This is a great thread. I've been a long time gardener, but only second year growing garlic. The first year, I cheapened out and bought garlic from grocery stores to plant (big mistake!). They came out quite small (softneck and hardneck). Then last fall, I bought some locally grown garlic (mostly the Music variety) and planted them in October in a raised bed. I mulched it heavily. Because the weather was unusually warm here in late fall, the garlic already germinated and started putting out little buds before the snow came. I covered them up with a black landscape fabric mulch. And came this spring, they were growing like weeds.
I harvested all the scapes last week. I must say they tasted great in stir-fries with beef. I am planning to plant a lot more this coming fall so I could just have tasty scapes! My garlic plants have mostly green leaves still. I'll wait till they have about 4-5 green leaves left and then start harvesting them. The local garlic festivals start here the first week of August, there is when the local farmers harvest theirs.
I see some folks cut the scapes. I suppose if you have many garlic plants, that is the fastest way to do it. However, because I only have about 100 or so plants, I prefer to pull them out gently. That way, I could harvest the more tender part of the scape. There was no risk of pulling out the plant because of its root system is quite strong.
Pino, you have bumper crop! Amazing job in braiding them. I was told by local folks here that, unlike onions, garlic should not be dried under the sun when pulled. In stead, they should be hang in shaded area to cure.
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