Last night on the train, my fellow cycling commuter chum Tina mentioned she'd been enjoying wild garlic picked near her home. 'Ooh, any chance of picking me some?' I said...

...so now there's a bunch of bright green whiffy leaves poking out of my handlebar bag in the office.

Wild garlic (aka ramsons, bear's garlic and stinking Jenny - among other names) is a relative of the chive, and you eat the leaves (and the flowers if you like), not the bulb. The flavour is milder than that of garlic. It's ripe for the picking now (like these other in-season foods) and if you want to find your own, it grows in woodlands, and you'll smell it before you see it...

Tina recommended wild garlic, courgette and mint soup from Angela Hartnett - you can find the recipe on the Guardian website here. It looks delicious, and I'm also thinking of maybe adding peas...

I'm a fan of foraged food: see my blog on eating nettles.