CSA Week 2

Garlic scapes are in, as are the kohlrabi. Farmer Paul says he tries not to introduce 2 strange crops in one box, but I guess it's unavoidable sometimes.  That's eating in season.  Neither of these crops is new or strange for me this year.  I had experience with both last year.

Garlic scapes are the green tops of garlic bulbs which grow underground.  If left to their own devices, they bloom into little flowers similar to those of onions, and the garlic bulbs don't grow as large as we would like.  Fortunately, these garlic tops are edible and tasty. 

If you chop garlic scapes into small pieces and saute them in some olive oil, you have a mild garlic substitute.  Garlic scapes were one of the crops that went into the compost heap last summer.  This summer, I'm doing better.  I have no garlic in the house, so my only option is to use them as a substitute for mature garlic.  That said, there are a lot of scapes in my crisper.  Fortunately, they keep for awhile.  Two days after this box arrived, my family went on a 10-day vacation to Yellowstone.  I sent many of the vegetables to my mom, but I kept the kohlrabi, most of the scapes and the Chinese cabbage.  All of those would survive in the fridge until our return.