Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Garlic Scapes

I've written several posts about the garlic we grow, like  Garlic for the Garden   and   Time to Dig Garlic .  The second link contains a reference to "garlic scapes" which are the flower stalks the garlic bulb makes.  We cut these off so the plant will put all its energy into making a nice large head (root), instead of making a flower and producing seeds.

Depending on the variety of garlic, the scapes will be curly, like this.

Or, they will be long and straight, like this.

They actually make a rather pretty "bouquet".  Scapes have a mild garlic taste and are often used in cooking.  When cooking with them, the part closest to the flower bud is used because it is more tender.  The bottom part can be tough.  The stems can be sliced into small pieces and add to soups and stir-fries.   They can even be used in pesto.

This year, I am trying something new.  I heard scapes were very good when pickled.  So, I found a recipe online and did just that.  Here are the two jars of garlic scape pickles I made.

The one on the left was made from curly scapes and the one on the right from straight scapes.  These are refrigerator pickles.  The recipe I used called for vinegar, water, a little bit of sugar and salt.  These ingredients were brought to a boil and poured over the clean scapes in sterile jars.  The jars were then sealed, allowed to cool and stored in the refrigerator.   Other ingredients could have been added, as well, such as red pepper flakes, black pepper corns or mustard seed.

Never able to leave well enough alone, I wondered if scapes could be fermented.  Last fall, I wrote about my attempt at making kimchi, Making Kimchi .  In that article, I posted a picture of a cheap little fermenting set that I purchased online.  

The kimchi I made with it turned out great.  So, why not ferment garlic scapes?  Again, searching online (isn't the internet wonderful!), I found several references to fermenting garlic scapes.  So, here they are.....fermenting away.

Unfortunately, by the time I got around to doing this, I only had one small bunch of scapes left.  Tom had sold the rest of them to an Asian grocery store in town.  Apparently, garlic scapes are in high demand in oriental cuisine.  So, the jar is not full and they are just sort of floating around in the brine inside the jar.  

The jury is out on how the fermented ones will taste.  But, I can assure you the ones I pickled are excellent!

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Apple Gourds

A couple of weeks ago I found some boxes of dried gourds out in the garage.  I can't remember when we grew them, but it has been several years ago.  So, one thing is certain, they last a long time once they are dried.  Unfortunately, rats or mice had gnawed into some of them to get the seeds.  But, I was able to salvage these.

There are several kinds in the box, but most of them are Apple Gourds.  You can see how they very much resemble an apple in shape.  In fact, some folks (who are more artistic than I) make decorative items by painting them to look like apples.

Gourds have an outer coat that molds while they are drying.  Once dried, they have a dull, mottled appearance like the one above.  This coat has to be removed before a gourd can be painted.  Here's a picture to compare what they look like before and after the coat is removed.

The patterns on the gourd caused by the mold can be quite beautiful.  So, rather than painting them, I just leave them as is and enjoy the natural beauty of the gourd.  Here's how I remove the outer coat.

First, the gourds have to be soaked in water to soften that outer coat.  To do this, I use a 5-gallon bucket.  Two gourds will fit in a bucket.  The problem is ..... they float!

So, I have to weight them down to keep them submerged.  I use a large clay flower pot for this purpose.

Once the outer coat is softened, it can be removed easily.  I use a small kitchen knife and just scrape it off.  Here is a gourd that has been partially scrapped.

After scraping, I allow the gourd to dry thoroughly.  All kinds of things can be made from these gourds.  They are great for birdhouses and bowls.

Incidentally, this is what these apple gourds looked like when they were green.

They are quite heavy, as well, but very light when dry.  They grow on vines that get to be several feet in length.  Here's a blog entry I wrote in 2012 about some birdhouse gourds we grew.  It shows how long the vines get:  Birdhouse Gourds

We are not growing gourds this year.  We just don't have enough room.  However, for now, I have these nice Apple Gourds to work on and maybe next year we'll find room to grow some more.