Wild Garlic Season

For Mitchdafish

In the Wild Food section (see the black menu bar at the top of the blog) I’ve created an information page about Wild Garlic; it also gives links to various posts I wrote last year about this wonderful plant.  I hope it is helpful. Please let me know if there is anything else I can add to it. You can click here to go straight to the page.

Wild garlic makes the most wonderful pesto by the way. I whizzed some together recently with a mixture of basil leaves, fresh garlic leaves, Millstone sheep’s milk cheese from North Wootton Dairy (Bristol Slow Food Market),  pine nuts and olive oil.

Use it in sandwiches and on pasta, stir it into anything that you think might benefit. Just delicious!

What are your favourite garlic recipes? I have fond memories of picking olives in Crete and eating cold lentils strewn with fresh chopped garlic at lunchtime. I had to drop that habit when I came back to England though as no one would speak to me!

North Wooton Dairy Millstone Sheeps Cheese

North Wootton Dairy Millstone Sheeps Cheese

22 thoughts on “Wild Garlic Season”

  1. bagnidilucca

    Thanks for the information about wild garlic. The little flowers are so pretty. I don’t think I have ever tasted wild garlic. I will keep an eye out for it here in Italy. It must be here I think.

      1. bagnidilucca

        Thanks for that, I will keep an eye out for it. Now that I know what it is called I’m sure I will see it at the markets. Did you see Jan’s comment on my post about a house in the mountains? She certainly has a way with words. We need to encourage her to use them more.

        1. Joanna @ Zeb Bakes Post author

          If you don’t see it for sale, ask for it and someone will know where it grows…. No I haven’t seen Jan’s comments I’ll pop over now :)

  2. heidi

    I don’t have any woods to clamber about in search of the wild variety. :(
    But I do have garlic chives peeking out of the ground, trying to decide if growing season is here or not. ( probably not.)
    As soon as it is high enough I’m going to try to make the pesto. :)
    Or, I may see if my cousins who grow organic garlic will let me have some of the scapes- they make a great pesto, as well.
    Thanks Joanna, good idea!

  3. drfugawe

    Over here, the wild garlic is called, Ramps or Wild Leeks – Sadly, for me anyway, they are native mostly to the east coast states – I find little evidence that we could find them out on the woods – but then, I’ve never looked either – maybe I’ll give it a try this spring. If nothing else, it’s a good excuse to go out walking in the forest.

    1. Joanna @ Zeb Bakes Post author

      The traditional name here is Ransoms or sometimes I have seen it spelled Ramsons so presumably related to your Ramps? It came up the moment the temperatures climbed a few degrees here. Good luck on your quest Doc :)

  5. lauren

    these photos are wonderful! i love food, delicious, elegant beautyful nature food. and your blog is lovely to read! lovely to see all these delicious creations you’re cooking up! i’m living in college, so i try my best to eat healthy, organic foods (finding that i do best just going to potlucks and hanging around my beautyful friends :), but it’s hard on a very tight budget, and without the community of farms i can easily reach from the city. but i look forward to seeing more colorful stories of your life, and my future life… as a farmer :) happy thursday! ~lauren

  6. Kavey

    Ooh I’m just finishing a post about wild garlic but it’ll probably not go up for a bit as I’ve got some other ones outstanding.
    Thanks so much for your comment on my bread making course post today!

  7. Robin

    I’ll head up to the Cotswold edge this weekend and gather some leaves! It’s also Daffodil Tea weekend around Ledbury – Spring is truly here :-)

    1. Joanna @ Zeb Bakes Post author

      I remember walking part of the Cotswold Way once upon a time and I think that was the first time I ever encountered wild garlic in full flower. I think we did Wooton-under-Edge to Bath. Glorious walking. Have a lovely time Robin :)

  8. cityhippyfarmgirl

    Joanna that wild garlic picture is gorgeous. Perfectly placed. I was just asking my mum whether we have wild garlic here…no idea.
    (thanks for the ipad appearance heads up too.)

  9. Mariana

    My favourite garlic recipes? I couldn’t answer that – except to say anything that is savoury. No kidding. Tonight for instant, I made a pilaf and I used two whole garlic bulbs. Two brown onions as well. My kids were watching and couldnt believe the amount of garlic I put in. I use about two bags of garlic I buy from the local farmers market on average per week. Sometimes more. I love all varieties. I do get annoyed with the supermarkets in australia. They charge like a wounded bull and most of the garlic is imported. Lately it’s been almost twenty dollars a kilo. What a joke! Thats why I support the farmers market. Your photos are really nice by the way. Mariana.

    1. Joanna @ Zeb Bakes Post author

      Hi Mariana – have you ever tried growing it yourself? Celia knows lots about the garlic growing scene in Australia – she’s got some friends who grow it. We get lots of imported French garlic here at this time of year, though more and more is being grown in the UK these days. We grow some for our own use, sometimes with great results. I’ve got three different sorts coming up this year.

      I like the sound of a really garliccy pilaf :)

      1. Mariana

        Thanks Joanna. Just checked out Celia’s friends. Too bad they can’t ship interstate. Our state border crossings and regulations are very stringent. They live in NSW and we in Qld. Nice story though.

        1. Joanna @ Zeb Bakes Post author

          Maybe you will have to become the speciialist garlic grower for Queensland? That is too bad. I wish I could send you some European garlic but I know what would happen to it. And it would drive the sniffer dogs quite crazy ;)

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