CSA - Week 2 - Garlic Scapes

Discovering the bundle of garlic scapes in my harvest bin this week was a special treat! The curly green scapes are the flower shoots that are sent up by the garlic plant in its early stage of growth. Snipped off by the farmers so that the garlic will form a plump bulb, the scapes are only available for a short time during the month of June.

Garlic scapes are delicious cut up and added to a mixed vegetable stir fry or tossed with olive oil and roasted with other vegetables, but my all time favorite way to enjoy them is to make a pesto sauce to serve over cooked fettuccine.

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Garlic Scape Pesto Sauce

• 1 Cup garlic scapes


• 3/4 Cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese


• 1/2 Cup finely ground walnuts or pine nuts


• 3/4 Cup extra-virgin olive oil


• 1 T Fresh squeezed lemon juice


• Dash of pepper

Chop the garlic scapes into 1" pieces.Process in a food processor until they are fine. Add the cheese, nuts and pepper. Blend. Add the lemon juice. Blend again. Slowly pour in the olive oil while processing until the desired consistency is reached. Serve over cooked fettuccine or your favorite pasta. Store any unused portion in the refrigerator for up to one week, or freeze for later use.

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My weekly harvest basket.

Scheduled for twenty weeks of harvest bins from Whatcom County's Community Supported Agriculture program, this was my second week. I was able to meet the farmer that grows my organic produce and prepares my bin each week as I stopped by the stand on Railroad Avenue to make my pickup today. They are doing a great job of managing the program and the distribution is so very organized. I feel excited as I open the lid to my wooden basket each week and discover an abundance of farm fresh organic vegetables stowed inside.

Garlic scapes.

Green onions.

Red Swiss chard.
A large bundle of fresh kale.
A giant head of red leaf lettuce.
A tender head of romaine lettuce.
Early broccoli spears.
Brown organic eggs.

A quart of juicy, sweet strawberries.

Appreciating the local farm to consumer distribution method, it feels good to be able to put a face to the farmer of the organic produce I shall be eating this week. The face of my farmer - a petite girl, short blond hair, healthy looking, young, perhaps late twenties, with lots of happy smiles for me as we met.