Garlic scapes

The garlic plants in the garden are sending up flower stalks.  These are known as "scapes", and their thickness generally reflects the size of the bulb below the ground.

Luckily, the scapes should be removed so that the garlic plant puts its energy into bulb production.  I say, "luckily" because they are delicious.  You just snap off about of foot of the stems and cook them; they have a flavour similar to that of green beans cooked in garlic.  My favourite way of cooking them is this:

• Remove the tips from the scapes.  Drop them into boiling water and cook them for 2 or 3 minutes, then drain them.
• Heat a bit of oil in a frying pan and fry the scapes quickly for a few minutes.  Add a sprinkle of brown sugar, a splash of soy sauce, some chili pepper, and a drizzle of sesame oil.  If you like the flavour, add some Thai fish sauce, too, or a slice of fresh ginger.  Cook till they are nicely browned and serve hot or chilled.

Cilantro



a small cilantro plant

 One of my favourite garden plants is cilantro.  It self-seeds freely and is one of the earliest volunteers up in the garden in spring.  Even the tiniest plants are full of flavour, so I add it to nearly every salad I make.  I don't cut the leaves, I pull out whole plants, otherwise, my garden would be one big cilantro patch.

When the plants get too big, I pull most of them so they don't crowd out the other vegetables.  If we could freeze them, they would retain their taste better, but we dry some instead.  In the winter, we can crumble them into soups, but they will be much more bland than frozen ones would have been.  I leave a few plants growing, for seeds.


the cilantro patch

When the seed pods are bright green, I pickle them for a wonderful addition to rice, stir-fry, hors d'oeuvres, fish dishes, etc.  I've never known anyone else to do this, but they should; these are so delicious.  I leave some seeds to dry into coriander.  After picking most of them, I pull the dry plants and shake them around to scatter next year's seeds.



ready to be dried



Lovage

The huge plant in the center is lovage

I've been harvesting lovage lately.  It's a great vegetable, a perennial that is absolutely hardy, gives a huge harvest (more than we can use, actually), and is nice to look at in the garden.

It is sometimes called "perennial celery", but it really isn't related to celery and doesn't taste like it, either.  However, you use it in the same way.  It's tasty in salads when it's young, and very good in soups, stews, and sauces.  I like it chopped into scrambled eggs or added to potato soup. 

As well as eating it fresh, I dry a lot of it for winter use.  This is another use for our wonderful cookstove.  After making breakfast, I just open the oven door and put trays of chopped lovage inside to dry while the fire goes out and the oven cools. 



Trays ready for drying

You can grow lovage from seed (which is how I started mine) or get a piece of root from a friend.  One plant is plenty for a family.

Belgian Endive for spring salads



I'm not sure why more people don't grow Belgian Endive (also known as Wiltloof Chicory in the seed catalogues).  It's an undemanding plant that is harvested first thing in the spring when nothing else is even close to being ready to eat.  I've been growing it for many years.  Maybe people object to it because it's a one-year crop; I just planted seed for next year's harvest today, about a week after starting this season's harvest.



an endive shoot showing above the soil

To grow Belgian Endive, pick a spot that won't need to be disturbed until next spring.  Plant the seeds directly in the garden whenever it's convenient; timing isn't critical.  The emerging seedlings look a lot like lettuce but soon grow to be like a very big dandelion--not surprising, since the two plants are related.  The only care they need is thinning to 8" and a bit of weeding till they get going.

In the fall, cut the plants back to ground level.  Then cover them with about 10" of soil.  Sand is even better, since it's heavier, but that is 'way too much work for me!  What I do is shovel dirt from an adjacent area on top of the endive.



the exposed endive

In the spring, when you see the tips of the plants pushing through the soil surface, dig them out.  Shovel the dirt back where it came from.  Eat the tops like lettuce and roast the roots to make a brewed drink.  (This is the chicory that's added to coffee commercially.)



For my spring salad today, I used endive as a main ingredient, then added leaves from anise-hyssop, lemon balm, comfrey, dandelion (also flower buds), parsley, chive, and lovage.  I sprinkled johnny-jump-ups on top.  Yum!