scapes!

Scapes are just so beautiful.

I love when they arrive every summer.

They curl up and down and all around themselves.

So serpentine.

So graceful.

 

So playful.

It's like they're saying

s

ss

scapes!

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The whole reason for cutting scapes

is to concentrate the growing-energy

to the bulb of garlic underground instead of to the scape,

Basically, the idea is to make bigger bulbs.

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So what does one do with all of these scapes?

Make pesto!

Lots and lots of it!

Follow your basic basil pesto recipe, substituting the scapes for the basil.

Use whichever nut or seed you prefer

(pine nuts, walnuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, etc.)

Toasted is usually more flavorful.

If it's too heavy on the garlic flavor, tame it with some parsley or lemon.

It freezes very well!

Another easy thing is to toss them in a stir fry

or chop them up and saute them in whatever you're making for dinner.

(Not that I do this,

being the non-cook in the house...)

But I watch this garden-revelry cooking all the time.

It's so fun to watch

the garden turn into dinner!

But we forgot to cut a few of the scapes.

And I'm glad we did because look how sweet it is

when they rise up above the rows of garlic

like green mother herons

with their long beaks full of seed.

Even if those garlic bulbs end up being a little bit smaller
I don't mind because
I think every bed of garlic needs a
green mother heron to look over it.