Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolate) is an invasive plant that was brought to the U.S. from its native Europe in the 1800s as a food source. Alas, it had no natural enemies in the U.S. Couple this with the large number of seeds that it throws off, and the viability of those seeds for up to five years. You can also add the tendency of many Americans to have no clue about most of the plants around them. I'm fairly sophisticated about plants but even I was fooled at first when they began spreading across my backyard and that of my neighbor. To be honest, the flowers resembled those of snakeroot, a toxic native plant that one would be foolish to even touch.

Eventually I wised up. After all, snakeroot blooms in August and September here, not April and May. Taking my courage in my hands, I tried breaking off a stem and smelling it. Aha! It smelled like a combination of garlic and mustard, a sure sign that I had been misguided. For several years I dutifully spent precious time pulling it up whenever I saw it only to see it blooming just out of reach along the river bank, or in the back yards of people who had dogs I didn't care to tangle with. Those plants would produce seeds which would blow pretty much everywhere.

I noticed that there were youtube videos extolling the epicurean virtues of this plant. I put these in the back of my mind until I went out yesterday and noticed a vast swath of garlic mustard plants in bloom. I had a lot of work ahead of me, and I was going to be busy with projects, including cooking. I felt a bit of guilt that I had misidentified this plant and not prevented it from infesting my neighbor's lawn. How could I avert the Alliapocalypse that was surely coming?

It was time to try the advice in those videos. This morning I harvested as much as I could. When I made supper, I put the greens in a colander and rinsed them. Then I prepare a nice stew of turkey, potatoes, and other vegetables. I usually add spinach to this, but today I added the garlic mustard instead. I let the dish stew for about 50 minutes. The moment of truth finally arrived. I tasted the dish and WOW! It's really, really good. The garlic mustard tastes a lot like mustard greens. One or two stalks were too tough to eat, but the rest of it is fantastic.

I now know how I'm going to handle this ecological disaster that is also an epicurean boon. I might get more sophisticated in how I prepare garlic mustard, or I might just keep going along the path of least resistance. At least the zillions of white blossoms that went into my stew (along with leaves and some shoots) would not be turning into seeds.

I used to grow swiss chard or beets. Now I don't have to. Mother Nature is giving me, without the work of tilling, planting seeds, and season-long watering, something every bit as good. And I may end up benefiting my neighbor, unless he decides to harvest his garlic mustard himself. Well, it grows along the road, so there won't be a shortage.

Paulh

15.05.23 Front Page

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