Allium ursinum also known as ramsons, buckrams, wild garlic, broad-leaved garlic, wood garlic, bear leek, or bear's garlic - is a wild relative of chives native to Europe and Asia.

Wild Garlic is one of the most anticipated spring ingredient in kitchens across the country. Filling the countryside with the pungent smell of garlic, it grows abundantly in a shady woodland environment, attracted by the moist soils.

Whilst having a Garlic flavour, Wild Garlic is more mellow than common cloves, with a distinct grassy flavour. Despite their very pungent smell, leaves can have a sweet and delicate taste but true to it’s name, some leaves can be a little wild and slightly more on the fiery side so sample before you dive in!

Wild Garlic can be used as a salad, herb, boiled as a vegetable, in soup, or as an ingredient for a sauce that may be a substitute for pesto in lieu of basil. Wild Garlic is paired well with other seasonal gems such as Jersey Royals & Morel Mushrooms.

Wild Garlic is a popular homeopathic ingredient and is very often used for treating high blood pressure and digestive problems.

Wild Garlic is one of the most common products to be foraged but beware, Wild Garlic’s similarity to poisonous plants such as lily of the valley has lead to cases of poisoning. The best test is to get a leaf and crush in your hands, if it smells like garlic it is garlic!

In addition to the leaves, the delicate white flowers are also edible, though the plant is best before too many of these appear.

Cows that have fed on ramsons give milk that tastes slightly of garlic, and butter made from this milk used to be very popular in 19th-century Switzerland.

Foraged & Wild Products

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