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Wild garlic is everywhere, and free!

Apr 18, 2011

If you live in the Eastern US, chances are you have wild garlic growing all over the place. Dig it up and eat it while you wait for the garden to grow! Don't let the ramps get all the love.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR, Peter

I'm a painter by training, but have been writing a cooking blog for over four years. Since January 2009 I have been the Food & Drink editor for Chronogram, a monthly arts and culture...

Comments

Joel LeGrand

Tue, 04/19/2011 - 09:29

Not only free, if you will come to my garden, I will help you gather it. The stuff will not die & a friend used round up on his patch. It kill the grass & weeds, but the garlic came back. ANYONE. who would like some, can have some of mine. But it is like chinese artichoke(mint family), it will take your place. So keep it in a pot. Nice photo Peter.

Peter

Wed, 04/27/2011 - 16:23

If I can eat something, I don't think of it as a weed. I let the mint and oregano fight it out in a corner and mow around them so they can't spread too far.

Maya Howard

Tue, 04/26/2011 - 15:02

I've always wondered about this. In the southeast they call "wild garlic" what look like chives to me (same way our goldfinches are their "wild canaries," which just makes me giggle). Are they the same thing or not? In any case, pickling them sounds intriguing, and like a good way of decimating the thriving population without resorting to dropping them on people's doorsteps in the dark of night, as if they were so much zucchini. Thanks for the culinary novelty.

Peter

Wed, 04/27/2011 - 16:25

The bulbs will help you ID them. I don't know the answer, but if they have little bulbs, smell like garlic, and taste good, they're close enough. Your neighbors will like the pickles so much more.

Joel LeGrand

Wed, 04/27/2011 - 19:07

Peter, the lawnmower works well for many plants. http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=ALVI This site can to you more about this European plant. If you have cows, this plant will make the milk taste like garlic. To stop this from happening put the cow up 2-3 hours before milking the cow. It is said that there will be no after taste. No the Chinese garlic chives are not the same as this garlic (Allium vineale L.). But you could use tender tops for garlic chives. I sold some of these plants to some high landers & they are growing them for resale.

Greenarrow1

Tue, 06/14/2011 - 22:59

I have been going through this site very many times and I keep learning something new about kitchen gardening every time I get into this. It reminds me that I see something and learn something new every time when I get into my actual garden. Keeps me fascinated as such! http://www.natureexports.co.in