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Produce => Edible Plants => Topic started by: goodlife on March 20, 2014, 09:37:45

Title: wild garlic
Post by: goodlife on March 20, 2014, 09:37:45
"BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR!!"

Time and time again I tried to grow wild garlic from seed and never had any success what so ever...then couple of years ago I was kindly sent some 'in green'....these were shifted from spot to other in their first year as I couldn't quite decide what would be best place for them....they didn't seem to mind that at all.
Last year there was already few leaves more than year before and I was rewarded with few flowers too....which I left to do their thing.....AND....now there is small seedlings all over the place!!!!! :icon_cheers: :toothy10: :sunny:
I'm looking forward getting decent crop of leaves next year and plan is to allow the garlic to spread under some fruit trees where they won't bother anybody or any other plant and they can be 'free'.
What a perfect plant to 'grow' in those difficult places where the soil would otherwise be just 'wasted' and would grow weeds if nothing else... :icon_cheers:
I'm SO HAPPY  :icon_cheers:
Title: Re: wild garlic
Post by: Duke Ellington on March 20, 2014, 10:10:23
I was also sent some in the green but couldn't decide where to put them. I eventually put some in pots (as a temporary home for last winter) and a small clump by the side of the greenhouse. They have all survived and I now have the perfect spot for them. They are going in a shady area between tall shrubs.
I hear they are really good added to quiches and omlettes. I love the mild delicate garlic smell.

Duke
Title: Re: wild garlic
Post by: markfield rover on March 20, 2014, 10:43:30
Our local baker puts it in his Italian breads, yummy! The smell takes me back to school field trips!
Title: Re: wild garlic
Post by: sparrow on March 20, 2014, 13:31:17
Congrats!   :icon_cheers:

I'm lucky to have a fairly limitless supply from friends in Devon and am growing in pots till I can decide where it would best fit. It's a lot milder when cooked than raw.

There's a big hedge bordering my plot and I am very tempted to stuff a carrier bag of bulbs in there...
Title: Re: wild garlic
Post by: gazza1960 on March 21, 2014, 06:41:24
Have a quick look on pages 6 and 7 in the recipes Duke I had fun making both those meals with the wild garlic,it's local to me now in the wild hedge rows of Dorset so I'll soon be out picking a few leaves next month.

I like the idea of adding it to herby bread that sounds tasty mark field rover,thanx.

Gazza
Title: Re: wild garlic
Post by: artichoke on March 21, 2014, 09:38:07
Goodlife, I once sent you some wild garlic dug up from a huge patch near one of my plots - if that is mine, I am very glad you are pleased with it. I also sent you Allium triquetrum which is an infestation in my back garden, so look out. At the moment I am enjoying yanking great handfuls out to put into omelettes etc and will try hard to remove all flowers, however pretty.
Title: Re: wild garlic
Post by: goodlife on March 21, 2014, 10:45:48
Quote from: artichoke on March 21, 2014, 09:38:07
Goodlife, I once sent you some wild garlic dug up from a huge patch near one of my plots - if that is mine, I am very glad you are pleased with it. I also sent you Allium triquetrum which is an infestation in my back garden, so look out. At the moment I am enjoying yanking great handfuls out to put into omelettes etc and will try hard to remove all flowers, however pretty.
Title: Re: wild garlic
Post by: goodlife on March 21, 2014, 10:53:54
Quote from: artichoke on March 21, 2014, 09:38:07
Goodlife, I once sent you some wild garlic dug up from a huge patch near one of my plots - if that is mine, I am very glad you are pleased with it. I also sent you Allium triquetrum which is an infestation in my back garden, so look out. At the moment I am enjoying yanking great handfuls out to put into omelettes etc and will try hard to remove all flowers, however pretty.

YEP..they were yours... :icon_cheers: ...and just had good handful of them cooked into omelette :icon_cheers:...SOOO NICE!
But now that I indulged myself, there is no more to pick this year and I leave the plants grow more.
They are growing (and the three cornered leeks) in quite challenging spot so they are not quite 'romping away' yet. It was deliberate decision, trying to keep them in check so they would not over take the world in a blink of the eye.
The leeks too have started to take on..just had look at them again...and I've had little harvest from them too. But where they are, under the currant bush, when bush start growing leaves again..they will be in shade and won't grow much more. I'm trying to mimic natures way with spring bulbs..being in more open situation they would just carry on growing and multiplying . For not being the keenest weeder in the world some growth control is needed for these sort of plants.."trying to be very clever now".. :angel11:
Title: Re: wild garlic
Post by: Ian Pearson on March 21, 2014, 13:02:31
Three cornered leeks! Such a good crop, and so tolerant. They disappear in mid summer, so they will not have a problem being under the currant bushes (though they may try to move about a bit with time!). I have grown them amongst autumn cropping raspberries, and they put on most of their growth before the canes shade them out each year, but they try to move to the edges of the bed. Eat the flowers to stop this!!
Title: Re: wild garlic
Post by: goodlife on March 21, 2014, 13:20:37
Oh..thanks for that Ian!

I haven't really looked into their 'life' that much, once they disappeared under the bushes..they were out of my mind.
Good to know that really without knowing I was doing what nature probably intended anyway.. :icon_cheers:
No problems with flowers here.....'somebody' with overly keen 'trigger fingers' will come soon along and get the trimmer out and tidy under the bushes...before I have chance to say anything, 'they' usually flatten anything and everything that is not highlighted by sticking canes  out or other markers... :BangHead: I'll take spray paint out soon to keep some plants 'safe' from the machinery.. :BangHead:
Title: Re: wild garlic
Post by: Obelixx on March 21, 2014, 13:34:33
I was given 3 small pots of wild garlic last summer and have planted them Under my twisted hazel at the back of the rhubarb patch.  So far there are just 2 sets of leaves visible but I'm hoping that this early spring will encourage them to grow and spread.   I expect I need to be patient and wait till next year to start cropping in order to give it time to settle in.
Title: Re: wild garlic
Post by: aj on March 22, 2014, 09:48:44
I find to stop them spreading, make sure you remove the flowers before they turn to seed.
Title: Re: wild garlic
Post by: manicscousers on March 22, 2014, 17:23:50
Just found mine sprouting under the peach tree  :icon_cheers:
Title: Re: wild garlic
Post by: gazza1960 on March 27, 2014, 07:13:14
So in my pilgrimage to the dark leafy lanes of local gatherings of wild garlic,ok,about 15 mins from me which part of the plant should I try and salvage to save and grow for next season.....
The flower stamens.....root bulb.....?

Cheers

Gazza
Title: Re: wild garlic
Post by: Silverleaf on March 27, 2014, 08:28:04
I was given a wild garlic plant in a pot by someone whose garden includes part of a river bank. I planted it at the bottom of my orchard which is prone to getting waterlogged in winter (heavy clay) and it seems to be doing fine, making tiny new plants. Hopefully I'll end up with a big patch!
Title: Re: wild garlic
Post by: Paulines7 on March 27, 2014, 12:29:29
I was given one a couple of years back but I didn't realise it needed shade so I put it in a sunny bed at the front of the house.  It died of course!
Title: Re: wild garlic
Post by: goodlife on March 28, 2014, 16:48:15
Quote from: gazza1960 on March 27, 2014, 07:13:14
So in my pilgrimage to the dark leafy lanes of local gatherings of wild garlic,ok,about 15 mins from me which part of the plant should I try and salvage to save and grow for next season.....
The flower stamens.....root bulb.....?

Cheers

Gazza

whole plant...bulbs with roots and ideally some green leaves attached to them too,,,,
Title: Re: wild garlic
Post by: artichoke on March 30, 2014, 09:36:40
I am horrified to find that my local patch has been strimmed by the council! What looks better: flourishing yet neat waving green leaves with white flowers to come, or a sea of dying vegetation..... I know of other patches, but this was by far the most convenient. Might have to establish it in the allotment after all....