Garlic Scapes
Every May the flower stems get snapped off so the plants put everything into the bulb — and the stems are too good to compost. Mild, crunchy, somewhere between asparagus and spring onion with a garlicky hum. Griddle them whole, chop into stir-fries, or blitz into the best pesto you'll make all year. Fresh, so they ship the day they're cut — and the season is a fortnight, tops.
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Scapes are cut for a fortnight in May and posted the same day. Stick your email in and you'll hear when the season opens.
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- Season
- Roughly 2 weeks in May
- Bunch
- ≈ 10 scapes
- Dispatch
- Cut & posted same day
- Keeps
- 1–2 weeks in the fridge
Buy fresh elephant garlic scapes in the UK
A scape is the curly flower stem elephant garlic throws up in late spring. Left alone, the plant spends its energy trying to flower; snap the scape off and all that energy goes back into the bulb instead — so cutting them is good farming and a free second crop. Elephant garlic scapes (Allium ampeloprasum) are bigger and milder than the true-garlic scapes you might have seen, with a swollen bud on a thick, tender stalk. They're cut by hand in one Lincolnshire field, and because the whole crop bolts within a week or two, the season is a fortnight in May and no longer. Cut and posted the same day — you can't buy these in a supermarket, and they don't sit in a warehouse.
What to do with garlic scapes
Treat them like a vegetable, not a herb. Griddle them whole in a screaming-hot pan with oil and salt, two minutes a side, and eat them like asparagus. Blitz them into pesto — rough-chopped with olive oil, parmesan, toasted nuts and lemon, the best pesto of the year and it freezes beautifully. Or pickle them in a quick hot brine for a jar that lives in the fridge for months. They're milder than true garlic scapes, so you can be generous. Full method and quantities are in the scape pesto recipe, and if you'd rather grow your own and get a bunch every May, the autumn seed drop is here →
Scape questions, answered
What are garlic scapes?
The curly flower stalk the plant sends up in late spring, topped with a pointed bud. Cutting it off pushes the plant's energy back into the bulb — so the scape is both a bigger bulb and a delicacy in its own right. Elephant garlic scapes are larger and milder than true-garlic scapes.
When are elephant garlic scapes in season?
Roughly two weeks in May, and that's the whole window — the crop bolts fast and the scapes are only tender for a short spell. They're cut and posted the same day, so freshness isn't a problem, but the season doesn't wait.
What do garlic scapes taste like?
Mild, crunchy and green — somewhere between asparagus and spring onion with a gentle garlicky hum. Nothing like the harsh bite of a raw garlic clove, and gentler again than true-garlic scapes, so you can cook with a whole bunch at once.
How do I cook them?
Griddle them whole like asparagus, blitz them into pesto, chop them into a stir-fry, or pickle them. The tough bottom of the stem is the only bit to trim. There's a full scape pesto recipe in the field notes.
How long do they keep?
One to two weeks in the fridge in a loose bag. For longer, turn them into pesto and freeze it in cubes — a hit of May in the middle of winter. Best used fresh and soon, though; that's the whole point of a two-week crop.
More in the field notes: elephant garlic scape pesto · elephant garlic flowers, scapes & bolting · how to grow elephant garlic in the UK