We were thrilled to find patches of wild onions growing in the "weedy" area in the empty lot surrounding our garden. Googling "wild onion" let to a number of sites and ads with explanations about how to get rid of them. One went to particular lengths to differentiate between wild garlic (tubular leaves) and wild onion (flatter leaves) and presented a history of both plants. Wild onion is native and has been used since time immemorial by native people in the Americas. Wild garlic was brought over by the Europeans and naturalized in our friendly soil. It seemed strange to follow this information with a list of toxic remedies to their persistence - like killing off a long-lost friend.
I'd rather enjoy their delicate flowers, and eat the bulb. The flowers spring out of little bulblets that eventually burst and fall to the ground, starting the next generation. I'm not sure when the smallish underground bulbs are at their peak for eating, but the blooming ones we picked today were good enough.
Some native peoples apparently boiled them down to a syrup for use as a medicine for colds, croup, and "tickly throat" (Bradford Angier in Field Guide to Medicinal Plants). I wonder how they would work with spring allergies...
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