Dehydrating Garlic Scapes

The garlic is nearing the time when it is ready to harvest.  I had been trying to eat scapes fresh from the garden, but I couldn't eat enough to keep up with their growth.  I needed to remove the scapes so that the plants would put their energy into bulb growth and not flower growth.  It didn't take long to collect what was left of the garlic scapes and when I was done I had a beautiful bouquet.

These wouldn't keep fresh for too long so I decided to preserve them in my dehydrator so they wouldn't go to waste.  I chopped the tender stems and immature flower buds into small pieces and spread them out on a tray.  They only took a few hours to dry at 115 degrees.

The beautiful bouquet was reduced to less than a half pint jar of dried garlic scape bits.  These will be added to dry soup mixes, or back packing meals for some extra flavor and color.  I can also grind them down to a powder and use that as part of a seasoning mix to flavor all kinds of dishes.

Next on the agenda will be harvesting the garlic bulbs.  I can't wait to see what treasures are hiding under the straw in my garlic bed!