2017 Garlic Harvest in a zone 6, southeast Missouri garden. The bulbs are ready to lift mid to late June every year. A week later, the garlic harvest has doubled.
Garlic 6/20
Freshly dug garlic needs to dry and cure before storage. The scapes go into white wine vinegar.
Perhaps the smallest garlic harvest I’ve had in years. There is one more little late patch to harvest, but this is the bulk of the 2017 garlic crop.
Pickled garlic mellows to a very mild flavor with time.
The garlic heads are smaller this year. After the garlic cries on the covered porch for a couple of days, I braid the bigger heads. The rest is roasted or pickled.
While cloves of garlic are bound for jars of kosher dills, Small cloves of pickled garlic are ideal for antipasta plates and veggie/pickles dishes.
More Garlic 6/26
Late harvest garlic was much bigger. This harvest weighed about 50% more
There are now 50 to 60 good-sized heads, That’s about a years worth because we use about a head every week of the year. Sometimes less, sometimes more, plus a lot goes into sauces, pickles, and roasted then frozen.
1 week later we’ve doubled the garlic harvest.
Garlic Scapes
Garlic scapes are the spring bonus for growing your own garlic.
The first garlic related harvest of the season is clipping the scapes, or flower heads, from the plants.
Garlic scapes were plentiful because I planted mostly hard neck garlic. One week, I found garlic scapes at the farmers market for $2 a bunch. One of my favorite seasonal meals garlic scape pesto.
I add a few scapes into a bottle of good white wine vinegar. By this winter, it will become a premium herb vinegar. It’s mellowed garlic vinegar is almost sweet.
Sexy Food
Make pesto using garlic scapes instead of, or in addition to, basil. Serve with Pappardelle, broad, flat pasta noodles, similar to wide fettuccine. (The name derives from the verb “pappare”, to gobble up.) This really is OMG food.
If I was served a dish like fresh garlic scape pesto over homemade Pappardelle, it would be unforgettable gold star dish. It’s adult rated food. Once you put it in your mouth, you will know how an Italian dish can be 4 Star And x rated at the same time.
To Make Pesto: Puree the garlic scapes, sunflower seeds, Parmesan, salt, and pepper in a food processor until finely chopped. With the motor running, drizzle the olive oil through the opening.
How to Grow and Harvest Organic Garlic
Gently lift garlic and move to the shade.
Growing your own garlic is easy and takes very little space.
Your also get to select the type of garlic you grow, very mild or hot and pungent.
Save your biggest and best garlic head to replant in the fall. Never buy garlic again.
These smaller heads of garlic are roasted. Then, the softened bulbs squeezed into teaspoonful portions and frozen for later use.
Mild, roasted garlic is not over powering or hot to the taste. It easily blends into any recipe. Perfect for pasta sauces or garlic toast. Try it. You will never be with out fresh, local garlic.
I purchased my garlic from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange. They have a variety of hard and soft neck garlic. While I keep the best variety that I grow, It’s fun to try other types of garlic. I tend select the milder varieties and long keepers.
This fall, plant a variety of garlic. That imported no-name variety purchased at the grocery store will be your last choice.
Patsy Bell Hobson is a garden writer and a travel writer. For her, it’s a great day when she can combine the two things she enjoys most: gardening and traveling. Visit her 
