Before reading today’s post, it’s important to me to let you know that this blog has been part of a long/slow journey towards healing. Pre and post military service can be difficult, but without the support of my family & friends – I wouldn’t be who I am, thus Mote wouldn’t exist. I am so grateful beyond words to them and hope they know it. To everyone I’ve met (or yet to meet) who will never read this I just wanted to say: thank you so much for inspiring me.

Garlic (well, really alliums as a whole) are a big part of why I decided to seriously pursue cooking. I could never seem to get enough flavor when cooking with them, which initially lead to just making large batches of herbaceous garlic stock and drinking it several nights a week to get my fix. Watching YouTube channels like Tasting History or Townsends while also in college studying history & working with archives, I couldn’t help but further appreciate it.

This is the type of food that most people would have had present at their tables in some form or fashion – if for nothing else because it is hardy, readily available for people of all classes, and just plain tasty.

They also have these oddly cool looking bulbs that form called scapes. According to the Cornell Cooperative Extension, Garlic scapes are the “flower stalks” of hardneck garlic plants. People eat them, but I also think in the wild they are just cool looking for their simplicity. The stalks show up fairly quickly after the leaves and fortunately in my area they grow everywhere. Below are some images I snapped from local trails:

Well I wanted to keep this post short in part because I am still working out how to make money cooking (while being employed) and also most of what I want to do is on trails or in the kitchen, not on the computer. I’ll keep bringing updates plus pictures as I go because having that dream greenhouse starts with trying to establish some small roots.

Hopefully these wild garlic posts were a nice read and inspire you to go out & look in your own area for what is there. What sort of plants grow? Are there any animal dens you might walk past? As seasons change what new life emerges?

Stay curious, have fun, and don’t be afraid to learning something new.