Spring Garlic

What is it?

Garlic is generally planted in the fall before the frost and harvested the following late summer. But from about March to May, once the ground has finally thawed, the young plants, called spring garlic or green garlic, can be harvested. The cloves usually have not formed in the bulb of garlic this young, which is why it looks more like a spring onion than a mature garlic bulb. The top is bright green, and the bottom bulb is white and speckled with pink and purple.

What does it taste like? You may be hard-pressed to find spring garlic at your regular grocery store, but our amazing local farms provide us the freshest produce. Its flavor is fresh, mild, and sweet, with an almost nutty aroma. This makes spring garlic a tasty replacement for the pungent, mature cloves that are called for in most recipes.

What to do with it? Not only can you use it in place of garlic in a recipe, but you can also swap it in for leeks, scallions, and spring onions, too. Add raw green garlic to salads, dressings, and sauces. Try it braised, grilled, or pickled. Add it to a frittata, a soup, or pair it with other spring treats like asparagus. The mild flavor also means that besides cooking it, spring garlic can also be enjoyed raw.

How to store it? Green garlic should be stored in the refrigerator, where it will keep for 5-7 days. Wrap the green garlic in a damp paper towel and place it in a plastic bag; or for a non-plastic alternative, stick the green garlic in a tall glass with some water in the bottom.