Freestyle Garden... Glorious Garlic
Shining with Joy at my Glorious Garlic!
I'm squinting in all shots but this one, so the joy looks more squinty than shining
...but Joy was in my Heart.
This is why I Homestead.
This is why I Garden.
Shining my Joy
This is my way
Enjoy
Enter our Subject... Garlic
These bulbs were gifted from a neighbor last summer. I tucked them carefully away for fall.
When I pulled them out very early this spring to plant them I was confused.
Half of them broke apart into normal cloves and were ready to go.
The other half didn't behave like I expected. Initially I believed that they were a white onion. So I set them aside and kept prepping the rest of the garden seeds saved from last season.
I was prepping dinner, decided to include one of these onions. The exterior skin cracked and peeled off in wedges, not much like onion skin.
I cut it in half and then quarters and then slices...
This was not an onion, nor did it look like a garlic. I was intrigued.
Enter the Mystery...
The people I received them from have lived and gardened all over the world as missionaries. I trusted it was edible, I just didn't know what it was!
It had a mild garlic flavor, it cooked up like garlic, but filled the palm of my hand and was shaped like and onion, no cloves, and veins in the cross section I don't recognize.
Research and some opinion seeking have not provided any certainty.
Top 3 possibilities
-immature elephant garlic
-pearl garlic, a one clove garlic variety from Asia
-a crossbreed
Enter the Garden...
*All that is left is to Grow It To Get To Know It.
So we are growing and documenting and eager to know more.
Photo journal of the Planting...
All of the strange bulbs grew. They look like garlic, but different, much more pronounced structure.
They were slow to establish.
The earth has warmed deeply now and the are growing quite vigorously.
Here you can see them on the right with normal garlic to the left, and onions behind.
They have gotten so big I am considering staking them for support.
They have begin to flower.
Enter the First Harvest...
Garlic Scapes!!
A garlic scape is the flower stalk of the garlic plant. We always removed them and enjoy them as the first harvest from the garlic.
They are juicy and full of garlic flavor.
Ready to use in any recipe for garlic flavor. Today's harvest is destined for scrambled eggs!
In about two months I will follow up to show what has grown, what we've been shown, and yet to become known.
Garden... freestyle!!!
~all text and images are my own unless otherwise credited
Just a girl...
Living, Loving and Dancing her way to Wholeness with the help of a Mountaintop and a Purpose.
Follow the Adventure
Yummmmmy! Great forethought to take photos during all stages of the growing process. It's super cold in NZ right now so all I have growing is a few rows of rocket/arugula and spinach. Never thought of eating those tops, what's the texture like?
Its just the flower stalk. It is like a green onion in how you use it, but it has a fleshy gelatinous texture kind of like an aloe vera plant with great garlic taste. It softens up when you cook it. I hope that helped!
We also eat the entire garlic earlier in the year as a green garlic, just like a green onion. These are my first garlic planting here. This fall I will choose a location to plug in a bed of garlic that will remain there, i will plant the whole head as one and eat most of the shoots that come up as green garlic and then scapes... The few I leave to grow will become my seed cloves for future crop plantings.
I once had a big bulb like your 5. I didn't plant it, just ate it.
I love garlic scapes, and turn all of mine into garlic scape pesto and freeze it. it's good for what ails you. :))
Oh Yum!!!
Pesto has not been in our life here on the homestead, I miss it! Between no fridge/freezer and limited power to run my usual kitchen appliances many goodies have simply fallen away.
Thank you for the reminder... I will find a way to make pesto this season. Albeit in meal size batches!
A garlic that looks like an onion fascinating. Now you have your own unlimited supply. How long did it take to grow them?
They are planted here in the winter just before the soil freezes. Or early spring. We harvest in the mid summer heat usually mid to late July
Those are some healthy looking herbs! I didn't know about garlic scapes, and will be on the lookout to try some.
I see that in other comments you're having trouble finding a way to preserve pesto without freezing, I'd like to remind you that the silver lining is that you have an excuse to eat lots of pesto now.