Ellen took home a bucket full and made pesto, froze some and sautéed some to toss in with stir-fry veggies. She found lots of recipes and information on freezing scapes on the internet.
We are harvesting garlic this coming Thursday, July 4th. The two bottom leaves on the stalks of the garlic are dry and brown, indicating that the garlic is ready. I often have folks ask if the garlic will grow bigger if they leave it in the ground longer. The sad truth is NO! And the quality declines. The bulbs get discolored and sometimes get moldy too. The stalk gets weak making it difficult to pull the garlic out of the ground, then you have to dig each bulb. The heads also tend to break apart and then the garlic does not keep very long.
I am really looking forward to one of my favorite things to eat every year, FRESH ROASTED GARLIC. The texture and flavor of fresh roasted garlic is something you will never forget.
Heat the oven to 400 degrees, find a small glass or ceramic baking dish that you can cover, either with a lid or with foil. Cut the roots off the bottom so that the garlic can sit up right in the baking dish. Trim a bit of the top off each bulb, drizzle a bit of olive oil over each bulb, sprinkle a very light bit of sea salt, cover the pan and put it in the hot oven. Check in 30 minutes, if the garlic is really soft, it's done. It can take up to an hour to roast the garlic.
Eat with some crusty french bread or crackers. You can squeeze the roasted garlic out of the papery skins and add it to other recipes, like salad dressing. I eat whole heads as a side dish with whatever else I happen to be eating.
ENJOY! Farmer Melinda
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