Garlic is really easy to grow here on Vancouver Island. Besides the bulbs, the tender garlic tops that curl and twist off the top of the garlic plants in late spring are also good to eat.
1/4 lb garlic scapes
juice of one lime
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup pine nuts or hazelnuts or sunflower seeds
salt and pepper to taste
Choose the most tender young scapes, cut off the spiny tops, and chop into manageable pieces. Blend scape pieces with the nuts, or seeds, and olive oil in a food processor, or a sturdy blender, until smooth. Empty into a bowl and stir in the Parmesan cheese, lime juice, salt and pepper. Serve with just about anything, it’s so incredibly yummy. Bread, pasta, and crackers are the obvious choices, but try tossing a little on to steamed potatoes, spread some on burgers, sandwiches, homemade pizza, or wraps, put a dollop on your steamed or baked veggies, or side dress an omelet with it. But make sure everyone in the room gets some, or they will likely rapidly retreat, vampire or no.
You are right about it being easy to grow. We grew it along side a large shed with southern exposure and had great results. We sold the place and moved into a brand new apt. building with southern exposure on the ground floor, so naturally we tried garlic again but this time in planter boxes. Results were not great so we bought a large wooden planter and spaced the bulbs further apart. Also got advice from our gardener who had a market garden at one time. Now we are looking forward to a good crop this year from these HUGE bulbs we picked up at Oliver in the Okanagan last year. We plan on cropping our new garlic mid-July and if the bulbs are as big as we think
they will be, we will pick up more at the same farm stand this year.
Oh Yes; my wife LOVES pesto and I think she will try you recipe which I have printed for her. L.
Great! And instead of buying more garlic you can take part of the crop you get in July and plant it in October. Plant the individual cloves, unpeeled, pointed up, and mulch. Hope your wife likes the pesto. A little goes a long way with this recipe!
Thank you! This is a delicious recipe 🙂 Should have 7-8 cups of the finished product when I’m done!