The first shoots of wild edibles are beginning to appear in New York and I’m thrilling at their arrival. Late at night, on my way home from the gym, on Easter Sunday, I can’t stop myself from stepping off the sidewalk to pull at the first hints of allium.

Wild garlic has begun sprout in lawns and yards and fields all around. It pops up greenly in the little patches of grass between road and sidewalk just beyond my apartment door. Even in the dark its tufted appearance beckons. So I stop, pull a thread or two, and nibble, checking for the telltale garlicky, oniony taste and smell.

Wild garlic indeed. I’m delighted by this announcement that spring is on its way. So too, then, is foraging season.