Summer Wild Vegetable Picking: Hokkaido is the Best

I went out to pick wild vegetables, guided by an expert. It was mid-June. I thought the season for wild vegetables was about to end, but I was pleasantly surprised.
The main target for the day was bamboo shoots. However, since Moso bamboo hardly grows in Hokkaido, for locals, this refers to 'Nemagari-take' (dwarf bamboo).
The harvesting location was a mountain in the Shiribeshi region. The parking lot at the trailhead was full, and the area was so crowded with bamboo shoot hunters that cars were lined up along the forest road.
As I started walking along the trail, clusters of dwarf bamboo appeared on both sides. However, since hunters had already finished harvesting at the base, I proceeded to the 5th or 6th station where slightly thicker bamboo shoots were popping up, and began harvesting.
Going further up, near the 7th station, there were still snow patches remaining.

Guided by the expert, we pushed through the bamboo forest and reached a small stream, where a pungent aroma filled the air. It was wild garlic, commonly known as 'Ainu-negi.' For a while, I forgot about the bamboo shoots, and while shouting things like 'Garlic is god' and 'Wild garlic is the best,' I bent over and continued the harvesting work.

On the way down, we also harvested Udo (Japanese spikenard) and young wild grape shoots, which the expert guaranteed were delicious when made into tempura. We finished our wild vegetable picking without threatening the global environment.

After soaking in a hot spring and returning to Sapporo, we enjoyed grilled bamboo shoots, Jingisukan stir-fried with wild garlic, and tempura made from Udo and wild grape shoots at a restaurant owned by the expert.

Eating wild garlic that I had picked myself was something I hadn't done since I lived in Niseko 20 years ago. If you climb to an altitude where there are snow patches, you might even be able to pick wild garlic in midsummer. It was a day that made me think, 'Summer in Hokkaido is the best.'