There has been a persistent rumor for a long time that wild garlic should no longer be eaten once it begins to bloom. But is that actually true? Read what else you can do with spent wild garlic - and how to properly care for spent wild garlic in the garden.
When did wild garlic bloom?
Depending on the weather, wild garlicwill finally fade between May and June. Now the plant producescapsule fruitswith seeds inside that sow themselves and survive in the soil for years. Afterwardsall parts of the plant above ground die off as the bulb rests until the following spring.
Can you eat spent wild garlic?
In fact, you should no longer eat theleavesof the wild garlic as soon as it has faded. They are nowhard, fibrous and have long since lost their characteristic aromaDuring flowering they already lose a lot of their taste, which is now absorbed into the buds and flowers - which you can also harvest and use in the kitchen. Thecapsule fruits, which ripen around June, can also be used in the kitchen and preserved like capers, for example. They have a slightly peppery taste.
What to do when wild garlic has faded?
If you grow wild garlic in the garden, you shouldcut it back after floweringand thus prevent the seed capsules from forming. Otherwisewild garlic spreads very quicklyand tends to grow through self-sowing - even in places where you might not initially suspect it. The seeds are often carried away by ants and end up in other corners of the garden or even in the neighbor's garden. Since the seeds can lie dormant in the ground for years, the herbis difficult to contain without pruning
Tip
What can you do with wild garlic flowers?
You can use wild garlic flowers, for example, for flower butter or flower s alt, to flavor oils and vinegars, to decorate salads and soups, on sandwiches or even freeze them with a little vegetable oil in ice cube trays and thus in portions for the tasty preparation of meals. The still closed buds, like the green capsule fruits, can be pickled like capers.
