Category Archives: garlic bulbils

Norwegian sansai

Good to be back from Japan to Norwegian sansai (foraged vegetables)….
From top left, left to right: Angelica archangelica “Vossakvann”, various dandelions / løvetann (Taraxacum), Rumex patientia (patience dock/hagesyre), Garlic bulbil shoots (forced indoors), ground elder / skvallerkål, Rheum palmatum (petiole), Rumex acetosa (sorrel / engsyre), Myrrhis odorata (with root ; sweet cicely / spansk kjørvel), chervil / hagekjørvel, Campanula latifolia (giant bellflower / storklokke), horseradish / pepperrot ( shoot), Anredera cordifolia (Madeira vine; grown inside), Alliaria petiolata ( garlic mustard / løkurt), Hemerocallis (daylily/daglilje), Ranunculus ficaria (lesser celandine / vårkål), Urtica dioica (nettle / nesle), Allium senescens x nutans, Hablitzia tamnoides (Hablitzia, Caucasian spinach / stjernemelde)…made into a stir fry with soba (buckwheat pasta)

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Garlic topset shoots

Every winter for the last 10 years I’ve been sprouting the bulbils of the Scandinavian heirloom garlic Aleksandra. I sow them in soil and cut down about 3 times over a couple of months giving me garlic sprouts most days for my lunch.

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Today’s garlic sprout photo shoot in the snowy garden :)

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A picture from 2005 showing the diversity of hard neck garlic topsets. Aleksandra (2nd from left at the top) has medium size bulbils and each plant produces maybe 30-40.