“I have often thought that if heaven had given me choice of my position and calling, it should have been on a rich spot of earth, well watered, and near a good market for the productions of the garden. No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, and no culture comparable to that of the garden. Such a variety of subjects, some one always coming to perfection, the failure of one thing repaired by the success of another, and instead of one harvest a continued one through the year. Under a total want of demand except for our family table, I am still devoted to the garden. But though an old man, I am but a young gardener.”

– Thomas Jefferson,

August 20, 1811

I often go back to this quote, a powerful reminder that no matter how long the gardener keeps at it, the garden always has something to teach. Such is the case this summer with Marjorie’s garlic.

She planted the seed cloves last autumn, after the first good frost, and covered their bed with a thick layer of straw to prevent winter heaving. Roots grew until ice formed in the soil. In spring she pulled away the straw, making way for onion-like shoots to emerge from sun-warmed soil.

Through spring and early summer, I paid scant attention to the growing garlic shoots, my gardener’s mind on melons, tomatoes and carrots. But in July, the garlic bed was transformed to center ring as each leafy plant sent up a sturdy 4-foot-tall scape with a twisting loop near its top, then a cluster of tiny bulbils followed by a long pointed tip. Looping and pointing their fingers in every direction, the garlic scapes were the clowns of our summer garden.

Experienced growers recommend removing the scapes early to promote larger bulb development, but we left them until late July, finding great pleasure in them. Marjorie remarked that the patch looked like a crowd of accusing fingers, each pointing at the other and shouting, “She did it!”

In July we found garlic scapes for sale at the Blue Hill Farmers’ Market, baskets loosely stacked with scapes cut just below the loop, and wondered how they were used. A little Internet research turned up recipes for Garlic Scape Pesto, Lemon Scented Pasta with Garlic Scapes and Veggies, and Garlic Scape Soup, to name just a few. Adding sliced garlic scapes to a stir-fry or sauce imparts a milder, more subtle garlic flavor than the cloves.

I learned that scapes should be harvested while in full curl (they straighten somewhat as they mature), snapped like a bean rather than cut. As I harvested ours, albeit late, I noticed that they still snapped readily just below the curl, giving off a mild garlic odor. Removing the lower portion of the scape required pruners.

We’ve learned that not all garlic types produce flowering scapes, only hardneck garlic, Allium ophioscorodon, the type recommended for cold climates. It doesn’t produce the largest heads, but the individual cloves are large and the flavor is preferred by true garlic lovers.

It is early August and the garlic circus has closed, the hardneck scapes removed and the remaining leaves slowly dying. Harvest time is near. When the leaves are gone, or nearly gone, we will dig the bulbs and brush off the soil, spread them out on the porch to dry for a week or so, then braid them for winter storage.

We’ve learned a lot about garlic this year. Next time we will remove the scapes sooner, saving the looping tops for pesto.

Send queries to Gardening Questions, P.O. Box 418, Ellsworth 04605, or to rmanley@ptc-me.net. Include name, address and telephone number.