Wild Garlic Facts, Identification, and Delicious Recipes to Make

Common name Wild Garlic/Ramsons

Latin name: Allium Ursinum 

Seasons:

Leaves: February-May

Flowers: May-June

Bulb: June-December

Wild Garlic Facts

Wild garlic is probably one of the most popular wild edible plants to forage in spring. Wild garlic is also known as wild leeks, wood leeks, bear leeks, ramsons, or ramps. Wild garlic is recognizable by its green spear-shaped leaves and beautiful, white star-shaped flowers growing in clusters. You can forage for wild garlic leaves in North America and Northern Europe from around February-May, pick the flowers from May-June and dig up the bulbs from June-December. But it all depends on where you live.

The wild garlic flowers are white and are perfectly edible also when they are still buds. Wild garlic is very invasive, and you will often find them growing as a large carpet throughout the forest floor. The plant is between 15 and 45 centimeters tall. You will especially notice the strong smell of garlic when you walk by them. Wild garlic is not only tasty but also has a lot of health benefits:

• Wild garlic contains vitamin A, C, calcium, iron, phosphorus, sodium, and copper. The amount of vitamin C is 20 times the amount of vitamin C in lemons!
• Wild garlic lowers blood pressure
• Wild garlic has antibacterial and antibiotic properties

Wild Garlic Identification and Possible Misidentification

When you have an idea of how wild garlic should look like, the best way to identify it correctly is by smelling it. Does it smell like garlic/onion when you rub it between your fingers? – Then you have correctly identified wild garlic. If you see a plant, that looks like wild garlic but stands alone, it could be that you have found the poisonous plant called Lily of the Valley instead. You can therefore misidentify wild garlic with lily of the valley which is very poisonous in all parts of the plant. Lily of the valley does not smell of garlic, so that is something you should be aware of.

Foraging Wild Garlic Leaves

At the beginning of March, I usually start looking for wild garlic leaves. The leaves are so full of flavor, that it is enough to just forage the leaves. Foraging wild garlic leaves is also the most common way of using the plant. However, also the flowers and bulbs are really tasty. When foraging for wild garlic leaves, make sure to pick the younger leaves underneath. They have much more flavor than the older leaves. Bring a basket or plastic bag to store the leaves before bringing them home.

Wild Garlic Bulb

The wild garlic bulb can be used in the same way as you would use a garlic clove. If you live in an area with a scarce amount of wild garlic, be sure to only pick the leaves and not the bulbs. Otherwise, you will remove the plant, and there will soon be nothing left for the future. You can instead transplant them into your own garden, or other places to sustain the wild garlic for many more years to come.

Where to Find Wild Garlic

Wild garlic can be found in wooded shady locations and damp ground in deciduous forests. When harvesting wild garlic and other wild foods in general, be sure to get permission from the owner of the land or check the rules of the forest that you are foraging in. Read more about general foraging guidelines here.

Wild Garlic Taste, Uses and Recipes with Wild Garlic

Wild garlic can be eaten just as it is: Both the flowers, leaves, and bulbs can be eaten raw. Just expect a very powerful taste when eaten raw. Wild garlic tastes of garlic and onion, but has a bit more sweet and less strong taste than garlic. Wild garlic can be used as a replacement for garlic or onion in different dishes, it can be used raw in salads or sprinkled on dishes. I have developed several different recipes using wild garlic:

How to Store Wild Garlic

You can store your foraged wild garlic in a plastic container or plastic bag, with a little bit of water in the refrigerator for about 5-7 days.

How to Freeze Wild Garlic

You can freeze wild garlic by chopping them finely and freeze in a plastic bag or plastic container. Do not blanch the wild garlic before freezing.

I hope you found this wild garlic information useful, and I welcome all suggestions in the comments below.

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