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Wild Garlic: Abundant and Versatile

Spring is the time of re-birth, fresh
beginnings, longer days, wildlife migrations & when nutrient rich plants begin to stir from their winter slumber. Wild Garlic is one of Springs earliest, wild, green visitors and is one of my all time favourites. I love picking the fresh young leaves and nibbling on them as I walk, savouring their sweet, fiery, pungent flavours, reveling and delighting as the warm oils coat my tongue and gums, making them tingle: a truly joyful and utterly sensorial delight! Ramsons, a common name given to this herb, appear prior to the emerging foliage of deciduous trees, enabling this clever and adaptive plant to take full advantage of the early, spring sunshine: and who doesn't like to do that?

Gentle ambling, combined with keen, careful observation, will enable you to really focus and zone in on your surrounding habitat. Remember to look in warm, sunny and sheltered locations for signs of early season growth - I recently discovered a woodland where the wild garlic sprouts as early as mid-December, in a mild winter.
You'll soon discover locations and patches that are in a more advanced state of growth, whereas other patches will just be poking through the soil.
Once the season is in full swing, wild garlic literally carpets woodland floors, the edges of streams and riverbanks, greening all with it's beautifully soft, shiny, smooth oval/strap shaped leaves and unmistakably scenting the air with it's powerful, garlicky fragrance.

Given the abundance and spread of wild garlic in the UK, everyone will have a location in close proximity to them. Those who have never been out picking before, must pay close attention, as there are a couple of toxic lookalikes, that tend to grow with or, alongside it. Learning to identify the differences between Wild Garlic, Lily of the Valley and Arum Lily (Lords & Ladies) is of strict importance. Both Lily of the Valley and Arum Lily, bear a striking resemblance to our edible quarry. Arum Lily is more of an issue when first emerging, but once the leaves are fully opened, there should be no mistaking Arum Lily leaves for those of Wild Garlic. A gentle crushing of the leaves is required here: if the plant you're picking doesn't emit the aroma of garlic when crushed gently between finger and thumb, it's not wild garlic.

Always be certain to exercise 'mindful harvesting' when gathering. Don't ever 'grab and tear' fistfuls of leaves and throw them hotch-potch into your basket or container, as this is when mistakes happen and you may have inadvertently grabbed some toxic Arum or Lily leaves. Exercise patience, take your time, be selective, be gentle, be caring. If you are in any doubt, once you're back home with your harvest, just crush a leaf and take a sniff.

Identification Guide:
Flowers
Flowers: Multiple, white, star-like-flowers, 5-6 petals, atop a single, triangular stem. 







Seed Heads
Seeds: Triple-capsuled, each capsule containing a spherical, dark brown or black seed.








Bulbs (exposed by erosion)

 Bulbs: Approx 2cm - 5cm long, cylindrical - often fatter middle 3rd, pale white to dirty yellow in colour.






Edibility & Uses: All parts are edible and delicious. Remember though, it's 'illegal' to dig up bulbs, without the land owners permission. 

One of my favourite ways of preserving Wild Garlic is via the process of lacto-fermentation. Lacto-fermentation is an ancient technique and very simple to execute. The results are truly spectacular.

Pickled Wild Garlic Bulbs
Bulbs are great added to soups, stews, stir fry, in fact add to anything you like, whole or chopped. Milder in flavour than commercial garlic & cooking does reduce the flavour. They pickle well on their own or can be added to chutneys - just make certain you have the correct bulbs!

Flower pods are fantastic pickled (see recipe at foot of article), reminiscent of pickled onions, great in salads and added chopped to a wild tartar sauce. Again very versatile, play about and have fun.

Flowers are delicious raw, with a real hot garlicky twang to them, scatter on salads, add to sandwiches.

Leaves are excellent raw, add to mixed wild salads, use to garnish dishes, add to mashed potato or bhaji's.
Gently sauted the leaves lose their strong garlic flavour and become sweeter. Pesto is popular, as is Wild Garlic in oil (recipe at foot of article).
Blitz fresh, clean leaves in a blender with sunflower oil, leave for 30 minutes, strain and bottle the infused oil. You can also blitz soft butter with fresh, clean leaves to make wild garlic butter, you can then package into 100g rolls and freeze for use throughout the year - garlic bread!
The leaves can be added to just about any dish you can imagine!

Fruits also pickle well but do preserve before they become too hard to eat, scatter in salads, great accompaniment to cheeses and meats.

Bulbs & Shoots ready for pickling & lacto-fermenting
Dish incorporating fermented Ramsons














Wild Garlic Pesto: https://edible-leeds.blogspot.com/2023/02/wild-garlic-pesto.html
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