I love to find wild garlic. I wait till later in fall, when the stalks have dried and fallen over, then I harvest it. I cut the bulbs off the stalk and let them dry some, then put the bulbs in a basket and use them all winter. They begin to sprout by early spring, and I plant them at my place, so I have lots of garlic now all over the property in bunches. I love the flavor of it in meat....

 

We just cut off the scapes and use them until we can harvest the actual garlic. Its my first year doing garlic but from what I understand if the scapes go to flower they take the growth away from the bulbs forming so if you want garlic bulbs in a few weeks trim them off

 

I personally would never harvest until after scapes have formed and have been cut off. I understand the scapes are delicious sauteed in a little oil or butter.

After 2/3rds the top growth has died back, dig up the garlic, strip off the outer layer to get rid of the dirt, tie in bunches of 8-10 and hang to dry. Since this is a wild patch, be sure and leave enough to regenerate for next year. Actually, if you can mark them, dig only those that put up scapes as they are the mature ones. The immature ones should be left in the ground for next year's crop. If you can't mark them, then dig up no more than 1/2 the crop this year and leave the rest to make for next year.

 

Your problem is to figure out if you have a patch of wild garlic or a wild patch of garlic. Wild garlic is more like an onion than garlic and barely edible. Most patches of feral garlic aren't true garlic but rather elephant garlic. If you have trouble determining which it is, leave one of the scapes to mature. If the top turns into a big compound white flower, it's a leek. If it becomes a cluster of bulbils, it's a garlic.

Martin