Wild Garlic

What it's Used For -

The root bulbs of Wild Garlic plant (Allium vineale) contain both a powerful antiseptic and an antibiotic compound. Therefore, the bulbs are usually crushed and applied externally for cleansing wounds. Also, they can be ingested orally for treatment of colds, sinus congestion, earaches, stomach aches, and headaches as well as for reducing fevers and coughs.

Where it Can Be Found Naturally -

Wild Garlic is found throughout much of North America and it prefers to grow mainly in fallow fields but can also be found growing alongside roads, ditches, and most any other place flowering plants and weeds are able to grow.

How to Identify it -

The Wild Garlic plant is a perennial, flowering, evergreen that grows to height of 8 in. to 24 in. with long, lance-shaped, green leaves sheathing approximately half of the stalk and it produces either white or pink flowers and broadcasts a strong garlic odor.

How it Should Be Prepared -

Wild Garlic is usually harvested for its root clusters and can be applied as expressed juice to cleanse abrasions, cuts, or open wounds or ingested orally as a tisane or a tincture.

Can You Grow it in Your Garden? -

Yes, Wild Garlic can be cultivated in flower beds and gardens throughout the lower 48 states provided that it is given the correct soil and light conditions. However, it does not do well in arid or semi-arid locations unless special conditions are provided. Also, Wild Garlic prefers locations which are in full sunlight or lightly shaded and, although it will grow in poor soils, it grows best in rich, well-drained, soils with a pH of 6 to 7 and should be watered at least once a week and more often during periods of drought.