Keen cooks and foragers are being encouraged to pick their own wild garlic at Prior Park Landscape Garden.

Great British Life: Wild garlic at Prior ParkWild garlic at Prior Park (Image: Archant)

The National Trust is celebrating wild garlic, Allium ursinum, at the garden close to the centre of Bath. Visitors are being encouraged to take the woodland paths through swathes of the white flowers from the wild garlic while the pungent odour washes through the air.

A relative of chives, and a member of the onion family, all parts of the plant are edible - the leaves can be used raw in salads, boiled as a vegetable or as an ingredient of soups and a great variation on pesto. The flowers are also delicious.

Wild garlic has been credited with many medicinal qualities and is a popular homeopathic ingredient. It is used very often for treating high blood pressure and digestive problems.

Clove garlic is known for its antibacterial and antiviral properties because of its sulphur content and was even used in the First and Second World War for sterilisation of wounds. With wild garlic having four and a half times more sulphur compounds than culinary garlic, its potency is much stronger. Various minerals are also found in much higher amounts in Wild garlic. It is known as the ‘magnesium king’ of plants because of the high levels of this element found in the leaves. Magnesium is known for its anti-stress properties and is claimed to protect the circulatory system.

“Here at the National Trust in Bath we are very excited once again to showcase our abundance of wild garlic and encourage everyone to come out and pick their own in the beautiful surrounding of Prior Park Landscape Garden,” says Nick Melling, National Trust Visitor Experience Assistant.

As part of a garlic celebration, the National Trust has produced information sheets and recipe cards for inspiration.

More information is available at www.nationaltrust.org.uk/prior-park