It's the spice of life that just keeps giving!
You've probably spotted these clumps of bluish grass in lawns around town and maybe even plucked them as a kid, but did you know that this is a totally edible allium referred to as wild onion or wild garlic? These are some of the earliest spring vegetables to grow and they are popping up everywhere!
Some edible alliums have hollow tube stems similar to the green onions you might find at the grocery store.
Other edible alliums have flat succulent like leaves as show above.
There are two things to consider when harvesting wild onion and wild garlic.
#1 When I break off the greens does it smell oniony or garlicy? If not, then it could be a poisonous look-alike. A wild onion or garlic will always smell onion/garlicy, so always use your nose to identify. They look very similar to death camas and other toxic plants.
#2 Do I want to be able to harvest more onion from this patch in the future?
When harvesting onions or garlics, if you leave the bulb in the ground, the greens will grow back year after year so you can continue to harvest as many greens as you want. That is why it is important to never harvest more than 10% of a plant colony to ensure its future growth and success.
If you leave the bulbs in the ground and greens intact, the plant has the opportunity to bloom and form aerial bulbs that it will later drop, allowing the bulbs to spread and your onion/garlic population to grow.
Example of the wild garlic flower and aerial bulbettes.
Lots of folks, including native peoples, like to add wild onion and garlic into scrambled eggs. You can also make onion dip using cashew cheese or add these wild onions into your stir-fry! Give it a try but do so safely by making sure what you have is an allium first! Enjoy!
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