One of the great things about growing hardneck garlic is that there are three ways that you can harvest the plant. The first harvest is the scapes. You want to harvest your scapes as soon as they start to form, when they are curly. (If you leave them on until they straighten, they will be too tough in texture to use.) They will appear in the centre of the plant about a month before your garlic bulb is ready to harvest. Snipped and used fresh, they impart a wonderful mild garlic flavour to recipes, including this delicious garlic scape soup. Make this a meal by serving it with a side garden salad and a warm buttered roll.