On our first work/share day at Homecoming Farm, Don, the farmer, asked me to cut garlic scapes. He showed me how to avoid the woody part which is at the bottom. “I make pesto from the soft part of the scape.” He said. I’ve sautéed scapes but included the woody part and found them not very palatable.

I carried a bucket to the garlic patch, a huge area with some 20,000 garlic bulbs. This was the perfect job for me because, not only do I love anything to do with garlic, but I’d have a chance to see the Ravens.

I battled some big weeds that grew in the path. I felt the stems and could tell where the woody part ended. I could tell by the force of the scissors as well. The scapes are the “flowers” of hard neck garlic plants. Hard neck means that the stalk is stiff. Soft neck garlic have no scapes and can be braded because they don’t have the woody tissue. They appear in late may and by late June, need to be cut. Leaving the scape on the plant causes less energy to seep into the bulb. All garlic growers know this. They want the biggest bulbs possible.

The top of the scape looks like a pointed turban. The scape curls. The top of the scape, if left to mature produces bulbils. Bulbils are tiny cloves. If these are planted, they will grow into tiny garlic plants. It will take 3-4 years for a decent sized garlic bulb to come from a bulbil. Hence, cutting the scape off the plant eliminates the bulbils. New garlic plants come from healthy cloves set in the ground in Late November.

As I cut, I hear and saw ravens. There are four roosting in the Norway maple trees north of the garlic beds. I heard them, saw them fly, circling, being chased by crows, and landing on the ground. Crows just don’t like other black birds and chase them just to get them out of their “territory.” I imitated raven calls and attracted two who flew over my head, checked me out, and bailed out back to the maples. They are intelligent birds.

Near the end of the row of 200 garlic plants, my back felt sore. There are four garlic plants side by side in a 200 foot row and there are ten rows. I covered a half a row. Finally, by bucket full, I escaped the scapes and headed for the pick up tent to get our share.