? Check Out These Other Articles:
What Are Garlic Scapes?
Garlic scapes are the flowering stalks of the hard neck garlic plant.
Scapes are round stems that grow up out of the center of hard neck garlic heads and then form a small bulb-looking bud that will turn into a flower if you leave it.
Why is it Important to Pick Garlic Scapes?
It’s important to pick garlic scapes so that they don’t rob too much energy from growing and forming garlic bulbs.
If you don’t remove the scapes, your garlic heads will certainly suffer. You will get smaller heads of garlic, and they will often have fewer cloves, too.
As the bulbs form and the heads grow in the final weeks before harvest, if you don’t take off the scapes the energy will be split between the scapes and the bulb. The garlic head is what we really want, so we want to give it all it needs to grow into a well-formed head with full cloves – and plenty of them.
If you let the scapes stay on the plants and turn to flower and seed, you’re bound to have garlic heads that are half the size or even smaller than what you’re expecting.
What Types of Garlic Grow Scapes?
Not all types of garlic grow scapes. Only hardneck garlic grows scapes.
Hardneck garlic is the garlic that has a central stalk or stem that comes up through the middle of the cloves and the cloves form around the stem. They’re nice to work with because they come apart easier, have larger cloves, and are usually easier to peel.
Softneck garlic does not grow that central stem. It has a stalk and leaves like hardneck, but the cloves fill the entire bulb (they’re just smaller in the middle). Softneck is generally thought to be the stronger, better-tasting of the two types.
If you grow softneck garlic, you won’t get scapes.
The different types of garlic (of which there are many varieties) are better suited to different growing locations (usually hardneck in the north and softneck in the south).
If you’re familiar with growing garlic but have never had or heard of harvesting garlic scapes, there’s a good chance that softneck garlic varieties are dominant in your area.
When Do Garlic Scapes Grow?
Garlic scapes appear at different times depending on your zone, climate, or growing location.
Generally speaking, expect to see garlic scapes on hardneck varieties of garlic about three or four weeks before you expect to harvest your garlic.
The window of time can vary from March through June, depending on where you live. The best way to handle it is to keep a watch for when the stalks start to grow up from the middle with a pointy bulb-like bud on them.
Estimate when your garlic is supposed to be ready to harvest where you live, and then go five weeks back and start looking for scapes then.
When Should You Pick Garlic Scapes?
Pick garlic scapes when the scape stalks begin to curl. If the scapes are pointing straight up, give them a few more days.
Do keep an eye on the garlic scapes because they can grow one to two inches per day, which means that a day or two can make a difference in the “prefect” time to pick them.
The best time to pick the scapes is when the curl is about 180 degrees of the curve (basically, a semicircle). This is when the scapes are at their most tender.
Pick scapes even if they’re more curled
Don’t worry if you missed the window of “perfection” for picking your garlic scapes. Even if you have a deeper curl or full circle (or even two), harvest the scape. They’re still perfectly good but might be a little stiffer or woodier.
Scapes are good at any time, but the more tender, the better and more versatile they’ll be.
If the scapes are less tender than you’d like, use them for dehydrating or for pesto.
You do want to get the scapes off sooner rather than later and ideally before flowers start to open. This is so that the most energy possible can go into your garlic heads and not get wasted on the flowering scapes.
How Do You Pick Garlic Scapes?
Picking garlic scapes is easy, but there are a few choices of methods you can use:
- Snip the stalk off with a pair of clippers or scissors
- Bend and snap the stalk off (usually the fastest and easiest method and the one that leaves you with tender stalks all the way through)
- Pull up and pull out the stalks from the center of the plant (but be careful not to pull the head of garlic out of the ground if you choose to try this method). This method doesn’t work as well on older scapes.
Pick a point towards the base of the scape, on the straight part of the stem, then firmly but gently bend the stem to the side and snap it off.
Make sure you only snap or cut the stem off above the top of the leaves, which will lay out on either side of the stem. The stalk comes out of the middle of the top of where the leaves are formed.
And that’s it! Garlic scapes are very easy to harvest, and the work goes quickly.
Once you get the hang of it, you'll be done in no time at all. Then, you just have to decide what you’ll do with all that garlicky goodness (but we’ve got suggestions for that, too).
How Can You Use Garlic Scapes?
Use garlic scapes anywhere you would use fresh or chopped garlic. You can substitute garlic scapes for fresh garlic cloves.
Here are some other great ways to use garlic scapes:
- Sautee
- Add to vegetables and stir fry
- Make pesto
- Chop and dehydrate
- Dehydrate and then pulverize in a food processor or blender to make dried garlic scape powder
- Chop and use fresh on salads
- Chop and use to replace chives
- Use as a garnish
- Pickle garlic scapes
- Use in soups, stews, and sauces
Want to Know More About Planting and Growing Garlic? Check Out These Other Articles:
If you’ve never grown garlic, it’s time! It’s so easy to do and the plants are really low maintenance.
If you’ve grown them but have some questions you want answered, these articles are sure to help you, too.
And they’ve got some tips, tricks, and hacks to help along the way.
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