Garlic Scape Pesto
Garlic Scapes are the stem and seed pot of the garlic bulb. Garlic is usually planted sometime between September and October. The cloves are separated from the bulbs, some of the papery skin is rubbed off and the cloves are planted separately, about 10 - 12" apart in rows. The garlic bulb must go through a period of vernalization, which is basically the cold period through the winter. This vernalization is necessary for the plant to flower the following season. However, when producing garlic, we don't want the plant to go to flower, so the scapes which harbor the seed pods are removed while they are still green. These scapes have the same garlic flavor as the bulbs and are widely used in cooking but only available for a very short period of time. This year, being that we had such a mild winter and early spring, the scapes are about a month early. We typically don't harvest them until the beginning of July. The remaining leaves o...