Even in early Spring, there are plants we can forage that taste wonderful and best of all, are packed with vitamins and health-giving micronutrients. Just the tonic as we emerge from winter.

The easiest one to find growing out from the base of hedgerows and in our gardens is the stinging nettle (Urtica dioica), recognised by its oval, toothed leaves and the hairs on its stems. 

On cooking, the sting completely disappears, use the young leaves to make a Vitamin C loaded herbal tea or a nutritious iron-rich soup. Nettle works well as a spinach substitute in dishes such as spanakopita, the Greek pie.

Pick the young leaves at the growing tips but be sure to wear impregnable gloves - washing up gloves are ideal as you’ll need to wash the shoots in cold water before cooking to remove insects. Do protect bare skin as the sting is quite vicious. The season for nettles is short, beyond the end of April the plants become coarse and hoary.

Another favourite spring green is ramsons (Allium ursinum), also known as wild garlic. Found in moist ancient woodlands, the garlic smell on the air lets you know ramsons are nearby. The leaves are long and slender and on crushing produce the distinctive garlic aroma.

Ramsons make wonderful pesto, replacing basil and food miles with a locally sourced ingredient. Eat the leaves raw, in cheese or meat sandwiches or chop and add to omelettes. There are endless possibilities as ramsons is an excellent garlic substitute, packed full of Vitamin C and beta-carotene.

The golden rule in foraging is to pick one in 20 of the plants you see, leaving plenty for wildlife.

As with nettles, the young leaves are the most nutritious, select a few from each plant being careful not to pull up the bulbs. The golden rule in foraging is to pick one in 20 of the plants you see, leaving plenty for wildlife. Once the clusters of starlike white flowers appear, the leaves become bitter and are strongly flavoured.

Other spring greens to look out for are dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) and garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolate), also appropriately named ‘Jack-by-the-hedge’ for its preference for partial shade by hedges. The heart-shaped young leaves of garlic mustard are great for flavouring salads and provide an alternative to ramsons when making pesto, adding a hint of mustard to the garlic notes.

The name dandelion comes from the French “dent de lion,” which translates to “teeth of the lion – a great description for dandelion leaves’ toothy, jagged edges! Add dandelion young leaves to salads or cook as spring greens though you might find it a bit of an acquired taste!

These spring greens are important food plants for the caterpillar stage of some of our common butterflies. Peacock, small tortoiseshell, red admiral butterflies as well as several moth species lay their eggs on stinging nettle and the orange-tip butterflies on garlic mustard, once the white flowers start appearing.

Leaving a patch of nettle in the garden is a great way of ensuring these butterflies are able to breed and delight us in the summer months as they flutter by searching for nectar-rich flowers.