Garlic, butter and vampires? It’s scape season in the garden

If you’re a home gardener or a frequent shopper at regional farmers markets, there’s no escaping the fact that right now is scape season. I’m talking about those pungent soon-to-be-a-flower on top of the green spike that all garlic pushes up this time of year.

I just harvested all of ours a few days ago, and if you want to have the best yield of succulent garlic bulbs in a few weeks, go ahead and cut off the scapes from your garlic plants.

Even if you don’t choose to eat the scapes or give them away, go ahead and cut them off because if the scape blossoms into the flower it’ll rob the underground bulb of some of its most delightful properties. I choose to consume the scapes because they’re delicious and loaded with healthful things like plant protein, vitamin C and calcium.

According to some research, scapes, like the plant they come from, garlic, can help to control high blood pressure and high cholesterol, while also assisting in preventing heart disease. Redu...