Scape paste, also known as HEAVEN!
Morning Ramblings
We wake up at 4:30 around here to get chores done before our ‘off farm’ jobs require our attention. By 5:15 this morning it was just getting light enough for me to head down to the garden. I figure I had an hour or so before I had to get to my other work. I turned on the sprinklers, puttered with weeding and trimming back some kale and herbs. The garden has always been my happy place but if you get a chance to watch the sun come up from your garden, I highly recommend it. It takes gardening to a whole new level.
I also spent some time fixing and re-securing the strawberry netting – side note: Years ago I met someone who grew berries and told me he believed in sharing his berry harvest with the birds and living in harmony with them. This sounded perfect to my peace-loving, hippie soul and I decided right then and there that’s what I was going to do if I ever grew berries. Well, I’m here to tell you that he either didn’t have a clue what he was talking about or he didn’t like to eat berries very much. Sharing only works when both parties buy into the philosophy and at least on my farm, someone has neglected to tell the birds how this is supposed to work. The winged berry thieves completely devastated the first of the season’s strawberries. Even after they had their fill the greedy little buggers would still take a ‘taste’ out of each and every berry, leaving none untouched. Apparently sharing with wildlife is one of those ideas that sounds great in theory but in reality, works out different than anticipated.
It was also finally time to start harvesting garlic scapes. Anyone who’s been following our blog or Facebook page knows that I am a confessed garlic scape addict. I want impatiently all year for the incredibly short season. The only downfall of scapes is that they seem to bring out my inner kindergartner, the one that failed in sharing with others. My mother would be mortified by my lack of sharing with my friends, but since she is rarely on the internet, they’re on their own. This picture of a bowl of vibrant green, mash may not look like much to you but to me, it represents a year of impatiently waiting for a taste of heaven.
I love scapes fresh but also appreciate how easy it is to put up scapes for later use. I wash, chop and throw my scapes into the blender with olive oil and a pinch of salt. When blended into a paste I put them in ice cube trays and freeze them. This scape paste is indescribably amazing! I haven’t found the recipe that isn’t made better with scapes. I throw them in soups, mix with other herbs as a pesto, put it over potatoes, tomatoes, eggs, and right this very minute I am enjoying them with a mashed avocado spread over hunks of fresh sour dough bread. I’ve devoured an embarrassing amount of this scape paste already today, but on a positive note, I’ll be free from any potential vampire harassment for the foreseeable future.
Garlic, gardening, and sunrises. I got to enjoy some of my favorite things before many had even woken up. I’m feeling particularly blessed today. <3
