Ramsons or Wild Garlic (Allium ursinum)

Closely related to onion and garlic, this plant is a mainstay of spring cleansing cures. It helps lower high blood pressure and cholesterol and supports arteries affected by calcification. It is at its best when fresh.

Ramsons or Wild Garlic (Allium ursinum) has a pronounced garlic aroma. Drying, freezing, and prolonged cooking reduce its beneficial properties. In spring, the fresh leaves are best enjoyed in generous salads since they help cleanse the body, ease spring fatigue, and support those dealing with atherosclerosis and high blood pressure.

Wild garlic works much like cultivated garlic. It supports the stomach and intestinal system and is remarkably effective against acute and chronic diarrhea, bloating, and cramping. It may also help with constipation and intestinal worms.

It can reduce heart related discomfort and sleeplessness, ease gastric complaints, and relieve issues caused by calcification of the arteries or high blood pressure, including dizziness, a feeling of pressure in the head, and anxiety.

Wild garlic wine is an excellent remedy for older adults with persistent mucus in the lungs and the resulting difficulty breathing. Wild garlic grows in shady, moist, deciduous forests, beneath shrubs, and along woodland paths and streams. In beech woods it often carpets broad areas. Young, tender leaves are harvested throughout spring, from March until the end of May, and at that time they are often available at local markets. Bulbs are gathered in late summer and autumn. Use them just as you would garlic. Both the leaves and the juicy bulbs can serve as a flavorful seasoning for soups, meat dishes, salads, sauces, and stews. The leaves can be prepared much like spinach, and they are excellent mixed with nettle leaves. The unripe three part fruits with three seeds have a hot taste and appear during summer, and they can be used as a piquant spice.

Wild garlic wine

Ingredients: a handful of wild garlic leaves, 250 ml white wine, honey to taste

Finely chop the wild garlic and briefly simmer it in white wine. Sweeten with honey to taste.

How to use: Sip slowly throughout the day, one sip at a time.

Wild garlic in olive oil

Ingredients: fresh wild garlic leaves, salt, olive oil

Clean and dry the wild garlic leaves, then chop them finely. Layer them in a jar, salt each layer well, and cover everything with olive oil.

After the fresh wild garlic season has passed, take one teaspoon a day as a condiment for cold dishes.

CAUTION! Young wild garlic leaves resemble those of lily of the valley, autumn crocus, and hellebore. All three plants contain highly poisonous substances. While foraging for wild garlic, you may find many similar young leaves of arum growing in the same habitat, sometimes mixed with them. You can distinguish the poisonous look alikes from wild garlic by the absence of a garlic scent.