About green garlic

Green garlic season is a delicious but fleeting season in the spring. In our climate, mature garlic is typically harvested in May-June, whereas green garlic is harvested in late winter into spring, when the stalks are still green. Green garlic is the young garlic plant that is harvested before the cloves have begun to mature. It is also sometimes called spring garlic and baby garlic. It includes the whole plant: roots, nascent bulb, leaves and stalk, and sometimes a flower stalk also. Depending on the maturity of the garlic it can resemble a small leek with a stalk that is slender all the way up or there can be a small bulb forming above the roots. More mature green garlic can even have individual cloves forming within the bulb and an outer layer that is staring to dry into the papery skin of a mature garlic bulb. Just remove that outer layer and the entire bulb and stalk should be still be edible.

The whole green garlic plant, including the leaves, can be used. Cut off any lanky green leaves for ease of storage and to prevent spoilage. Keep in a bag in the veggie drawer for a week or so. You can use green garlic in place of garlic in most recipes and it can also be substituted for leeks or green onions in many dishes. When cooked, green garlic sweetens, lending a new layer of depth to a dish. To use, trim off root ends and the tougher, dark green parts of leaves (save the discards for soup stock!). Slit the top lengthwise, fan out the layers and rinse in water to remove any grit. Chop or mince and use as you would green onions or garlic, noting that it is stronger than the former but milder than the latter. Keep in mind that green garlic can burn faster than mature garlic, so add later in the cooking process if you are sauteing over medium to high heat. Longer cooking methods will bring out the sweetness in the garlic and you could use larger pieces that will get tender in braises or risottos. If you are a garlic lover and want to preserve the harvest there are number recipes online for fermented or pickled green garlic.