KITCHEN: Green Garlic (eighth in a series)

Scrambled Eggs with green garlic and a bit of hot sauce!

 I'm not sure when I first heard the term "green garlic", but I know it was from my father, who had learned that it was a very popular thing in England.  I can't figure out why few people, even those who grow their own garlic don't take advantage of this.  It takes no special gardening technique and you can pick the garlic bulbs up at most grocery stores, so you don't even need to go to a nursery.  The taste is a mild garlic flavor which is often used in scrambled eggs and salads.  Snipped into small pieces, you can add it to mashed potatoes.

Easy to grow on your front porch...

 We tried growing some of the regular garlic from bulbs in the grocery store.  While they do eventually grow, we found out that organically grown garlic is NOT treated with an anti-growth product that other garlic often is.  For that reason, I recommend (if you choose  "grocery store" garlic), that you use "organic" for greater success.  To plant: Separate the garlic into cloves (do not remove the skin) root side down--tip up--bury in the soil about a 1/2 - 1 inch covering the tip at least 6 inches apart.  (We've even planted less deep, since we are NOT intending to grow the garlic for the bulbs, but for the green spears.)

just chop these and use like you would green onion

Within a couple of weeks or so, you should see "life" springing forth from the cloves.  The important thing to remember when harvesting the spears is to take small to medium length spears, one or two from each planting...the larger ones are tough, and may be dried and ground for yet another flavor from your garlic garden.  Taking more than one or two of the inner spears can cause the plant to die or affect it's growth.  Like green onions, you may need to replant for green garlic more often than for bulb garlic.  Normally you would harvest "outer leaves", but I want the most tender leaves, so harvest those sparingly.
I prefer green garlic in eggs, salads, "green drinks", topping for baked potatoes, and anywhere you think you might like a more mild addition of garlic.  Because it is so mild, kids may learn to like garlic this way.
Of course, my preferred brand of eggs is Great Day Farms Omega-3 eggs.  See last weeks blog about the eggs--
Great Day Farms Omega-3 Eggs