Bears garlic (Ramson)

Ramson (Bear's garlic) - Аllium ursinum L.
Sensoric quality.
Perennial. Young shoots and leaves are used for food in fresh, salted, pickled, pickled and dried forms.
Wild garlic greens have a pleasant slightly garlicky taste. Seeds germinate only during winter sowing or after stratification.
The leaves grow back immediately after the snow melts within 25-30 days.
The collection of greenery is carried out at the end of May, cutting off the entire aerial part of the plant, preserving the bulb.
Cutting is carried out no more than once every 2-3 years in one place.

Biological features.
Bear's garlic grows well in shading. Prefers moist loamy or sandy soils.
Grows in early spring (early April). Blooms in May-June. Seeds ripen in July.
Reproduction and agricultural technology.
Propagated by seeds and vegetatively - by daughter bulbs, which are laid two or three in the axils of the leaves.
Seeds are sown before winter, seedlings appear in April. It reproduces well by self-seeding. Agricultural technology of ramson is similar to onions.
Harvest.
Onions for greens are harvested before flowering, seeds - when the boxes darken. Otherwise, the boxes crack and the seeds spill out.
Medicinal properties.
The leaves contain vitamin C (150 mg%), essential oil and phytoncides.
In folk medicine, bear onion is used as an antiscorbutic, antihelminthic, anti-febrile and anti-cold remedy.
It increases appetite, stimulates the activity of the gastrointestinal tract. Raw onions are used for atherosclerosis, and their juice is instilled into the ear for purulent inflammation.
Alcohol tincture helps in the treatment of cough and rheumatism.
Application.
In appearance and taste, it resembles a victorious onion, but its smell is more tender. Ramson is a good preservative.
Crushed or finely chopped onions and leaves protect the meat from quick spoilage. In the Caucasus, both bulbs and stems with leaves are used in cooking.
Bulbs are dug up in autumn and used instead of garlic, and seedlings - at the end of winter and consumed fresh or boiled: seasoned with sunflower oil and vinegar, canned or salted.
Bear onions of the autumn collection are dried for the winter. At the same time, it partially loses its aroma but retains its taste. Dried spices are ground and seasoned with dishes.
Crushed onions are mixed with red pepper and sour cream and a very tasty seasoning for fish and meat is prepared.
The game stewed with bear onions becomes more tender and tasty.
They are seasoned with fillings. Familiar with wild garlic and some European cuisines. In Portugal, for example, eggplant is baked with this aromatic herb.

Similar to garlic, but less strong and with a hint of chives.
Main constituents Similar to garlic, bears garlic contains a large number of sulphur compounds: divinyl sulfide, dimethyl thiosulfonate, methyl cystein sulfoxide and the latters degradation products, methyl allyl thiosulfonate and methanethiol.
Origin Native to Western and Central Europe. In the USA, ramp (Allium tricoccum), a wild plant with more onion-like flavour, is used for similar purposes.
Etymology English ramson (Old English hramsan) is of unclear origin; cognates are found in several Germanic (e.g., Swedish ramslök and regional German Ramsen) and Slavic languages (in Russian - Cheremsha).
There are, however, a few possibly related words in other Indo-European tongues: Greek krommyon [κρόμμυον] “onion” and maybe Welsh craf “garlic”.
With the apparent exception of Northern Germanic, many names of bears garlic in European tongues translate to “bears garlic”, “bears leek” or “bears onion”.

Ramson, Bear's garlic, broad-leaved garlic, buckrams, gypsy onion, hog garlic, wild wood garlic.