[chriso]

Hi all, my garlic has started to grow big stalks, a sort of pointy shoot with a bulb type of thing half way up. Does this mean it's ready to be dug up?

[lazybee]

Hi all, my garlic has started to grow big stalks, a sort of pointy shoot with a bulb type of thing half way up. Does this mean it's ready to be dug up?

No it means your garlic is knackered and gone to seed. This usually happens in the second year if they're left in the ground. How long have they been it for? the leaves normally turn yellow. This is the time to harvest.

[chriso]

I put them in late last autumn. The leaves are a bit yellow but they have been since the hard frosts. 

[deepinthewoods]

t doesnt mean theyre knackered.
there are two types of varieties of garlic. hardneck and soft neck, one type produces a scape around now which is like a flower head and is edible   http://www.garlicfarm.ca/growing-garlic.htm

[chriso]

Great link! Thanks.

[Hopewell]

t doesnt mean theyre knackered.
there are two types of varieties of garlic. hardneck and soft neck, one type produces a scape around now which is like a flower head and is edible   http://www.garlicfarm.ca/growing-garlic.htm

I agree, but whether you like to eat the scapes or not is obviously a matter of taste. We like our garlic but really weren't sure about the scapes when we tried them in stirfry.