Remember this thing I posted (mixed in with loads of flowers, I know, it got ignored).
Well! It turns out this a called a garlic scape. They are only found on hard-neck garlic.
I never buy garlic to plant: I shove whatever I bought in the shop into the ground when it gets all growy-green, dried up and inedible, therefor I have never had a clue what type of garlic I was growing. Turns out that over the years I’ve been doing this (except for this beastie), we have only purchased the soft-neck variety for cooking.
It turns out you can eat the scape, too! Google ‘eating garlic scapes.’ How cool is that?
I won’t eat this one as it would be a paltry meal. I’ll take the other path that says when the scape is less like a snake and more like a stake and standing upright, it is time to harvest. I might split the bulb and make more for next year as I love garlic and some of the recipes out there sound delicious.
Thank you to Quickcrop.ie for the education in garlic scapes.
heretherebespiders 
I began growing my own late last year. I think I planted t too late – ie spring summer and dd not realise a decent crop.
I will be replanting in a month – winter down here – and after around six months I hope we’ll have some nifty garlic.
When autumn/winter arrives look for garlic in the market with little shoots; buy it and plant it out.
You never know what might turn up!
Oh, btw. Those gazanias I planted the other week …. three tiny ‘heads’ appeared today! I’ll post pics soon.
How cool is that?
I’m very jealous! Still haven’t seen my gazania in full, open bloom since that first day. It’s warmish, but not sunny.
I usually avoid the garlic in sprout, as it goes crazy in the house. I did dry and braid my crop last year, but even some of that has grown shoots! It was a right pain in the arse, too. At this point, I should chop n freeze it. This year’s batch is coming soon. Sigh.
I think himself bought Chinese elephant garlic by mistake once, and that is the source of my hard-neck. He was apologetic as we always try to buy local.
It’s elegant, isn’t it? For such powerful-flavoured items, the who allium family is elegant and beautiful. You’d expect onion flowers to produce something a bit more delicate, to look at them
Some ornamental alliums are quite lovely puffballs. I guess this one isn’t going to open, maybe? Sure hasn’t gotten any larger at the tip in the two weeks since I took the picture.
Patience… onions take a long time to grow and 2 weeks isn’t long enough.
Oh I don’t do onions at all – not even for pretty. The are my nemesis. Garlic, however, is one of my best friends! Go figure.
Thanks for the information, I never heard of garlic scapes. I will definitely go check it out.
I was surprised also! Quite coincidental I get email from the website I thanked and they did an article on them. Any other year, I’d not have known what they were on about!
Cool
I’m up on fresh garlic but this is a new one to me. Probably because I’m so busy harvesti g fresh garlic I don’t give them chance to mature. Sounds good though.
Only two of us here, so we can only eat so much of it! At least I don’t let it go to waste. Wonder if he bought elephant garlic one day? Think that is a hard-neck type…
I don’t touch Chinese garlic, and my bulbs came from the local abono shop. Can’t remember what that is in English. Probably because we don’t have them!
He sure wouldn’t have done it on purpose! He’s not in the best of health and gets scatty sometimes. But I’ll forgive, as long as I don’t have to do the shopping!
“Garlic scape” sounds like a form of abstract modern art. 😀
Ha! Rather looks more Art Deco!
I hadn’t had garden grown garlic till recently when my loquacious garden guy started getting a good crop and hanging the surplus to dry for me out back. Amazing flavor. But so far I have not seen a scape.
I have a garlic cookbook somewhere that actually includes a dessert mousse. Who’s brave enough to try that?
I’d have a look and see what is in it, but no promises!
I had some wonderful garlic scape pesto once! It was delish!