We noticed it at the start of April. Whilst walking beside the river, it was as if someone had taken a green pencil crayon and scribbled furiously amongst the trees.
One minute it was brown and dull, winter's leftover. The next it was verdant and bright. Spring is slowly creeping in.
Nothing else seemed to have changed. The hills are still muddy brown. The sky continues to yo-yo between blue and shades of grey. But the green, a sea of wild garlic [ail des ours] has been stealthily creeping in for weeks, sometimes beneath snow, to suddenly reveal itself.
We're still waiting for the nettles. But down by the river, there is wild garlic in abundance.
For my birthday, after the cake, we made
a salad from navelwort and chives and a wild-garlic quiche from plants we had gathered in the woods down by the river the day before.
Oh my goodness, a wild garlic quiche! That sounds absolutely delicious.
ReplyDeleteI've only been able to get my hands on nettles for now, but cannot wait to try more deliciousness from the wild larder :)
It's one of the best things we've made so far this year! We've been experimenting "living without" gluten and dairy products for the last month. The change to our cooking and eating patterns was initially a little overwhelming. There seemed to be so much we couldn't cook from our usual repertoire but heading out into the fields and rummaging through the wild larder ended up being a real life-saver! xx
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