Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
First edible crop of the year
A few years back Liz Ixer kindly donated a plant called Three-cornered leek. She did warn that the stuff spreads easily (and she was right). It looks like this:
and resembles wild garlic although it is not so strongly aromatic. It is a member of the same allium family as onion and garlic and we sometimes put the cut leaves and flowers into a salad. Yesterday, Trudy made an excellent pesto sauce with this stuff in place of basil. We had it with spaghetti. My joy was tempered by a story in the Guardian about foragers making off with Cornwall's wild garlic to make pesto which is, apparently, "very trendy". I am not sure I want to be thought trendy but I can certainly recommend the dish. I'll be happy to allow a forager or two to come and cut some for themselves.
A couple of years ago we pickled some of the bulbs but collecting them was hard work and the result was nothing special. I have plenty of bulbs that could be planted if anyone's interested.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by maggie on
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Hello dick, I would love some bulbs to grow on, they are widespread on the sciilies with their triangular stems and pretty flowers. The Guardian article annoyed me as one of the things about foraging is to take carefully a few leaves from each plant so that it lives and can go on to have flowers and seeds, not to swipe a whole swathe from the wild... Thanks maggie
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Permalink Reply by Dick Harris on
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you'll be welcome any time Maggie but I'll have to keep a distance as I have a bad cold.
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A few years back I bought some bulbs that were described as small alliums, and look very similar to this. They also smell garlicky. They were nice to have around for a couple of years, but they started spreading and they haven't stopped. I've tried digging them out many times, but the bulblets are so small that I always miss some.
Anyone got any good ideas as to how I can rid of them?
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Permalink Reply by Sarah on
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It's an invasive species: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/mar/27/foraging-for-w...
A few years ago a friend gave me some wild garlic from her garden. I just have a little strip of dirt in front of my flat on a council estate. The land is not demised to me but the council doesn't look after these areas, so I have planted some things in front of my flat including the wild garlic. I've watched it multiply and spread over the years, not enough to pick but it's a good guide for when I could head to some larger local patches.
I'm finally moving soon to a place with a garden and maybe one day I'll grow wild garlic there! But unlikely as it's south facing with no shady spots.
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