Wild food

[Punt Gun]

My father has a lot of wild Garlic in his garden that I had my eye on to maybe take a few to plant in my garden. At what time would I dig it up to transplant it?

 

Now is the time to harvest wild garlic from woods and river banks. Put a knife into the soil at the side of the plant and work it round to loosen the earth. Then gently pull the stems to get them all out in one piece. Clean the bulbs in running water, trim the roots and chop them off the stems where white meets green like you would with leeks or spring onions. Put these to one side for stir fries and stews and pare the leaves off the stems to shred and add to salad.

 

Also at this time of year Wood Ear (or Jews Ear) fungi can be found ready dried on dead elder branches. Take it off the wood and store it in a jar ready for use. When you need it just soak it for an hour in water - it swells tofour times the size, rinse well then cut into strips for stir fries or add to casseroles to add body and thickness to the stock.

 

Wild carrots are also coming into season. Just be careful that you don't pick hemlock by mistake

[hendersons]

You are asking the wrong man mate. :blink:

I think you must mean me? At the moment i'm struggling to make the courses work financially without taking the mick with the amount we would have to charge. I just can't justify closing the restaurant for the day for us to do this without charging something in the region of £700 per person. I'm not prepared to charge this much as I wouldn't be able to sleep at night, so if we can work out a date we both find suitable you are more than welcome to come and spend a day with me it may not have all the extras as it wont be through work but i'm sure I can rustle up lunch and do some butchery with you. But this will be my day off and will be at my home so don't expect anything too fancy. Of course I would not charge for this and I can offer you a blow up bed on the lounge floor for the night if you fancy a bit of lamping late on. p.m. me if interested nick

[UKPoacher]

My father has a lot of wild Garlic in his garden that I had my eye on to maybe take a few to plant in my garden. At what time would I dig it up to transplant it?

 

Now. Look where the garlic was evident in spring and you will see clumps of stems that appear to have been trimmed back. Dig in and loosen the soil. If you are planting them then put them in straight away. If you are eating them then clean and trim them and store them in a cool dry place. Apparently they have medicinal benefits for the treatment of all sorts of ailments including high blood pressure and wind. So, little wife will be force fed them for a year.