Garlic Mustard

The Garlic Mustard is coming up everywhere here now and, as a non-native invasive species, will starve out other wild flowers and native plants. The plant is prolific and drives the local naturalists crazy as they try to figure out ways to eradicate it. The fact that the weed is edible seems to escape them.

It has not escaped us though.

To identify Garlic Mustard, I use the following features plus my familiarity with the plant:

1.The flower looks like a small broccoli floret--they're related.
2.The leaves are heart shaped with serrated edges.
3.Crushing the leaves smells like garlic.
4.The root looks and smells like horseradish.

We've eaten the leaves raw in salads and cooked like spinach. The roots, sliced and fried in butter, make a great replacement for fresh garlic out in the woods.

Give them a try sometime.

Thanks for reading,


B