The Many Joys of Wild Garlic

My recent article on wild garlic. Sadly the photographs that I had placed between each section to "break up" the piece and decongest it will not copy in this format, so you will have to just imagine those.



THE MANY JOYS OF WILD GARLIC
One of the most evocative indications of a British spring time is surely the distinctive smell of wild garlic.


Enticing, as spicy as an Indian meal, with a creamy tang teasing the nose around mid-March, becoming bit by bit more prevalent along woodland edges, parks and moist, stream-side soils, this irresistible aroma has attracted us for centuries, and the sight of the tall, broad-leaved stalks, clumped together with their star-shaped white flowers, is a sure-fire sign, just like the sturdy daffs, the fattening buds and the lambs in the fields, that winter is finally expiring.

FAMILY AFFAIRS
The food we generally know as garlic (Old English, "Spear-leek"), whose cloves are pressed or crushed for culinary use, is strongly linked to wild garlic: both are members of the Alliaceae (Onion) family, both bear umbels of hermaphrodite flowers initially enclosed in spathes (sheath-like modified leaves) and both are known for taste and fragrance (with wild garlic slightly less intense). But cultivated garlic (Allium sativum) has a complex genetic history dating back to Ancient Central Asia, where it has been used in cooking, and even as a currency, for thousands of years. Its potent smell has historically led to avoidance: some Jains and Hindus will not eat it for fear of inducing lust, while Muslims, who believe the plant was deposited by Satan, shun the food before entering the Mosque. In his “Complete Herbal,” Culpeper bemoaned the plant’s “very strong and offensive smell,” while more sympathetic traditions saw it as a guard against evil spirits. Wild garlic, on the other hand, is an altogether simpler affair. Sometimes called wood garlic, bear's garlic, broad-leaved garlic, or by its old English name of ransoms (Hramsa, meaning wild garlic), this European and Asian native, appearing in March like sprinkled cloud-dust along the sides of streams and throughout deciduous woodlands, has always been regarded kindly.

FOREST FOOD
In Gerard’s Herbal, we learn that wild garlic “maye very well be eaten in April and Maie with butter, of such as are of strong constitution, and labouring men,” and, unlike its cultivated cousin, the plant produces flowers tasting stronger than its leaves or bulbs. Every part of the plant is edible, and its leaves are often used in sandwiches and salads, for use in pesto or in pasta sauces. The bulb its self is eaten raw or cooked, throughout the year, though for best results when the plant is dormant from July to January. In 19th Century Scandinavia, a popular butter was produced by feeding wild garlic to cows, resulting in a garlic-tasting milk. Pictorial evidence suggests wild garlic has been eaten by people since the Stone Age.

It is, however, not only people who like eating wild garlic. Its Latin name Allium ursinum denotes its significance to brown bears - in pursuit of the delectable bulb, the bears will turn over the earth to dig it up, a habit mirrored by the wild boar. The bears are not driven by hunger alone: wild garlic helps cleanse their systems after hibernation; the bulbs are healthy as well as delicious. In fact, wild garlic is eaten by various animals, including badgers, sheep and guinea pigs, and is chiefly pollinated by bees. But not all creatures feel the same. The plant that so attracts hungry bears ruthelessly repels mosquitos, moths, ticks, and fleas, along with many other insects. It is effective in repelling moles, and is similarly shunned by rodents. Wild garlic is an ally of the gardener or farmer who wishes to preserve such crops as carrots, beet and chamomile, and is often planted as a "trap crop" repelling predators from roses. Less friendly relations are shared with peas - most plants in the Fabaceae or pea-plant family fall foul of a chemical produced by wild garlic, inhibiting their growth. Dogs are even less fortunate: eating wild garlic can be fatal.

THE POOR RELATION?
In addition to taste, wild garlic boasts an array of health benefits. It is said to lower blood pressure, eases stomach pains and has been used for many years in Scotland for treating kidney stones. But these gains were overlooked for many years, as wild garlic fell prey to a decline in medicinal popularity. Why? Perhaps the answer lies in the very trend-shifting nature of attitudes that has seen so many plant foods - the turnip, the sprout, the almost forgotten artichoke - fall in and out of fashion down the ages. Whatever the reasons, the fact remains that its medicinal qualities are generally seen as less than that of Allium sativum. This is misleading. While the positive effects of culinary garlic are longer lasting, the intensity of wild garlic's healthy impact is far greater. Swiss herbalist Abbe Kuenzle, who claims to have successfuly treated clients with rashes, scrofula and herpes entirely with wild garlic, describes it as a plant that cleanses the whole body. Those with eczema and intestinal, problems, he feels, should "venerate ransoms like gold," while youngsters would "burst into bloom like roses on a trellis and sprout like fir cones in the sun," should they learn to rely on them!


NATURE'S MEDICINE
So, like many wild and wonderful things on our doorstep, wild garlic offers a wide selection of curative blessings. The plant which Welshman Leslie Norris, in his poem "Ransoms,"compared to "moonlight fallen clean onto grass," is awash not just with prettiness, but also with goodness. Its leaves have assuaged cattarrh and shortness of breath, and applying its fresh juices to the skin can help heal wounds. Eating raw leaves can appease gastric problems, "worms," diaorrhoa, insomnia, and even heart troubles. Boiling freshly chopped leaves, adding these to a quarter litre of white wine and, if wishing to, sweetening with honey or syrup, gives us "Ransoms Wine," which is said to impede dropsy and age-related illnesses, while preparing a "whisky" of wild garlic may even stem memory loss and arteriosclerosis. Although appropriate advice should be sought before using any natural remedy, it is hard to ignore the restorative and therapeutic powers of wild garlic, which is rich in Vitamins A and B. Taken as part of an overall "de-tox", or simply an accompaniment to dumplings, potatoes, or other dishes, it can help to purify the body, easing circulation and flooding our bloodstream with vitamins to ward off sundry health complaints. Wild garlic is one of nature's finest remedies - just ask the bears!


For some, though, it isn't the taste or health advantages of wild garlic that invoke the highest praise, but simply the appearance of this upright, glistening plant - which gradually colonises slices of woodland until the banks and forest margins are resplendent with frilly white valleys, small fountains of snowy stars. Wild garlic loves damp, moist environments, so by woodland streams, you'll find it, providing cover for earthworms and threaded like a lace hem against backdrops of bluebells, anemones and primroses.
Wild garlic thrives in slightly acidic soil and deciduous woodlands - enabling it to capture the early spring sunshine. With its two or three elliptical green leaves, rounded flowerheads and strong and sharp aroma drifting through the woods and meadows, this abundant symbol of the winter's end, sometimes foolishly dismissed as a "weed," is one of our most splendid, underrated plants. In difficult and testing times it can be hard to smile, and maintain a positive attitude to life, but come across a carpet of wild garlic brightening a shaded stream or urban hedgerow, and it's easy to empathise once more with the poet Leslie Norris: "Pungent and clean the smell of ransoms from the wood," he tells us, "and I am refreshed."

 

Marvelous article Simon

Heres a pic of some from my old garden,



Spreads like anything once established, but well worth having.

 

Thank you for that Simon.
Yes, I love wild garlic too and the appearance of it.
There's acres of it grow along the banks of the River Ericht - one of my favourite places for a walk. It's just beautiful.

 

This stuff grows in abundance in the little woodland attached to my Japanese Garden
The scent at this time of year when one enters the garden is heavenly. I love it. Have never thought to eat it however. Must think of that

 

From a walk in Somerset this afternoon:

 

You be down here then Scrunge, where be that to then?

 

In a caravan beside Horner Water on site (now with wifi) I've been going to for about 30 years.

Went for a walk from Bossington beside the river/along the path to Hurlestone which I've mainly done to get to the far end of Bossington Beach, or to get to Selworthy Sand (down the rope). But Mrs Scrungee has hurt her foot, so it will probably be 'White Mark' on a neap tide.

The other place I look forward to seeing the wild garlic around this time of year is beside the river at Seadown, Charmouth.

 

Ahh, the North bit. Give us a shout if you're coming down Seatown, its only 10 mins from here, we can fail to catch some fish together

Just got back from not catching fish at West Bay. Nice night for it though.

 

It was Seadown, Charmouth, not Seatown (where you get shut in the car park overnight). Will be down that way next month.