How to Harvest Wild Garlic

Wild garlic bulbs are tiny compared to big, supermarket bulbs.

Wild garlic is not quite the same thing as the garlic bulbs available on supermarket shelves. As an herb, the most useful and flavorful parts of wild garlic are the leaves and the flower petals, rather than the diminutive bulb. Some gardeners cultivate wild garlic plants as part of their herb garden, while others prefer to collect the plant in the wild. The only difference in harvesting garlic in a garden or in a forest, however, is that in the forest you have to identify the plant prior to collection.

Things You'll Need

• Knife
• Basket or sack

Instructions

1. Schedule your harvest effort for between early spring and mid-summer, adjusting the schedule for local climate. If you live in a cooler area, such as Vermont or Maine, set out to harvest the garlic later in the season, as the garlic will mature later.

2. Identify the wild garlic plants. They have long, green, hollow blade-like leaves that bear some resemblance to chives. When wild garlic is in bloom, the plant's leaves are topped by white flowers.

3. Kneel or squat in front of the patch of wild garlic and cut the individual leaves from the plant as close to the ground as possible. If the wild garlic has blossomed, keep the flowers as well as the green leaves and blades.

4. Place the wild garlic in a collecting bag or basket. Once you have taken the wild garlic home, store it in a cool, dark place until you are ready to use it.

Tips & Warnings

• Garlic blooms in mid-spring, usually in April or May.

• Wild garlic is at its best either before or during its blossoming period. After the flowers fall off, the plant loses some of its flavor.

• Do not harvest garlic that has turned brown.

References

• Conservation Volunteers Northern Ireland: About Wildflowers - Wild Garlic
• The Guardian: Go Foraging for Wild Garlic
• Virginia Technical University: Wild Garlic