Bear Garlic Pesto

A (loose) recipe.

I’m sending this bonus letter because I shared on Notes that our bear garlic (Allium ursinum) season is underway, and we’d spent much of Sunday gathering (the quickest bit!) and preparing different things (so far: pesto, fermented leaves, dried leaves, salt, and pickled flowerbuds).

Several people commented and liked the Note (thanks!), and I know it is a popular, easily identified, plant. When Yasmin Chopin asked what recipe I used, I started to type a reply on my phone this morning—then thought it might be of interest to more of you, so decided to send this instead. Also, Substack has just (finally) introduced recipe cards, so I was interested to see how that might work/look.

Three generations gathering together. As it should be. That’s our village in the background, we’re certainly spoiled for wild food and medicine options around us.

Definitely an experiment! I will undoubtedly turn a swift recipe/list into something longer than it perhaps needs to be, but with more flavour and depth. As usual, I’m recording the voiceover, so you can listen if you prefer.

If this doesn’t show up in your email client, ensure you click through to have a peek.

There we go! My first recipe here, in my own special style, probably not using the ‘cuisine’ ‘diet’ ‘category’ etc sections as they’re meant to be used, but hey!

I hope this is useful, interesting, or just fun? I find there is a deep and ancient joy in turning wild ingredients into something to use in the kitchen, it connects us to the past and to the present, both. Do please send this to anyone you know who lives near bear garlic!

What do you think to this recipe? Do you also make bear garlic pesto? Or anything else from the plant? What’s your favourite foraged ingredient in the year?

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You can also subscribe, if you don’t already. As of 2026, I won’t be paywalling anything new, other than my fiction once a story is finished. As such, all paid subscriptions are a means to support me and my work, if you can afford it. I’m going to be sharing things this year which I think might help a lot of people, and hiding them behind a paywall does not sit well with me.

And, as ever, thank you so much for reading, enjoy getting out to forage!