Monday, June 22, 2015

Garlic Scape Harvest


Not a long harvest post today, as we are transitioning between the cool weather crops of Spring and the heat loving crops of Summer. Last week both the "Charger" spinach and the "Red Planet" radish plants all bolted. Amazingly, the "Heirloom Cutting Mix" lettuce keeps plugging away. As the 10 day forecast show the temperatures in the high 90's by the end of the week, I do fear the end of the lettuce is near. But I certainly can't complain. My 4' X 2' bed has blessed me with a continual supply of beautiful, mixed leaf lettuce for weeks. Saturday I cut another 7.5 oz to enjoy.


The new entry on the harvest list is the garlic scapes. I noticed a week ago that the scapes were just forming. Sunday I harvested 8 scapes, weighing 6.3 oz, and made a batch of garlic scape pesto. The simple recipe uses garlic scapes, pistachios, basil, parmigiano-reggiano cheese and olive oil. The whole kitchen smelled like garlic! I think I will use some this week and freeze the rest for later use.


7 comments:

Daphne Gould said...

I'm going to be sad when my lettuce all bolts. I'm trying to keep up with picking it small enough, but we have had some hot weather. Luckily a cooler patch is about to come in.

Barb said...

I have really enjoyed the lettuce at the Farmer's Market. I hate for this annoying heat to make it bolt. The pesto looks delicious.

Mindy said...

Garlic scape pesto is sooo delicious!

Daisy said...

The garlic scapes are lovely! It's so fun when the vegetables are as beautiful as they are delicious.

Margaret said...

It's really amazing what a small bed of lettuce can produce. When I originally planned the garden beds a few years ago, I thought I would need an entire bed (8'x4') of lettuce. But as it turns out, a 4'x3' section is more than enough; even too much at times when the other salad making veg start rolling in like tomatoes & cucumbers.

Shaheen said...

I have never had garlic scapes, never seen it in the UK, but it must be available in trendy London areas, but i live in the Welsh valleys, maybe one day I will find some to try. Your garlic scap pesto looks fab, esp. with pistachio nuts too. Teh scapes look a bit like a white flamingo with green beaks pecking at the table :) made me smile

Lou@RainbowChard said...

Mmm, what a great looking pesto! I made one with rocket, basil and walnuts this week. I missed out the garlic as I was going to be talking to the public at an event that day and thought it best!