Alliaria petiolata 

'Garlic Mustard'

[Ex. Co. Durham, England]

Brassicaceae: biennial to about 1m in height, white flowers 6mm across, with 4 petals, blooming from April-June, the seed pods or cylindrical, ribbed, 4-5cm long, heart-shaped, toothed, garlic smelling when crushed. Found growing in waysides, often in hedgerows and roadside verges, widespread and common, but least so in the north and west of the UK. Native to most of Europe, including Britain, south to North Africa and east to Western Asia, and the Himalayas.

USES:

The young leaves are used raw or cooked as a potherb or as a flavouring in cooked foods, the leaves have a mild garlic and mustard flavour, and are believed to strengthen the digestive system, they can be finely chopped and added to salads. The leaves are available very early in the year and provide a very acceptable flavouring for salads in the winter. Garlic mustard has been little used in herbal medicine, the leaves and stems have antiasthmatic, antiscorbutic, antiseptic, deobstruent, diaphoretic, vermifuge and vulnerary properties. The leaves have been taken internally to promote sweating and to treat bronchitis, asthma and eczema, externally as an antiseptic poultice on ulcers, it is also said that to be effective in relieving the itching caused by bites and stings.

GROWING INFORMATION:

Succeeds in damp shady places where few other herbs will grow, a good woodland edge plant, it also grows well in the bottom of hedgerows. Grows readily from seed sown at any time of the year, it does however require a long period of chilling to break dormancy. If sowing in situ on sites that might be colonised by weeds, it is therefore best to sow in autumn.

HARVESTED: 2022*

APPROX. 100+ SEEDS