Hop Shoots and Horseradish

I went down some local fields to try and find some wild hops. Although I have yet to try them, the shoots are edible. Last year I went to the same place where I know they grow, only to find nothing. The very wet weather put paid to many wild crops.

You need to look on ancient hedgerows. This hedge has blackberry, sloe, hawthorn, dog rose, hops and many other wild hedgerow plants. I soon found some hops with nice shoots. The leaves are very large and hand like. Much larger than other hedgerow plants and you can see the stems climbing and twisting and even last years stems.

I gathered a few shoots to cook up and made my way back along another path. I've seen a recipe for a hop shoot omelette, so I may try that. 

 I have seen wild horseradish growing along this path. The path runs by some allotments and the horseradish was there when I was a boy and it was still there. Its leaves are similar to dock, but have a twist and don't have any red colourisation.

Dock leaves don't have the twist and have some red colourisation as well. Here is a dock leaf.