Ate my first wild garlic leaf of the year, whilst leading an Urban Herbology Walk, this morning. It was delicious and I’m now filled with spring fever (and garlic breath ;).

Wild garlic / Daslook / Allium ursinum is always to be found here in January, if you know where to look, but it’s a little ahead of normal. There are also lots of other bulbs pushing up, such as crocus and daffodil and you wouldn’t want to confuse those as they are not to be eaten.

My next public walk is February 9th (a Thursday) and I’ll set another date very soon for my Wild Garlic Workshop. Didn’t do it last year but feels good to offer it again soon.

So, today we all took home some oyster mushrooms and wild garlic bulbs, as well as a selection of edible leaves. Ground ivy and violet leaves being my favourites at present

I made an omelette of Oyster and Wood ear mushrooms, comté and brie. Hard to describe the experience in my body cells, which the wild garlic brings.

I could smell spring yesterday evening, cycling through town, didn’t dare mention it, but today it’s conclusive – Spring has Sprung! Well at least for foragers and those affected by Hazel pollen…

Please remember that you shouldn’t dig out any bulbs or roots, as a forager, unless it’s your garden (or the paths in the foraging orchards). If you’re determined to harvest so early, be sure that what you pick, stinks of garlic. And that you only take a little from a plant, so it can quickly bounce back and grow new leaves. Also keep your harvesting tidy and sharp, so it looks like you’ve never been there.

Happy foraging me hearties – May you be glowing with the chlorophyll, glutamyl peptides and sulfoxides of Allium ursinum, before too long!

#ramsons #wildgarlic #daslook #alliumursinum #urbanherbology #cityforaging