I originally met this old timer when he was delivering produce to the grocery store where I worked. We chewed the fat quite a bit from time to time. Back then I had mentioned something about garlic scapes.

He curled his nose and said he hated what they did to the garlic (detracting from bulb size) and he hated spending the time cutting them off and throwing them away, but he and his wife really like this particular garlic they've grown forever. I mentioned eating the scapes, pretty much anyway you might use garlic. I also mentioned they were pretty good a side dish when sauteed in a bit of olive oil with some italian seasoning or herbs. Or prepped the same and wrapped in foil, then put on the grill and flipped repeatedly while the meat was cooking.

I never did see him again that summer, and I quit that August ('02). I run into him at the store the other day. He was bringing in his green onions. He's buys a couple 40# bag of sets (it's almost a whole grocery cart full) from the store, then plants them 2 inches apart, and picks them just before they bulb and sells them back to the store. HUGE green onions. Anyway, we chat a bit and as I'm leaving he calls me back and says, "hey, them scapes are good eatin'!"

He and his wife grow extra garlic so they have more scapes. The variety has no name, but he said he got if from his dad, who got it from his dad, and so on, and that no one really knows where it came from, it's just the variety the family has always grown. I asked for a few bulbs and gave him my number. I hope he calls, and I hope he can find some more history on it.