Alliaria petiolata

Alliaria petiolata, or garlic mustard, is a biennial plant from our flora that is both edible and medicinal. Its leaves have a slight garlic taste, its spring stems have a slightly sweet taste reminiscent of cabbage, and its root has a flavour somewhat similar to radish. Its leaves can be finely chopped to enhance salads, used in compound butter, or included in pesto. Its seeds can also be used as a condiment instead of mustard. Let the plant go to seed, where it will furnish the garden or vegetable patch with spontaneous seedlings. This forgotten condiment plant should be brought back to our gardens.

Garlic mustard belongs to the Brassicaceae family. It is a cousin of rapeseed, mustard, and watercress. It is a hardy biennial herbaceous plant common in Europe, classified as a ruderal plant. It is found in hedges, wastelands, embankments, and thickets, mostly on limestone and clay soils. In the first year, the plant produces a tuft of green heart-shaped leaves with wavy edges, emitting a garlic smell when crushed. It flowers in the second year, from April to June. The plant produces hairy stems that reach an average height of 60cm (24in), depending on growing conditions. Branched inflorescences with cross-shaped white flowers form in the upper part of the stems. The flowers are pollinated by insects. They give way to long fruits called siliques. These siliques contain seeds that can be harvested and sown from March to August the following year. The plant dies after producing its flowers and seeds, but it can persist through underground budding at the root level.

Harvest: the leaves should be harvested as needed. The young spring leaves and stems have a milder flavour than summer vegetation. Use fresh leaves on the same day. Roots can be harvested before flowering.

Usage: finely chop the raw leaves in salads, in compound butter, or in pesto. The roots can be enjoyed like radishes. Garlic mustard does not have the disadvantages of garlic: it does not leave the consumer with the characteristic bad breath!

Garlic mustard can be planted in a vegetable garden, in well-prepared, loosened soil enriched with compost. The soil should remain slightly moist throughout the growing and flowering season, but not waterlogged. It can also be grown in pots and containers, but will need regular watering. Plant it in a sunny position, but not scorching. In full summer, the leaves will remain more tender if the plant is slightly shaded in the afternoon.

Tips: sow the seeds you have collected in autumn or early spring (the seeds need cold to germinate). Water regularly in summer if the weather is dry. If it gets very hot, protect your plants by placing overturned crates on top of them.