Ramson (wild garlic)

Ramson (Allium ursinum) is a perennial herb that belongs to the Alliaceae family. This plant is popularly called wild garlic, chenzel, bear's onion or levurda.

Cheremsha has the following names in other languages:

• in German - Bärenlauch, Bärenkraut, Waldlauch;
• in English - ramsons, wild garlic, gipsy onion;
• in French - ail des bois, ail des ours.

This plant can reach a height of up to 50 cm and has long, lanceolate leaves with an onion scent. In appearance, the wild garlic leaves are very similar to the leaves of May lily of the valley, autumn colchicum or spotted aronnik, so wild garlic can be identified only by aroma. The leaves are 10 to 25 cm long.

The wild garlic bulb does not have covering scales, therefore, the petioles below are more fleshy and thickened. During the flowering period, it forms an umbrella of a hemispherical shape with small white flowers. Then a trihedral fruit is formed in the form of a box. Ramson seeds are black, spherical in shape.

Today there are two main types of wild garlic:

• Bear onion (Allium ursinum). This plant is distributed throughout Europe. He has one oblong bulb, without a root system, the plant reaches up to 40 cm in height. The lanceolate leaves grow from the bulb and look like lily of the valley leaves.Bear onion has white inflorescences in the form of a ball. This species is listed in the Red Book.
• Victorious onion (Allium victorialis). This species has a root, on which there can be several conical bulbs at once. Leaves and bulbs are massive. The height of the stem can reach up to one meter. The leaves are larger and wider than those of the bear's onion. The flowers are white.

Ramson in the wild is widely distributed throughout Europe and North Asia. This plant can also be found in Russia, but mainly in Siberia. This plant prefers to grow in huge colonies in alder, broad-leaved-spruce or broad-leaved forests near rivers or streams, as well as in meadows.

• Cheremsha blooms from April to June.
• The leaves of the plant must be collected before the flowering period - from March to May, and the bulbs - closer to autumn.
• The leaves of the plant contain a large amount of vitamin C.
• Ramson propagates by seeds or vegetatively.
• Ramson is the first vitamin green that appears in early spring.

• Wild garlic leaves are often used in cooking. They have a garlic flavor and taste similar to onions and garlic.
• Leaves, flowers and bulbs are edible.
• Fresh wild garlic greens are used as a spice, which is added to vegetable salads, soups or pie fillings.
• For long-term storage, the leaves of the plant are pickled, salted or fermented; when dried, they lose all useful substances.

Ramson is a low-calorie dietary product. In 100 grams of fresh herbs, there are only 35 kcal.

Nutritional value per 100 grams of wild garlic:

• Proteins - 2.4 gr;
• Fats - 0.1 gr;
• Carbohydrates - 6.5 gr;
• Dietary fiber - 1 gr;
• Organic acids - 0.1 g;
• Water - 89 gr;
• Mono- and disaccharides - 6.1 gr;
• Ash - 1.1 gr.

You can learn more about the beneficial properties of wild garlic from an excerpt from the program "Live great!"

Ramson can rightly be called a natural antibiotic, due to the high content of lysozyme in it. This earlier plant is rich in B and C vitamins, carotene, contains fructose, protein, mineral salts, fiber, essential oils, phytoncides. The presence of essential oils provides wild garlic with phytoncidal and anthelmintic properties.

Vitamins: A - 4.2 mg, PP - 0.5 mg, A (RE) - 4200 mcg, B1 (thiamine) - 0.03 mg, B2 (riboflavin) - 0.1 mg, B6 (pyridoxine) - 0.2 mg, B9 (folic) - 40 mcg, C - 100 mg.

• Wild garlic leaves help increase appetite, and also have a beneficial effect on the production of gastric juice.
• The components of wild onions have a positive effect on metabolism.
• Ramson improves the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract.
• This plant has an antiscorbutic tonic effect.
• The main components of wild garlic have an antibacterial effect on the body.
• Wild onion is widely used as an antihelminthic.
• The use of this plant will help cleanse the blood, as well as improve the functioning of the cardiovascular system.
• Wild garlic leaves have a positive effect on the nervous system.

The most useful and tasty are the young leaves of the plant, if they were grown at a cool air temperature. The heat negatively affects the taste of wild garlic. The collection of leaves is carried out from April to May, and the bulbs - from August. First, the resulting raw material is cleaned of dirt and carefully sorted out.Fresh leaves are used in various culinary recipes, but they cannot be stored for a long time, over time they lose both taste and useful properties.

Frozen wild garlic: the leaves of the plant are thoroughly washed and dried on a towel, laid out in bags, tied and stored in the freezer, but not longer than one year.

Fresh leaves of the plant should be tied in bunches and boiled for several minutes, while 2-3 times you need to change the water to clean.

Prepare the mixture: salt the water a little, add vegetable oil and vinegar, while maintaining a ratio of 1:3.

Wild garlic leaves are placed in jars, filled with the finished mixture and closed with nylon lids. Store jars in the refrigerator.

If this limit is exceeded, then a significant deterioration in well-being is possible: headache, insomnia, stomach problems, and even exacerbation of ulcers. If you use wild garlic medicines in large quantities, serious heart problems can occur.

Ramson should not be used for:

• pregnancy;
• hepatitis;
• gastritis or stomach ulcer;
• pancreatitis and cholecystitis;
• epilepsy;
• inflammatory processes of the gastrointestinal tract;
• epilepsy.

Ramson is used in cooking as a spice, it has a strong garlic flavor. It is customary to add it to meat and fish dishes, it is very often used in soups or vegetable salads. Fragrant fillings for pies are made on the basis of wild garlic.This plant can be salted, pickled or sour, as the greens retain all the beneficial properties during heat treatment.

In some countries wild garlic is a traditional ingredient in national cuisine. So, in Caucasian cuisine, the leaves of the plant are added to various hot dishes; raw wild garlic bulbs are consumed with bread. In German cuisine, wild garlic is added to pies and bread, hot dishes. In Germany, there is a national variety of pesto, where wild garlic replaces basil.

To prepare pickled wild garlic you need:

• wild garlic leaves
• 1 table. a spoonful of sugar
• 1 table. a spoonful of salt
• 150 ml vinegar 9%

Cooking:

The wild garlic leaves should be washed and soaked for two hours in cold water to eliminate bitterness. Prepare marinade. Add sugar, salt, vinegar to the water and bring to a boil. Wild garlic leaves are tied into small bundles of 20 pieces and placed in half-liter jars, poured with warm marinade and rolled up for the winter.

To prepare salted wild garlic you need:

• 1.5 table. spoons of salt
• 1 liter of water
• wild garlic leaves
• condiments

Cooking:

The wild garlic leaves should be washed and tied into small bundles. Bundles of the plant should be placed in a jar and sprinkled with various seasonings (black and allspice, mint, oak, blackcurrant and horseradish leaves). The jar needs to be filled to the top with salty cold water, and left for 1 month.

• Ramson helps with diseases of the stomach and intestines.
• This plant is used for hypertension.
• The leaves of wild garlic have blood-purifying properties.
• For skin diseases, wild onions are indispensable.
• Plant components help in the treatment of rheumatism, atherosclerosis and scurvy.
• Ramson helps to cope with purulent manifestations.
• Wild onion is an excellent remedy for worms.
• Ramson is used to prevent or treat various colds, and also helps with beriberi.

Leaves, flowers and bulbs of wild garlic are used in the treatment of various diseases:

• with beriberi - you need to add up to 10 grams of wild garlic to a vegetable salad every day;
• with rheumatism - externally in the form of compresses: wild garlic leaves should be cut, rubbed, sprinkled with vegetable oil and wrapped in gauze. To get rid of pain, such a compress should be applied every day for an hour and a half to 14 days;
• with colds - the bulb of wild garlic should be rubbed into gruel, wrapped in gauze and placed for 10 minutes in the nasal passages;
• with insomnia or hypertension - infusion: chop the leaves and bulbs of the plant, pour a liter bottle and pour vodka. Let it brew for 14 days in a warm place. It is necessary to dilute 15 drops of infusion in 100 ml of water and take 4 times a day. The course of treatment is two weeks;
• with periodontal disease - you need to take equal proportions of wild garlic juice and vodka, then 1 table. dilute a spoonful of the mixture in 100 ml of water and rinse twice a day. Treatment is two weeks;
• with bronchitis - you need to take 10 wild garlic leaves and pour 200 ml of white wine and cook for 5 minutes. Strain and add 1 table. a spoonful of honey The decoction should be taken throughout the day in small sips. The course of treatment is up to 10 days.

• bear delicacy - has succulent leaves that reach a length of 20–25 cm. The plant has a height of more than half a meter. The yield of this variety is 2 kg per 1 square meter.
• bear cub - has long leaves that can reach 30 cm. Plant height is up to 60 cm.Productivity - 1.6 kg per 1 square meter.
• bear ear - characterized by small leaves (width 4 cm, length 30 cm). This species has a high yield, because from 1 square meter you can get from 1.9 to 2.5 kg of wild garlic.

Ramson is an unpretentious plant and can sprout in shaded areas with high acidity. There are two varieties of growing bear onions: bulbs or seeds.

In autumn, you should choose a site for spring planting bulbs. The soil needs to be fertilized with manure or compost (6-7 kg are needed per 1 square meter). An excellent choice for wild garlic would be clay or loamy soil, and you should also take care of the presence of shade.

In the spring season, you can start planting bulbs, while you need to maintain one meter between rows. Wild garlic is planted in an ordinary way without unnecessary deepening, and sprinkled with a few centimeters of loose earth on top.

Plant care includes weeding, loosening and removing excess bulbs, because there should be up to 7 bulbs per bush. Removed bulbs do not need to be thrown away, on the contrary, they can be used for culinary purposes or saved for planting next year.

This method is more time consuming and requires special care. Before planting seeds, be sure to use stratification. Seeds are placed in wet sand for three months, while the air temperature should be from 0 to 3 degrees below zero. Often the seeds are planted for the winter, but not always the weather conditions allow you to get a positive result.

Next, the seeds need to be planted in a nursery and covered with a peat layer of one centimeter and tamped a little. After a year, the seedlings can be transplanted into open ground.

• Even in ancient times in Germany, wild garlic was called a bear's onion. According to the legend, after hibernation, the bear goes to the forest to eat wild garlic and recuperate.
• In the German town of Eberbach, the wild garlic festival is held annually, where you can try various dishes from this medicinal plant, as well as see how it is grown.
• Charlemagne was an excellent connoisseur of spices. He singled out wild garlic among other medicinal herbs and even recommended growing it. But interest in wild garlic fell significantly during the Middle Ages. This plant was not grown in monasteries, as it gave people sensuality due to its rich garlic aroma.