The Ultimate Guide to Preserving Wild Garlic for Year Round Use

When I walk into the woods and I detect the faintest scent of wild garlic on the air I’m literally like a child on Christmas morning. When I turn a corner then and see the wild garlic spread out before me like a carpet I do a little dance of excitement - probably why I mostly go collecting it on my own! I’d get some funny looks!

It is my favourite harvest of the year, followed closely by the elderflower/berry harvest. I hunker down on the forest floor picking the leaves and losing myself in the moment. It is just magical to see an area blanketed with wild garlic and even better if you know how to use it and keep yourself in wild garlic goodness for the rest of the year. more on that later.

Firstly, why bother with wild garlic? You mean apart from the fact that its free food and tastes delicious? Wild garlic has the same medicinal benefits of cultivated garlic but its a milder taste and often easier for people to take. It is an insecticide, has antioxidant properties and boosts the immune system and of course add in the additional ‘magic’ that comes with anything that you have found, identified and used for yourself! Its also said to be good for the digestion and one of its names is ‘bears garlic’ as bears used to eat it after their winter hibernation to kickstart their insides! I myself find it fantastic if I take at it the first sign of a sniffle or if I’m feeling under the weather. It seems to stop little illnesses in their tracks! Its a powerhouse!

Today, I’m going to share with you how I use the wild garlic in our home. I’m sure if you look up any good foraging book or do an internet search you’ll find endless ways to use it but the ones below are my favourites.

Wild Garlic Pesto

Usually when I’m making pesto, of any kind, it a case of a handful of this, a squeeze of that and a drizzle of the other but I have tried to quantify it for you so you can give it a go but feel free to change it up and add more or less of what you like, to taste.

Up to 200ml olive oil
50g wild garlic
40g parmesan cheese
25g pine nuts (or cashews work really well too)
juice of half a lemon

Rinse and pat dry your wild garlic, grate your parmesan and lightly toast your nuts (absolutely not essential but gives lovely flavour). Pop them all into a blender with about 100ml of oil and blitz. Its up to you how much you blitz and whether you want a smooth or chunky pesto. Add more oil if you want. Again, this is a personal thing as it depends how runny you like your pesto. Squeeze in the lemon juice, mix and taste. Add more of whatever you think it needs, Sometimes I add a touch of salt or a drizzle of honey if I think it needs it. Keep in the fridge and use within a couple of weeks and it also freezes well too!

Use on just about everything! We love it on pizza!

Wild Garlic Infused Oil

Get yourself a good bottle of olive oil (its worth buying a decent bottle for this (I love a good Greek olive oil). Empty the oil into a jug. Rinse and dry your wild garlic. Make sure its well dry as water in the oil can turn your oil rancid. Roll up the garlic leaves into little tight rolls and pop into the oil bottle. You want the bottle to be about a third full of leaves. Pour the oil back in, label and pop in a dark cupboard for 6 weeks, turning the bottle a few times when you think of it. Now you can either strain out the leaves so you have a bottle with just oil or do what I do and just leave the leaves in the bottom of the oil. I have been know to top up the oil as it runs out! Use for salad dressings or to drizzle on top of any savoury meal. You can use it for cooking but to be honest I tend to keep it for more special uses. Just use a regular olive oil for cooking !

Garlic Tincture

This is my most favouite herbal remedy to make every year. As I mentioned above its a real powerhouse and a great immune boost. To make a tincture you will need alcohol. I use vodka but you can also use brandy. Don’t buy cheap alcohol. It doesn’t need to be the top shelf stuff but something reasonably decent. Take a large jar, I use the Kilner ones. Again, make sure your garlic is dry. When I make tincture I rinse and shake the water off my garlic and lay it out on a towel overnight. Usually by morning, its sufficiently dry. Fill your jar to about two thirds full with the garlic. I tear it up a bit, just so I can get more in. Top it up with vodka and close tightly. Label and store in a dark cupboard giving a shake every so often. It will be ready in a couple of months but I have been know to leave mine for up to 10 months. I tend to only strain it when I need it. When its ready, strain off, making sure to squeeze out all the garlicky goodness. You might need to strain twice to get out all the ‘bits’ ( I use a muslin cloth for the second straining) Bottle in dark glass bottles if you can get them. if you can, don’t worry, clear glass will be fine. Store in a dark cupboard. They will be good for a year but, again, I’ve had tinctures that were good for 2 or 3 years, if stored properly. Take a teaspoon, 2 or 3 times a day, at the first sign of a cold, cough or if you’re just feeling run down. I’ve been known to drink a shot glass of it on a winters night but I do love my garlic!

Pickled Wild Garlic Buds

When you’re picking wild garlic, you’ll see lots of buds poking up out of the carpet of wild garlic leaves. They are the buds of the flowers, just before they open - the open flowers, by the way, make the loveliest addition to salads, or to decorate the top of a savoury meal! These buds can be picked and used also. I make pickled garlic buds that can make a delicious addition to any meal. or if you’re a garlic fiend they can be eaten straight from the jar! The pickling liquid makes a great base for a salad dressing or drizzled over salad leaves. Firstly see how many buds you have and decide on your jar size. You can pack them tightly into the jar but I prefer to leave lots of liquid around them. You want 3 parts of cider vinegar to 1 part sugar. So, say your using a jam jar, fill the jar with vinegar, pop into a saucepan, measure a quarter of the jar of sugar, add to the pan. Rinse your jar and lid and pop into the oven at 100C to sterilise while you’re making the liquor. Add some spices. I like peppercorns and coriander seeds. Pop a few of each in the pan. Heat slowly to melt the sugar, then bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and carefully take sterilised jar from the oven. Fill with your buds and pour on the hot pickling liquid. Seal and label. They’ll be ready in a couple of weeks but they will last for a year unopened. Once open keep in the fridge.

If you’re lucky enough to find wild garlic growing near you, you’ll find it often grows rampantly but like any wild foraging be mindful. Don’t take all the garlic from one area. Don’t pick all the buds you can see - the buds contain the flowers, which turn to seed and ensure a good harvest the following year. Don’t trample and area so it looks like a herd of cattle have been through. Be respectful of the area, mindful of the wonderful harvest and offer a prayer of thanks to Mother Nature as you go!

Wild garlic pesto, tincture, infused oil and picked wild garlic buds.