Gardening expert shares one-step trick to ensure hearty garlic harvest: 'I never knew'

Garlic is one of the best seasonings around, making some of your favorite foods iconic. Who doesn't love garlic bread? Garlic can be grown at home, both inside and outside. One gardener gave an easy tip for a stronger garlic harvest. 

The scoop

Kaleb Wyse (@wyseguide) shares gardening, home, and cooking tips on his TikTok channel. In one video, he gives an easy way to ensure your garlic grows nice and strong. 

@wyseguide

If you grow hardneck garlic, you need to cut off the scapes, and here's why!

♬ original sound - Kaleb Wyse

In the clip, he explains that one big difference between hardneck and softneck garlic is that hardneck garlic grows something called a garlic scape. 

Garlic scapes are a narrow stalk that grows from the center of the plant. If given the chance, these stalks would grow a large white or purple flower. 

However, as Kaleb notes, "You don't want it to make a flower, because if it makes a flower, it puts its energy into that flower, and you want it to put that energy into that beautiful head of garlic."

Wyse explains that you want to trim the scapes when they are nice and curly. In the clip, the stalk forms almost a circle around itself. These stalks can be used to make a ton of really delicious meals and sauces. In the clip, the creator says he made garlic scape pesto and that you can grill the stalks or create a compound butter. 

"These are just an extra gift from garlic," he says. "Don't throw them away."

How it's helping

Growing food at home is a great way to save money and time at the grocery store while also eliminating health-harming pollution from globally shipped produce. According to our guide, a $70 gardening investment can save people hundreds of dollars annually on groceries. Garlic may not be the most expensive item at the store, but every saving adds up to help you budget. 

According to Index Box, garlic prices have also been on the rise, growing close to 2% a month per month from August 2022 to August 2023. Inflation has been a hot topic over the past few years, squeezing the budgets of families and households. 

In mid-June, the Associated Press wrote that "food prices have risen just 1% over the past 12 months, though they're still up about 20% from three years ago."

Not only is gardening and growing food a great way to help your wallet, but it is also a fun and useful pastime, beneficial for both mental and physical health. And gardening tips like these can be inspiring to get out and get growing. 

What everyone's saying

Commenters seemed to be big fans of garlic scapes.

"We call it the FIRST harvest of garlic!" one person wrote.

"I just harvested mine last night!" someone else said

Meanwhile, another commenter learned something new, writing, "Nice I never knew thank you."

Join our free newsletter for easy tips to save more, waste less, and help yourself while helping the planet.