First flower

We walked through a couple of miles of lush Ramson (Allium ursinum) carpeted woodland today and saw countless tightly closed flower buds developing, though only one opened flower throughout the entire walk. The band of woodland which extends and covers the length of the landward side of the Purbeck Hills between Rollington Farm and the cut through the hill at Ulwell has erupted with Ramsons and the smell of garlic rises wherever you put your foot. I'm uncertain of the rights of way, so we made our way quietly and deftly through the stands, following old foresters tracks were present of well used animal tracks if not. We hurried on our way, always alert, taking in all about us. There's a wild feel about the woods, they were obviously managed at one time and in places are being again, but a lot of them through neglect have returned to a kind of wildish state. Again today was another opportunity to extend my knowledge of the area, adding new places to my mind map. I always love that.

I tried a couple of developing buds whilst walking, being small they haven't reached their full strength yet, but still contained plenty of flavour and the promise of whats to come. Time to look out some recipes, it's shaping up to be a bumper year.