Planted elephant garlic back in February and now have 3 foot high
plants that have put out flower stalks. Does that mean it's time to
harvest them?

Harvesting granex onions that was planted at the same time as the
garlic. Biggest one is over 7 inches across. Woof.

The wife is making onion chips in the dehydrator and the whole
neighborhood smells like a Wimpy's.

Bill

Bill wrote:

Planted elephant garlic back in February and now have 3 foot high
plants that have put out flower stalks. Does that mean it's time to
harvest them?

Cut off the flower stalks and eat them. Now. That will put more energy
into the bulbs, which is what you want.
Harvest like hardneck garlic (which it resembles, but isn't really), when
about half the leaves have turned brown.


Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at www.albany.net/~gwoods
Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1200' elevation. NY WO G

"Gary Woods" wrote in message
...
Bill wrote:

Planted elephant garlic back in February and now have 3 foot high
plants that have put out flower stalks. Does that mean it's time to
harvest them?

Cut off the flower stalks and eat them. Now. That will put more
energy
into the bulbs, which is what you want.
Harvest like hardneck garlic (which it resembles, but isn't really),
when
about half the leaves have turned brown.

In the warm south, sometimes when you cut off the flower stem, the E.
garlic leaves will stay green and the plant will send up new shoots from
the cloves of the garlic bulb. Doesn't always happen but happened to
mine this year. I would try topping only half of them to see what works
best for you. Your comments about Granex onions tells me you are in a
warm climate. I just harvested my Granex and Granos last week. Not as
large as yours (only averaged 4 inches) but not too shabby. -Olin

Bill wrote in message ...
Planted elephant garlic back in February and now have 3 foot high
plants that have put out flower stalks. Does that mean it's time to
harvest them?

no - remove the flower stalk immediately, then wait until the whole
plant yellows for harvest.


Harvesting granex onions that was planted at the same time as the
garlic. Biggest one is over 7 inches across. Woof.

The wife is making onion chips in the dehydrator and the whole
neighborhood smells like a Wimpy's.

Bill

In article ,
says...
Bill wrote:

Planted elephant garlic back in February and now have 3 foot high
plants that have put out flower stalks. Does that mean it's time to
harvest them?

Cut off the flower stalks and eat them. Now. That will put more energy
into the bulbs, which is what you want.
Harvest like hardneck garlic (which it resembles, but isn't really), when
about half the leaves have turned brown.


Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at www.albany.net/~gwoods
Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1200' elevation. NY WO G


Ok, but how do I use the flower stalks, just chop them up for salad?

Bill

In article rscBa.177959$ja4.9106876@bgtnsc05-
news.ops.worldnet.att.net, says...

snip
In the warm south, sometimes when you cut off the flower stem, the E.
garlic leaves will stay green and the plant will send up new shoots from
the cloves of the garlic bulb. Doesn't always happen but happened to
mine this year. I would try topping only half of them to see what works
best for you. Your comments about Granex onions tells me you are in a
warm climate. I just harvested my Granex and Granos last week. Not as
large as yours (only averaged 4 inches) but not too shabby. -Olin




Sorry. Sunset Zone 23, Southern California, USA. Top half? I only
planted three. What to do , what to do. Let's see, 1/2 gozinta 3...
mumble,mumble, finger fumble... Heck, I'll just eat them all.

Warm, you betcha. The wife planted about 50 onions in a bed I prepared
for her. We've been thinning and eating them as green onions for a
while, now down to about 20 that average 4-5 inches but a couple got
really big. Some got so big that they split. Is this common for granex
onions? The only onions I've grown previously were Italian Red
Torpedoes and scallions and none of them split. These granex smell
really pungent yet the flavor is mild with a little sweetness, not much
heat or tears when slicing.

Bill

Bill wrote:

Ok, but how do I use the flower stalks, just chop them up for salad?

Depends on how strong you like things... use raw, stir-fry, fling in the
food processor with olive oil and nuts to taste an call it pesto. I've
still got a bunch made from regular hardneck garlic scapes, frozen in cubes
and bagged, in the freezer. And it's almost scape time in Upstate New
York! Gotta foist some more off on vegetarian daughter, and my guests are
going to get a lot of pesto chicken.
BTW, a couple or 3 cubes thawed works great as a sub for the oil component
of bread.


Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at www.albany.net/~gwoods
Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1200' elevation. NY WO G

On Thu, 29 May 2003 09:09:50 -0400, Gary Woods
wrote:

Bill wrote:

Ok, but how do I use the flower stalks, just chop them up for salad?

Depends on how strong you like things... use raw, stir-fry, fling in the
food processor with olive oil and nuts to taste an call it pesto. I've
still got a bunch made from regular hardneck garlic scapes, frozen in cubes
and bagged, in the freezer. And it's almost scape time in Upstate New
York! Gotta foist some more off on vegetarian daughter, and my guests are
going to get a lot of pesto chicken.

How do you make the pesto chicken, Gary? I adore pesto and
my basil is growing quickly now.

Pat

Bill wrote in message ...
In article ,
says...
Bill wrote:

Planted elephant garlic back in February and now have 3 foot high
plants that have put out flower stalks. Does that mean it's time to
harvest them?

Cut off the flower stalks and eat them. Now. That will put more energy
into the bulbs, which is what you want.
Harvest like hardneck garlic (which it resembles, but isn't really), when
about half the leaves have turned brown.


Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at www.albany.net/~gwoods
Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1200' elevation. NY WO G


Ok, but how do I use the flower stalks, just chop them up for salad?

Bill


I've got about 15 E. garlic growing now. I chopped the stalks off all
but 2 and we've used them in stir-fry, just as you'd use green beans.
Cooking really ameliorates the flavor (which isn't that pungent in
elephant garlic to begin with). I left the last 2 stalks just so I
could see what the flowers look like -- maybe I'll save some of the
bulbils and see if I can grow another crop from them.

The bottom 1 or 2 leaves are starting to turn yellow which means I'll
be digging them up in a couple weeks. Same thing with my ~40 Polish
hardnecks.

Mark

Pat Meadows wrote:

How do you make the pesto chicken, Gary? I adore pesto and
my basil is growing quickly now.

Disclaimer:

In your dictionary, look up "gourmet." Then, look up "gourmand." For
extra points, find a picture of me on my personal page and figure which one
fits best.


Having said that:

Take boneless chicken breasts (everybody has a bunch frozen from when they
were on sale, right?). stick under th broiler until starting to brown.
Turn over, slather with pesto, broil until properly scorched.

Using the loosest possible definition of "pesto," as in ground up stuff:

Garlic scape pesto:

Cut the "flower" stalks off your hardneck garlic before they get too tough.
I trim off the papery top end and cut into food-processor-sized chunks.
Chop in the processor with that razor-sharp blade until the consistency of
mason's sand.
Add enough olive oil to make a thick paste, and a handful of nuts and
process until suitably evil looking.
Use immediately, or freeze in the plastic ice cube trays your partner
wanted to throw away, and which are used for nothing else, except ice cubes
for drinks for the uninvited and unwanted guests. Unmould when solidly
frozen and store in freezer bags until overcome with a desire for good food
and bad breath.
If S.O./spouse/partner doesn't like garlic, get another. Life's too short.


Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at www.albany.net/~gwoods
Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1200' elevation. NY WO G

On Thu, 29 May 2003 11:29:21 -0400, Gary Woods
wrote:

Pat Meadows wrote:

How do you make the pesto chicken, Gary? I adore pesto and
my basil is growing quickly now.

Disclaimer:

In your dictionary, look up "gourmet." Then, look up "gourmand." For
extra points, find a picture of me on my personal page and figure which one
fits best.

LOL.


Having said that:

Take boneless chicken breasts (everybody has a bunch frozen from when they
were on sale, right?). stick under th broiler until starting to brown.
Turn over, slather with pesto, broil until properly scorched.

Using the loosest possible definition of "pesto," as in ground up stuff:


Thanks, could be done on the gas grill too, I'm sure.


If S.O./spouse/partner doesn't like garlic, get another. Life's too short.


You betcha!

Pat

"Bill" wrote in message
...
.... Sunset Zone 23, Southern California, USA. Top half? I only
planted three. What to do , what to do. Let's see, 1/2 gozinta 3...
mumble,mumble, finger fumble... Heck, I'll just eat them all.

Warm, you betcha. The wife planted about 50 onions in a bed I
prepared
for her. We've been thinning and eating them as green onions for a
while, now down to about 20 that average 4-5 inches but a couple got
really big. Some got so big that they split. Is this common for granex
onions? The only onions I've grown previously were Italian Red
Torpedoes and scallions and none of them split. These granex smell
really pungent yet the flavor is mild with a little sweetness, not
much
heat or tears when slicing.

The only time I have seen yellow Granex split is when it was trying to
form a seed stalk. But it might also split if gets lots of water after
having dried out. There is also a white Granex, not quite as sweet as
the yellow and not quite as large but a bit heavier for its size. You
might also try a Texas Grano. It is also a sweet, mild short day
variety and is globe-shaped. The generic Grano variety is open
pollinated and you can save seeds around mid June if planted in
November. Although onions are biennial, the short day onions will go to
seed in one growing season if the plant sprouts before the
December-January cold period when it goes dormant, then starts to grow
again in February thinting it's the 2nd year. -Olin