Garlic Planting Season is Here
Part II

MIKE: I can’t believe this is our last article of the season, what a fast summer.
SCOTT: Time flies when you’ve got your hands in the dirt, I mean medium… soil… mulch.
MIKE: Okay, Scott, let’s continue our garlic planting instructions.
SCOTT: Sounds good, we left off needing to talk about scapes. What are they and what do I need to do with them?
MIKE: The long, curvy green stalk has a flower bud at the tip, it is called the scape. They… kind of look like a cross between chives and scallions. Sometimes they are referred to as the garlic chive. However, garlic scapes and garlic chives are two completely different vegetables. This can confuse most rookie garlic growers. 
There are two main garlic chives, flat leaf and flowering. Flat leaf garlic chive looks like the standard western chive. The flowering chive has hollow, thin stalks with a flower bud at the tip. Garlic scapes are edible and tasty. There are numerous recipes for garlic scapes, just Google them.
SCOTT: That’s pretty simple, and a tasty bonus treat before the main crop harvest. Now, about harvesting, what do we need to do?
MIKE: Harvesting Hardneck Garlic Scapes should be done before the flower turns to seed. If you wait for the flower head to wither, the seeds will spread and germinate throughout your garden bed next season, something you don’t really want to happen. Scapes are best harvested when the stalks begin to curl. Some people prefer to cut the scapes. However, Garlic Scapes are best pinched off for culinary purposes.
Harvesting the garlic is usually done three to four weeks after picking the garlic scape. This is when about 50 percent of the plant has died back and started to yellow. Stop watering your garlic three to four days before harvesting and remember, garlic bulbs are delicate, so be careful when removing from the ground.
SCOTT: And finally, before we get to eat our grown garlic, we have to cure the garlic.
MIKE: Curing garlic is best done by leaving a short stem at the base of the garlic bulb. Keep your garlic bulbs out of the sun as it will evaporate moisture from the bulb. A cool, dark area with ample air circulation is suggested, with curing taking approximately 14 to 21 days. You are ready to cook/use your garlic when the green of the garlic scape, at the bulb, turns brown.
SCOTT: Garlic breath and all…Mike and I would like to thank all our readers for following along with our various garden discussions this season. We hope we’ve helped your garden, landscape or lawn to be the best it can! Keep in mind, we’ll have a garlic podcast episode coming out in mid-September with our guest, Lisa, The Midwest Garden Gal. Tune into Garlic Fest ’24, on: Your Midwest Garden Podcast.