Garden warden at wits end after chefs rip up community wild garlic

Parklife!: Warden of London garden at wits end after ‘greedy’ fine-dining chefs rip up community wild garlic and sell it in their ‘£50-a-dish restaurants’

• Kenneth Greenway said his team caught someone with over eight kilos of garlic

A council park manager has slammed ‘greedy’ chefs for ripping up a community garden in a London cemetery to get wild garlic for £50 dishes at their fine dining restaurants.

Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park runs a scheme where people can apply for permission to forage ingredients from the patch for personal use.

There are about 400 requests a year, with most people donating to the park’s charity to help keep the green maintained.

Kenneth Greenway, 47, says he has caught chefs helping themselves to more than their fair share, and that they have not taken kindly to him confronting them about it.

‘We had to get enforcement officers involved in one restaurant,’ he said, ‘they were taking large amounts of garlic for free but when we looked, their cheapest dish was £48.’

Kenneth, who works for the Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park, said that he and his team ‘find huge bare areas completely emptied of all green’ because of the ‘selfish’ commercial foraging. 

Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park runs a scheme where people can apply for permission to forage ingredients from the patch for personal use

Kenneth Greenway, 47, says he has caught chefs helping themselves to more than their fair share of wild garlic

The park warden said his team recently caught a commercial forager making off with over eight kilograms of the plant. Pictured: Confiscated garlic

‘It’s a problem because it feeds into many other things. It’s greed and financial greed,’ he told The Telegraph.

He said ‘selfish’ scavengers from restaurants are clearing out whole areas of the park but give nothing in return to help with its upkeep. 

As well as high-end restaurants using the plants, park officials have also reportedly found people selling the plants online for as much as £80 per kilogram.

The park warden said his team recently caught a commercial forager making off with over eight kilograms of the plant.

‘I’ve had quite hostile responses from arrogant people saying they pay their taxes so they can take what they want – but it doesn’t work like that,’ Mr Greenway said.

Kenneth did say however that some local restaurants and chefs work directly with the park to obtain wild garlic in an ethical way that supports the park management of the plants.

He said: ‘In many cases, foraging can actually be beneficial and help with the management of the park.

Mr Greenway, who works for the Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park, said that he and his team ‘find huge bare areas completely emptied of all green’ because of the ‘selfish’ commercial foraging

Bare patches left on the green after foraging. The popularity of wild garlic has been on the rise in recent years

‘Wild garlic can take over large areas, so controlled foraging is encouraged.

‘Even commercial foraging can be done in a good way. Most nature reserves would be receptive to a kitchen saying they’d like to use it.

‘We work with a local restaurant who buys our wild garlic, and they tell their customers where it’s come from.

‘The kitchen at the Arsenal football stadium also works with us to provide wild garlic – it can be really beneficial if done right.’

The popularity of wild garlic has been on the rise in recent years, with searches shooting up by 400 per cent, according to reports.

The leafy green is native to the UK and grows from late winter and throughout spring, and is used by cooks because of its more subtle flavour than its cousin.

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