Bolting Garlic

[Dave & Kate N Wales]

Had a walk around the garden with hubby this evening to inspect stuff without child interuptions and noticed 1 ofour garlics has started to bolt, does this mean it's ready or gone wrong - 1st yr we've done garlic. HUbby didn't label them when he planted them but thinks it's the elephant garlic bulb. Think they were planted around Nov/Dec.
Katie

[rustylady]

Nip the flower head off. It may bulk up a bit still, but won't store well so use it fresh.

[DavidJP]

There garlic scapes, just remove they are quite good in a stir fry. Shouldn't have a major effect on the bulb as long as you remove. Perfectly normal for hardneck garlic varieties.

[Snadger]

Not being a garlic officianado, I always thought garlic had to throw up a central flower stem before it was ready? The stuff you buy in the shops always has a dead seed stalk in the middle!

[vicky]

Elephant garlic does tend to try to flower, eat the 'scrapes', the bulbs will be fine!

[gojiberry]

I grew some hardnecks for the scapes, unfortunately rust came along and infected all the scapes. I will still get a few small bulbs to use up first.

Ian

[realfood]

The garlics which produce a scape(hard neck and elephant garlic) store perfectly well, as the scape grows from between the cloves in the center of the head of garlic. My elephant garlics will store for well over a year.

[chengjing]

Had a walk around the garden with hubby this evening to inspect stuff without child interuptions and noticed 1 ofour garlics has started to bolt, does this mean it's ready or gone wrong - 1st yr we've done garlic. HUbby didn't label them when he planted them but thinks it's the elephant garlic bulb. Think they were planted around Nov/Dec.
Katie

Elephant garlic flower is beautiful, please keep them and enjoy them.

[Dave & Kate N Wales]

Thanks everyone, seems like it's normal for the variety then. So how do we use/eat a scape? Also just to double check do we cut off the scape then leave the rest of the plant in the ground to grow a bit more?
Thanks Katie

[DavidJP]

Perfectly normal just cut off, and especially good in a stir fry with other vegetables. Leave the rest of the plant for another month or so and the leaves will start to yellow a little and sometime in July would be a good time to harvest

How to Use Garlic Scapes and Shoots in Recipes | eHow.com

[maypril]

1st yr we've done garlic. HUbby didn't label them when he planted them but thinks it's the elephant garlic bulb. Think they were planted around Nov/Dec.

Elephant Garlic isn't actually garlic at all, it's like a garlicky flavoured bunching onion. It wouldn't surprise me if it's bolted considering the weather we've had this year. Just cut the flower off and eat it soon after harvesting. If it has as little flavour as I hear elephant garlic does, it wont take you long to get through a bulb.

[realfood]

Elephant garlic has a distinctive flavour all of its own. It is one of my favorite vegetables for use in stews, mince or roasted.

[maypril]

Elephant garlic has a distinctive flavour all of its own. It is one of my favorite vegetables for use in stews, mince or roasted.

I'm planning to grow some next year. I'm becoming a real fan of vegetables with a milder garlic taste. I've been enjoying lots of meals this year from wild garlic, garlic chives and garlic scapes so I think I might enjoy elephant garlic