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Friday 14 February 2020

Wild Garlic Sighted!






I was surprised and delighted to find wild garlic leaves sprouting in Owl Wood today.  Right now the leaves are only three or four inches high, but they smell deliciously garlicky.    I found this photograph on one of my old posts, a wonderful reminder of what the wild garlic will look like in a few weeks time.



It shouldn't be too long before I can forage a few leaves to incorporate into my baking and cooking.  Wild garlic is one of those seasonal delights to be enjoyed for a few weeks and then it is the turn of something else.   Seasonal eating of the nicest kind.




Wild garlic bread will be on the menu - featuring chopped leaves and flowers.   Delicate and delicious!


   


Perhaps best of all, there will be wild garlic scones - chopped wild garlic leaves, a little English mustard powder, a pinch of Cayenne Pepper, and grated Parmesan Cheese.     Far too delicious to be legal!


I love snow and all the forms
Of the radiant frost
I love waves, and winds, and storms,
Everything almost
Which is Nature's, and may be
Untainted by man's misery.




Stay safe this weekend.
xxx

24 comments:

  1. I remember you posting about wild garlic. I've never seen it here, or anywhere. I'm burping garlic right now, pardon me, from the garlic sauce at lunch.
    Wild garlic would be far more delicate I'm sure an easier on the digestion
    The scones look awesome

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    1. What a shame that I can't email some to you, wild garlic is much milder. We have had a very wet and relatively mild winter, I think that is why the wild garlic is already sprouting like mad! Every cloud, etc.

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  2. Ohhh those look delicious! We have what we call "ramps" here in Maine, which I think is probably the same, wild garlic. They have a mild flavor, short growing season, and their locations are a guarded secret! Too many people over harvest and we deplete the bulbs and they can't recover. Along the same lines as "fiddleheads", the just sprouted growth of the fiddlehead fern. Wonderful sautéed with butter and garlic but again the locations are a deeply guarded secret. That's what I love about ramps and fiddleheads, only available for a few weeks, then they are gone, to be dreamed of for another year.
    Cheers, Sheri

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    1. Wild garlic flourishes in the woodlands around here, Sheri. We introduced it into Owl Wood a few years ago and it is spreading out quite merrily now, in part because I rarely take the bulbs, the leaves and flowers give me plenty to cook with.
      Fiddleheads are new to me, but I would like to try them. I love a bit of foraged food, as long as it is done sensibly and not greedily.

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  3. The plants I put in here a couple of years ago are still not spreading - I guess it's too dry for them. Might be a few leaves to eat - no sign of the yet

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    1. I wonder whether this wet winter will have helped them along, Sue. I hope so. Owl Wood is very soggy at the moment, we must have had lots of rain overnight!

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  4. I have seen the first leaves peeping through locally as well. I saw your photo and thought, blimey, Lincolnshire is WAY ahead of Carms!

    That bread and the scones look SO good. Will make these when the Ramsons are up in the garden. Today it has been Beef Cobbler (SO good) and a well-risen Parsnip and Orange cake (NOT iced) which my husband will doubtless NOT eat because Parsnips are vegetables and he doesn't like them . . .

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    1. It was a real surprise to find them so advanced, I had crouched down, expecting to need a magnifying glass to find them - and there they were, blowing in the wind already. Another week or two should see them large enough to start taking a few for the kitchen.
      Cake, of any description, is quickly gobbled up by my husband, so pass the parsnip and orange cake along here!

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  5. So is it any different to the garlic I use in Cooking and does it taste any different, face it garlic does have a strong taste. Not sure I have ever seen it.

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    1. It is much milder, Bill. The green leaves, the flowers, and the bulbs (which look like spring onions) are all flavoursome, but on the mild side, Billy.

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  6. Wandering through the woods, bright with the smell of wild garlic is one of nature’s freebies. You really can’t beat it.

    LX

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    1. I hope you come across some on your walks with Ellie, LL.

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  7. I don't know about garlic. This time of the year, here, we forage for ramps, an oniony like plant, in the damp places.

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    1. I believe they are the same thing, Joanne. Delicious!

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  8. The sight and scent of wild garlic is wonderful in the Spring. We have some at the top of the garden and the leaves are just begining to show. Your wild garlic bread and scones look and sound delicious:)

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    1. Last year the wild garlic in Owl Wood was slow to grow, so it was quickly overtaken by the Cow Parsley, I hope that this early start means that we will actually get to appreciate the sight for a while, Rosie.

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  9. For me Wild Garlic is one of those wonderful early signs of spring. I spotted some here this time last February but with the recent storms I've been avoiding the woods. Pesto is my favourite thing to make but those scones look and sound delicious. X

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    1. Owl Wood is just through our vegetable garden gate, so I can easily time my visits for the calm periods, Jules, otherwise I would be doing the same as you! Wild garlic pesto - delicious!

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  10. I haven't seen any round here yet it is usually early March here. Like Jules I love to make pesto but I might have to give scones a go as well, when I find some Wild Garlic......

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    1. Even if it is a week or two late, it is worth the wait for that wild garlic pesto. I hope you find plenty to enjoy.

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  11. It looks so lovely as do your scones but I am allergic to it so have to check everything I buy as it is in so many foods these days.

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    1. In that case, let me know when you are coming and I will be sure to bake some non-garlicky ones, too!

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  12. How delicious, it all sounds and looks really yummy and so nice that you are able to forage and enjoy . When we lived in Devon, we used to drive along the country lanes with the scent of the wild garlic on the breeze. Quite heady at times xcx

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    1. Hello Chrissie, I spend a lot of time walking the dog, I like to keep my eyes peeled for potential forage-fodder! The wild garlic is in our own little patch of woodland, which is good, because it is well away from where Toby likes to "stretch his legs"!!

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Lovely to hear from you.
I will try to answer comments in the next post.