Oh how beautiful our first garlic crop looked a few summers back. Novice growers, we admired the rows of curly green stalks, each one topped by a round lavender "flower". This blooming imposter is actually a clump of individual seeds that zap energy and nutrients from the maturing bulb, still growing during its final weeks like a baby in the womb. Which is why bunches of cut scapes appear at farmers markets weeks before bushels of hard-necked garlic hit the stands.
Instead of being irked by the scapes, we've learned to embrace and savor them as a short-lived summer delicacy which must be enjoyed at their freshest immediately after harvesting, no drying required like their cousin underground.
Last year, we roasted the scapes and savored them like an aromatic asparagus. This Father's Day, we made amazing scape pesto in the processor with pine nuts, olive oil, sea salt, ground pepper and Parmesan cheese.
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