COLUMNIST: grass roots remedies
Garlic is that distinctive, pungent flavouring that grows happily in Scotland both in our gardens and allotments and, in various forms, in the wild. Garlic, Allium sativum, came to the UK as a medicine in the 16th Century from Germany. In the late 19th Century, Louis Pasteur studied garlic’s anti-microbial effects and it was used extensively for the ‘Spanish Flu’ which broke out after World War I.
Even if you don’t grow your own garlic, in early spring in lowland Scotland you can find an excellent wild alternative. If you’re taking a walk in the woods, you may come across the distinctive garlicky smell of our wild alliums. There are two key species in lowland Scotland: wild garlic also often called ramsons (Allium ursinum) and few-flowered leek (Allium paradoxum). There is also a very pretty flowered third species, three-cornered leek (Allium triquetrum) which is more commonly found in England and Wales than Scotland.
Wild garlic and few-flowered leek (FFL for ease) are edible and grow in similar shady, wooded positions. There are, however, some key differences which influence which you may choose to harvest for food.
Both wild garlic and FFL are perennials which reappear every year and can both also spread via their seeds. FFL tends to spread more quickly than wild garlic as it unusually has an additional method of reproduction in the form of bulbils, bulb-like structures which form on the side of the plant. These contain genetically identical versions of each plant and can produce a new plant if they fall on the ground and take root. This advantage in producing more new plants means that FFL tends to spread more quickly than, and somewhat overtake, wild garlic.
Additionally, their ecological niche is that they are very early flowering plants in the spring, and have completed their full life cycle including self planting their bulbils before wild garlic, which is competing for the same habitat, has even opened its flowers.
This over-taking of wild garlic is a relatively recent phenomenon. Wild garlic has been growing in lowland Scotland for centuries and is an indicator species for ancient woodland. In contrast, FFL was introduced into the UK to be cultivated in 1823, and first recorded as an escapee in the wild near Edinburgh in 1863.
Since then, FFL has made its way across the Central Belt of Scotland, occupying the same ecological niche as wild garlic and leading to a reduction in the population of its cousin. Currently, the wild garlic population in the East of Scotland is heavily pressured by the FFL and the same is beginning to happen in the West of Scotland.
This happens particularly by rivers where the FFL bulbils travel easily to root further along the riverbank. In early spring, if you walk along the River Clyde eastwards from Glasgow Green, you will see swathes of FFL and very, very little wild garlic. Similarly, wild garlic, once common in Edinburgh even 10 years ago, is now difficult to find without travelling outside city boundaries. FFL is considered such an invasive species that it is actually illegal to knowingly spread the plant by, for example, purposely removing the bulbils and dropping or planting them.
So, how can we help to support the wild garlic population and try to preserve the local ecology? The answer is eat as much FFL as you can this spring!
On our foraging walks, we recommend bringing a sealable bag with you to carry the plant home as this will prevent any of the bulbils falling on the ground and rooting.
You can use FFL in recipes that use wild garlic. Janice Clyne’s has shared recipes for wild garlic cheese scones, wild garlic pesto, and zhoug inside Issue 17, and for wild garlic salt, kimchi, and pakora delights inside Issue 23.
If you’ve tried wild garlic before, you’ll probably find FFL a little less garlicky and a little more like scallions/spring onions in taste and texture. They have quite juicy stems and lend themselves to a quick stir fry.
Read on for more about how to get the most medicinal benefit from garlics of all types.
As well as suggestions of what to do with their wonderful wild cousins, I’d like to share with you how you can use simple shop-bought or home grown garlic to make your own medicines. To give you an appreciation of the science behind garlic’s medicinal power, I invite you to try a little home experiment.
Go to your kitchen and find a garlic bulb - if you don’t have a garlic bulb, you can always try the first bit of this experiment ‘in the field’ the next time you’re in the greengrocers or supermarket. Hold the garlic close to your nose - what do you smell? You might sense a very light garlic-y smell, or maybe it smells of nothing much at all. Now, if you’re at home and have paid for your garlic, take one of the cloves and break it - what can you smell now? Likely you will detect that distinctive, pungent garlic smell almost immediately. So, why is this?
At the risk of being cliche, now for the science bit. The substances that you can smell when you break a garlic clove are not yet present in the unbroken clove. They are produced when you break the clove as an enzyme, allinase, is released. Allinase breaks down the inert, odourless compound allicin into the active odourful allicin which gives off the distinctive smell of garlic. Allicin is then broken down further into other compounds, many of which are responsible for the medicinally therapeutic effects. Having said this, it’s worth remembering that plants are not just represented by ‘active’ constituents but the synergy between them all - a whole plant medicine approach.
So, we can see that garlic needs to be chopped to produce the medicinally beneficial compounds. More than this, it is best to chop garlic well in advance of cooking it and, if you can tolerate the taste, add it towards the end of cooking so it is just gently warmed. Chopping garlic early allows the enzyme allinase to work to break down the allicin to more medicinally active compounds. This is because, once you start to cook garlic, the heat causes the allinase to stop working. The same would happen as soon as you place garlic in vinegar as both heat and acid stop enzymes from working.
If you follow the advice to chop garlic early and cook it only gently, you can enjoy many of its benefits through cooking including reducing blood lipids and cholesterol, and fighting infections. If you want to up the medicinal benefits, you can make a simple medicine with garlic and other common items from your kitchen or garden.
Chop a bulb of garlic and leave on the side for at least 15 minutes.
Chop a small bunch of thyme.
After the 15 minutes, add the garlic and thyme to a clean jar and cover with Apple cider vinegar.
Leave for 2-4 weeks in a cool, dark place.
Strain and retain the liquid and compost the solids.
You now have an infused vinegar which you can take to combat a cold. You can also combine the infused vinegar with equal parts of honey to make an oxymel. Add boiling water and sip - this is especially good for a sore throat as the honey is also soothing. The infused vinegar or oxymel will remain medicinally potent for several years if kept in a cool, dark cupboard.
If you’re in a hurry and making an infused vinegar or oxymel seems like a bit too much of a time investment, I challenge you to a second experiment. Rub a broken raw garlic clove on your feet, avoiding any cuts or broken skin, and see what you notice happening. The garlic odour will come out through your lungs, regardless of whether the garlic enters your bloodstream via your digestive system or through the pores in your skin.
This is a really effective way to use garlic with young children, either because they have a persistent cold or as a little bit of a prank to suggest that you maybe have magical powers!
Catriona Gibson (she/her) is a medical herbalist and foraging tutor with Grass Roots Remedies Co-operative who has a herbal clinic at Woodland Herbs in Glasgow.
Grass Roots Remedies shares practical knowledge about growing, foraging, and making remedies with abundant local plants and also runs an award winning low-cost clinic in Wester Hailes, South Edinburgh. To find out more about courses, including seasonal foraging and home remedy making, click HERE. For more information on the work of Grass Roots Remedies, including volunteering opportunities in Edinburgh and Glasgow, email hello@grassrootsremedies.co.uk.