Scientific Name - Alliaria petiolate
Common Names - Garlic mustard, garlic root, garlicwort, hedge garlic, jack-in-the-bush, jack-by-the-hedge, mustard root, poor man's mustard, sauce-alone
Garlic Mustard is native to Europe and was brought to the USA in the mid 1800’s for use as a food source and medicine. It is considered to be one of the 10 top most dangerous invasive species because it is one of the VERY few non-native plants that can dominate the under-canopy of entire forests, killing out native plants.
Note: Garlic Mustard has a few look-a-likes, especially in it's first year when it grows closer to the ground, so make sure you are looking at the correct plant before eating.
If you can control the plant from invading and taking over most everything, it can provide a food source and many medicinal benefits. In a homesteading environment, it would probably be best to grow in an area away from other plants where the seeds can hide and take root.
It has a biennial life cycle. Seeds sprout early in the spring of the first year and grow into rosettes. The second year, a flower stalk develops. Once the seed pod forms, the plant dies back and drops its seeds. Like any seed-bearing plant, the seeds can be travel and take root elsewhere via rain washing them away or small animals eating them and leave a seed or two in their droppings as they travel around the area.
If you are growing in a bed, many people cut off the flower stalks before they mature into seed pods, leaving a few to reseed the bed, because the plant dies once it has made seeds. Can be grown in full sun but prefers at least partial shade. Also, does well in full shade.
All parts of the plant are edible. This includes leave, roots, stems, flowers and young seed pod. Like most types of greens, the older the leaves, the more bitter they become. Most people do not consider them to be as bitter and many other greens and people have found creative ways to cook them that helps decrease the bitterness.
Garlic mustard contributes the following nutritional benefits to your diet.
• Vitamin A
• Vitamin C
• Vitamin E
• Some of the B vitamins
• Chlorophyll
• Enzymes
• Potassium
• Calcium
• Magnesium
• Selenium
• Copper
• Iron
• Manganese
• Omega-3 Fatty acids.
• Helps stimulate blood circulation
• Anti-asthmatic
• Antipyretic (breaks fevers)
• Antiscorbutic
• Antiseptic
• Bronchitis
• Colds
• Diaphoretic
• Eczema
• Insect bites & stings
• Poultice on boils/skin ulcers
• Promotes Sweeting
• Boil fresh leaves in a pot of water, then inhale the steam to break up chest and sinus congestion.
• Crush fresh leaves and apply with a wrap over fresh wounds to kill and microbes already there and help prevent new ones from getting into the wound.
• Use in fresh salads, earlier spring is better as the bitterness increases in hot weather.
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