Crow Garlic, Anyone? - Page 2

zorro777 · February 8, 2012

Yez prolly sew.

saltmarsh · February 8, 2012

Petronius II,

Well I prepared 2 batches of my "Po Man's" dish, one with regular minced garlic and one with "Crow Garlic"

and

I couldn't tell any difference. Good garlic flavor with no aftertaste, the same as the regular recipe. The regular recipe used 2 teaspoons of minced garlic and I used the garlic shoot in the middle with the stem and roots removed. If it were mature and allowed to dry I'm sure the flavor would be stronger. Immature and raw, I think you can use it like regular garlic in recipes. Claud

Petronius_II · February 9, 2012

That's really interesting. I'd have thought there would be at least some noticeable difference. Not necessarily all that dramatic, however. Mom's garlic bread with wild garlic didn't taste all that different from any other garlic bread, but it did seem to have a certain je ne sais quoi.

It does begin to sound like Allium vineale may be a really good choice for growing as a potted plant, similar to the way a lot of Italians keep a pot of basil growing on their kitchen windowsill. Need some, there it is.

Petronius_II · February 23, 2012

Well, I got my package from Saltmarsh today, and I'm just knocked out by how much work he put into this. These plants are very beautiful, and once I've planted them in pots or in the ground, I'll have some photos to post...

...All of which makes me more than a bit embarrassed to say, I've looked over all the evidence, and these plants are not Crow garlic. They have strappy leaves which closely resemble those of regular garlic, and seem to be too wide to be Allium canadense; besides, they don't have any of that fibrous wrapping around the bulb that A. canadense has, and, and...

This is some kind of a wild allium that has a distinctly garlicky taste, judging by the piece of green leaf I tore off from one specimen, and the plants have a distinctly onion-like smell. Saltmarsh sent me more than I was expecting, really. I already gave one of the four bundles to one of my friends who likes to garden.

I'm seriously considering the possibility that Saltmarsh's wild garlic may be exactly that: common culinary garlic, Allium sativum, that has naturalized in northern Mississippi. I've never heard of A. sativum naturalizing before, but that doesn't necessarily mean it can't, does it? Especially if some farmer just, like, left some behind?

I'm not going to "blame" anything on Saltmarsh, that's for sure. If I'd done my research a bit better and paid better attention, I could've just looked at Saltmarsh's photo attached to post #17 on this thread and known his plants are not Allium vineale, but somehow my brain just wasn't firing on all cylinders at the time...

...All of which basically bothers me not at all. These plants are beautiful, they're garlicky, and they must be easy growers if they're naturalized in "2 miles south of Yoknapatawpha," so whatever they are, I'm going to love them. I'm 100% sure I'm going to love cooking with them, too.

Now that I know they're not "the Rodney Dangerfield of the allium world," I won't worry about them becoming invasive, so I'll probably put a few in a pot, and the rest in my front yard.

So what if they're not Allium vineale? They're purrrrrdy. They smell purrrdy good, too, if you like garlic and onions.

Petronius_II · February 23, 2012

UPDATE: Just checked back at the Missouriplants.com site, and according to them, common culinary garlic, A. sativum, can and does naturalize readily enough. So odds are pretty good that's what I've got now:

http://www.missouriplants.com/Others...ivum_page.html

saltmarsh · February 25, 2012

Petronius II

You may have noticed all of the garlic I sent was in soil 4 - 6 inches deep. After thinking about it and looking at the pattern of the clusters, I think the garlic has had some help in naturalizing.

I don't have any proof, but I think the garlic's seed pods are being eaten by voles and field mice. The voles and field mice like to use old mole runs for safety. My cats catch one or two voles and mice each day and there are feral cats about also.

So when the occasional garlic seed gets stored in a mole run, and then the storer gets eaten by a cat, the garlic naturalizes. None of the garlic is growing on top of the ground, all of it is deep like that sent to you.

Another way it naturalizes from one part of the country to another is via USPS.

At any rate, it looks like I have an endless supply of fresh garlic. Claud

Petronius_II · February 25, 2012

Yep, you do. It smells purrrdy, too. Smells just like garlic.

I want to get these plants into some pots and/or the ground as soon as I can make the time. First thing I did when I finished unpacking them was put them with just enough water to cover the roots and most of the bulbs:

The laundry room is a north-facing unheated porch that gets very little direct sunlight, lots of ambient light, and is very cool this time of year. It's now ~20 hours later and I just checked the garlic plants. The roots have taken up some of the water and the leaves are a little bit less floppy, but they're still pretty floppy.

Saltmarsh, if I may ask, how much of the floppiness is just the way they're supposed to be at this stage of growth?

The current plan is, until I can get them properly planted, change the water at least once a day to avoid root rot as best I can, and try to keep the water level low enough that sooner or later, it's covering only the roots, not the bulbs. Does this plan sound workable, anybody?

(After taking the photos, I moved the pots away from the washing machine a few feet. Don't much want the garlic smell drifting directly downward into the washing machine tub. Some folks might like it if my clothes all smelled of garlic; not sure I would!)

saltmarsh · February 25, 2012

If you have a spot on the side or back of your house or an out building where they will be protected from some of the wind and have partial shade, you can heel them in by taking a hoe and makeing a trench 3 or 4 inches deep, lay their roots in the trench, cover with dirt and wet it down, they'll all be fine until you get them into their final spot.

The yellow leaves will shed but all the green should perk up and grow. All the plants were erect (like young corn stalks) when I dug them but keep in mind, I bent the leaves over onto the stem to get them in the package. These leaves may not straighten completely,but new growth will be erect. Claud

Petronius_II · February 25, 2012

Thanks. That's exactly what I needed to know.

February 9, 2012	#18
Petronius_II Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Albuquerque, NM - Zone 7a Posts: 209	That's really interesting. I'd have thought there would be at least some noticeable difference. Not necessarily all that dramatic, however. Mom's garlic bread with wild garlic didn't taste all that different from any other garlic bread, but it did seem to have a certain je ne sais quoi. It does begin to sound like Allium vineale may be a really good choice for growing as a potted plant, similar to the way a lot of Italians keep a pot of basil growing on their kitchen windowsill. Need some, there it is. Last edited by Petronius_II; February 9, 2012 at 12:23 AM. Reason: repunctuation

February 25, 2012	#23
saltmarsh Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: 2 miles south of Yoknapatawpha Zone 7b Posts: 662	If you have a spot on the side or back of your house or an out building where they will be protected from some of the wind and have partial shade, you can heel them in by taking a hoe and makeing a trench 3 or 4 inches deep, lay their roots in the trench, cover with dirt and wet it down, they'll all be fine until you get them into their final spot. The yellow leaves will shed but all the green should perk up and grow. All the plants were erect (like young corn stalks) when I dug them but keep in mind, I bent the leaves over onto the stem to get them in the package. These leaves may not straighten completely,but new growth will be erect. Claud Last edited by saltmarsh; February 25, 2012 at 04:18 PM. Reason: added an r and clarify about heeling in.

February 8, 2012	#16
zorro777 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: North Cent Wisconsin zone 4a Posts: 15	Yez prolly sew.

February 23, 2012	#19
Petronius_II Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Albuquerque, NM - Zone 7a Posts: 209	Well, I got my package from Saltmarsh today, and I'm just knocked out by how much work he put into this. These plants are very beautiful, and once I've planted them in pots or in the ground, I'll have some photos to post... ...All of which makes me more than a bit embarrassed to say, I've looked over all the evidence, and these plants are not Crow garlic. They have strappy leaves which closely resemble those of regular garlic, and seem to be too wide to be Allium canadense; besides, they don't have any of that fibrous wrapping around the bulb that A. canadense has, and, and... This is some kind of a wild allium that has a distinctly garlicky taste, judging by the piece of green leaf I tore off from one specimen, and the plants have a distinctly onion-like smell. Saltmarsh sent me more than I was expecting, really. I already gave one of the four bundles to one of my friends who likes to garden. I'm seriously considering the possibility that Saltmarsh's wild garlic may be exactly that: common culinary garlic, Allium sativum, that has naturalized in northern Mississippi. I've never heard of A. sativum naturalizing before, but that doesn't necessarily mean it can't, does it? Especially if some farmer just, like, left some behind? I'm not going to "blame" anything on Saltmarsh, that's for sure. If I'd done my research a bit better and paid better attention, I could've just looked at Saltmarsh's photo attached to post #17 on this thread and known his plants are not Allium vineale, but somehow my brain just wasn't firing on all cylinders at the time... ...All of which basically bothers me not at all. These plants are beautiful, they're garlicky, and they must be easy growers if they're naturalized in "2 miles south of Yoknapatawpha," so whatever they are, I'm going to love them. I'm 100% sure I'm going to love cooking with them, too. Now that I know they're not "the Rodney Dangerfield of the allium world," I won't worry about them becoming invasive, so I'll probably put a few in a pot, and the rest in my front yard. So what if they're not Allium vineale? They're purrrrrdy. They smell purrrdy good, too, if you like garlic and onions.