Even if you don't have a garden, you can help yourself to nature's richly laid table: especially in spring, wild garlic, which grows in abundance in many forests, is tempting to collect. Read where you can pick the herb yourself and what you should keep in mind.
Where can you pick wild garlic yourself?
You can pick wild garlic yourselfin deciduous and mixed forestswithnutrient-rich, rather moist and, above all, calcareous soilsThe forest herb is mainly found in riparian forests and inforests with streams and river valleys. Look under oaks, ash trees, maple trees or even elms.
When can you pick wild garlic yourself?
The wild garlic season only lasts a short time:Between March and the beginning of May you can pick wild garlic yourself, with the harvest beginning with the start of flowering - which, depending on the weather, can be early to mid April can begin – is over. The herb does not immediately become poisonous when it begins to bloom, but the leaves now lose their garlic-like aroma and become hard and fibrous. However, the flower buds and the flowers themselves can also be used in a variety of ways in the kitchen, for example for false capers or flower butter.
How do you pick wild garlic yourself?
If you want to pick wild garlic yourself, you should proceed as follows:
- Cut leaves with a sharp, clean knife
- cut off directly at the ground
- no more than one to a maximum of two leaves per plant
- do not squeeze
- transport loosely and airily, e.g. B. in a collection basket (not in a plastic bag!)
- do not trample other plants at the site
Wild garlic itself is not protected - i.e. H. You are allowed to collect the plants for your own use - however, pickingis strictly prohibited in designated nature reservesand violations can result in high fines. In addition, you should not store wild garlic for a long time after harvesting, butprocess it as quickly as possible
What do you have to consider when picking wild garlic?
There are also other things that you should definitely keep in mind when picking wild garlic yourself. Above all, this means that the herb is very easy to confuse withsimilar but poisonous counterpartssuch as lily of the valley, arum or autumn crocus. Therefore, memorize the distinguishing characteristics of these plants very well in order to avoid potentially serious poisoning. By the way, you can minimize this risk by growing wild garlic in your garden - this usually works very well in a shady spot with humus-rich soil.
Tip
How much wild garlic can you pick?
There are no specific restrictions on the amount of wild wild garlic to be picked, just vague instructions. In principle, you are only allowed to take as many wild plants from the forest as you use yourself - in the case of herbs, around a handful of leaves is usually considered sufficient.
