Is It Safe to Collect Wild Garlic Yourself?

Wild garlic is a plant related to garlic, which you can often buy in supermarkets or at weekly markets in spring. However, you can also pick the spice plant yourself. Wild garlic grows extensively in many damp and shady deciduous and alluvial forests.

However, care should be taken when collecting: wild garlic looks very similar to lily of the valley and autumn crocus. Both are poisonous and must not be eaten under any circumstances. Therefore, only harvest wild garlic if you are familiar with botany. Also, to be on the safe side, always do a smell test: the smell of wild garlic is very intense and is similar to that of garlic. Crush a leaf of what you think is wild garlic. If you smell garlic, then you can harvest. If the plant doesn’t smell of anything, it’s better to leave it alone. You can be absolutely sure by growing wild garlic yourself in the garden or on the windowsill or by simply buying it.