We have been doing heavy duty clearing in a damp, semi shaded area the last two days (groan)...strong scent of garlic BUT nothing that looks like Garlic Chives or Ransom leaves? There are some heart shaved leaves?? Any ideas
On a separate note...is Welsh Ransom worth growing/taste/storage wise?
Hope it's not a gas leak, it reminds me of garlic XX Jeannine
Quote from: Jeannine on April 06, 2010, 01:06:49
Hope it's not a gas leak, it reminds me of garlic XX Jeannine
Hope not :) No, it's a really strong garlicy smell....very odd.
Have you got Hedge garlic growing near by? That has heart shaped leaves it is out already. It is not true allium family it is mustard, but when bruised lets strong garlic smell in the air... ;D
Do not walk over all of it...as you can use it mixed in your salad..some parts of the country it has been traditionally used in a sort of fried bubble-and-squeak with bacon...yum,yum,,
That sounds right...will practice it on the other half :P I'll look it up!!
Yes I thought that as soon as I read 'heart-shaped leaves' - garlic mustard - very tasty. The smell itself is delicious I think.
I read it's nice as a sort of spinach with fish. Wouldn't mind trying it, but it doesn;t grow where I live now. if you try it let us know what it's like!
I call it wild garlic, ad introduced it to my Thai daughter in law this afternoon.
She said "It smells like food?" and instantly picked a heap of it.
Pidgeonseed, Ill try and gather some seed when it sets :)
I'm another Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata) fan. It's supposed to attract butterflies, orange tip I think, but I'm still waiting. :)
G x
QuotePidgeonseed, Ill try and gather some seed when it sets
Thanks Hector that would be really nice - half my garden is a bit shady, and I think garlic mustard might like that. Would be good to give it a go!
I find it amazing how much wild stuff is edible, I'm so used to the specially farmed veg we all eat and think of as food. Silly really, what else would our pre-farming ancestors have eaten but wild stuff?
Thanks to this thread I gobbled some garlic mustard in my garden, tender and delicious.
http://www.whsmith.co.uk/CatalogAndSearch/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=9780091913632
Do you know this book? The author turned up at one of my classes in botanical illustration, and we quickly established that he could not illustrate his own book with his own drawings. Too many plants, complicated leaves, not enough time.
We moved into photocopying his leaves, college librarian was cross with finding leaves and insects all over her photocopier, he subsequently moved into black and white photography. I have after that phase had quite a lot to do with his book, but I confess I have not read it seriously.
Mea culpa! My first ever book was about the edible wild plants of the Arabian southern peninsula...yet I never took seriously that there is a culture of eating wild plants closer to home.
I am reforming. I am blanching dandelions as we speak.