Once the Christmas tree is out of the house I start looking for the little green tips to poke their heads above the surface and when we get our yearly reminder that it can still snow here as well, they really start reaching for the light as the days get steadily longer.
The first garlic harvest is the scapes, or the seed head. This makes for really great flavours in cooking or really potent pesto with pasta. There is nothing quite like the aroma of this fresh garlic. Be sure to clip all of the scapes to allow the energy to go to the bulbs. Garlics are heavy feeders with roots reaching deep. They love lots of water and manure.
Once the scapes are done you can start enjoying the bulbs themselves. As the greens start to yellow you can harvest the garlics, dry and store them and get ready to start again.
You get to enjoy the taste of hope throughout the dark fall and winter months. This all takes some time and care, but worth it just to hold the beautiful bulbs in your hand or see them sitting on the window ledge in the kitchen, ready to go.