How to grow Wild Garlic
How to grow Wild garlic - Introduction
A member of the onion family, wild garlic is starting to become fashionable, mainly due to the popularity of food foraging, and some chefs starting to take an interst as well.
They take up very little space, and the whole plant can be eaten from top to bottom.
Wild garlic are perennial evergreen plants, and keep their leaves in most winters.
In colder winters, the leaves may die back completely, but don't despair - their roots are still alive and they will begin new growth next spring.
How to grow Wild garlic - Crop rotation
Wild garlic is a member of the onion family and it is recommended that it should not be grown in soil that has grown other family members in the last three years.
The bed should be taken out of the rotation system as this becomes a permanent crop.
How to grow Wild garlic - Position and Soil
Wild garlic thrives in well drained soil, rich in organic matter, with a pH of 6-7 and full sun. However, it will grow in almost all soils.
Work in a handful or two of bonemeal per square metre (yard).
Full sun or partial shade suit them equally well, and although they are fairly tolerant of drought, don't plant them in very dry places.
How to grow Wild garlic - Propagation
How to grow Wild garlic - Sowing seed
Wild garlic can be grown from seed and mature in summer, or early the following spring.
Sow the seeds indoors using normal potting compost in March time (or directly outside in April-June) .
Typically, Wild garlic need to be germinated at a temperature of 15°C to 20°C and kept moist.
The seedlings will appear a week to ten days later.
Transfer them outside a month after sowing with 10cm (8in) between each plant.
Best grown as a clump, rather than in soldierly rows.
How to grow Wild garlic - Propagating by Division
Bulblets are about 2cm (4/5 inch) in length
Wild garlic are very similar to other onions, in that they have bulbous roots and green leaves.
The bulbs multiply quickly over a few years and this bounty of new bulbs provides the easiest method of propagation.
Simply dig up the clump of bulbs in March or October, carefully separate them into individual bulbs and replant with the tips of the bulbs level with the soil surface.
They thrive on this method of propagation, because it relieves the congestion in the bulb clumps.
How to grow Wild garlic - Care & Cultivation
Wild garlic are not greedy feeders, so it is not necessary to feed throughout the year if the soil has been prepared as described.
How to grow Wild garlic - Harvesting
Cut the wild garlic leaves with scissors when required, starting with the outside leaves (those nearest the edge of the pot) and working your way inwards.
When harvesting, the needed number of stalks should be cut to the base.
The leaves rapidly grow back and can be cut several times in the growing season, so giving a continuous harvest.
Plants grown from seed should be left alone (although remove the emerging flower heads) until July in the first year to allow a good root system to establish itself.
How to grow Wild garlic - Kitchen Notes
Cut some leaves, as described above.
Clean them up by washing in a sieve using cold running water.
They have the ability to tangle like spaghetti, so you might want to shorten them. It may be that the tangle appeals to you.
Sauté them with butter and salt.
Delicious with any red meat dish.
Recipes for the bulbs can be found on the web.
How to grow Wild garlic - Storage & Preserving
They can be dried, but their is little point because they then have no flavour.
One way to store them is to chop the leaves into 1cm (half inch) lengths and place them in ice cube containers with some water.
Freeze them, and then defrost an ice cube or two when need to use them.
How to grow Wild garlic - Pests and Disease
They are almost completely free of disease, but they occasionally suffer from onion fly, however this is almost always because they have been planted near onions which have been attacked - the solution is not to plant wild garlic near onions.
