The blue bells for the scent and sight and the wild garlic for the taste and smell.
As we walk I can’t resist popping an unopened wild garlic bud in my mouth for that true taste explosion which to me signals spring like nothing else.
I make a lot of wild garlic pesto at this time, freezing some for later in the year. It’s just oil, wild garlic, dash of lemon juice, nuts (I try to use local ones) and a lot of grinding in the mortar and pestle.
Of course you can use a mixer but I rather like the more primitive, slower method.
The gift of a tiny yellow rose a few years ago has made it presence known in the garden this year. I believe it is Banksia Rose and it’s rambling like the
proverbial bat out of hell! Roaring across ivy-clad fences it is invading next door’s garden shamelessly. Our neighbours tell us they love its trespassing nature so I can’t bring myself to re-direct it just yet! If you have already got the oil out for the
pesto you might as well pick a few rose petals and make an infused rose oil too. Another highlight in the garden at this time of year is the opening of the Tree Peony, a very different type of yellow from the creamy rose with its acidic lemon hue. My appetite is certainly refreshed from the woodland walk and all this talk of cream and lemon has me hankering for a lemon posset – a very easy pud !