If there ever was a season to go wild, it's spring.

By going wild, I am referring to wild foods, those provided by nature that can be found free of charge in May and June.

Let's start with the obvious -- fiddlehead ferns, also called fiddlesticks. I was told that the best tasting of the wild fiddleheads are those with papery, light-brown coverings, although most of our native ferns are edible in this stage to some degree. I have tried fiddleheads, with mixed results. Some are bitter and require two or even three changes in water to make them palatable, but all this excess boiling makes them mushy.

Marty Simon, director of the Wilderness Learning Center in Chateaugay and a wild-foods expert, says there are more than one species of ferns with brown, papery covering and the ostrich ferns are the ones to pick.

"I never have to boil them twice and have often just steamed them."

Perhaps I mixed two different species when I picked the fiddleheads, an easy thing to do.

Be on the lookout for one poisonous plant that comes up in the spring and is often misidentified as skunk cabbage, itself a barely edible leafy plant. It is false hellebore; at first big parallel leaves with parallel, distinct veins appear, followed by a stalk that skunk cabbage lacks.

One edible root that is out right now, and one that is very tasty in soups and stews, is the wild leek. The two darkish green leaves of the wild leek plant are fully out of the ground, making it easy to find, but be forewarned, wild leeks have a very strong pungent taste if eaten raw. Also, if you pick a wild leek, you basically take the entire plant because the root structure is the edible part, so make sure you leave some plants growing for next year when they will once again spread. Wild leeks are excellent flavor enhancers in soups and stews.

In contrast, wild chives, domestic ones that have spread to the meadows or roadsides, have a light oniony flavor and make for subtle seasoning. The edible part of chives are their long, hollow stems, so when you pick them, the root of the plant stays in the ground and produces even more shoots. Just don't pick the flower stem -- it's very tough and will eventually produce seeds which then fall to the ground.

The wild mushrooms will be coming up soon, and the most sought-after early season variety is the morel. I have only been able to find wild morels twice. One time was decades ago over our old, no longer-in-use cesspool; the second time in Schuyler Falls. Morels seem to prefer old fields and small apple orchards gone wild.

Because morels are gourmet mushrooms, they make an excellent side dish sautéed with butter and salt, especially when served with freshly caught trout. Most people who seek out morels keep their location a secret, but you can feel free to contact me if you find some and don't want to eat them. I'll be there in a hurry.

A little later, the wild asparagus will start to come up, followed by the oyster mushrooms of June. This is truly a great time to get out and look for wild edibles. To learn the tricks of the trade, contact Simon at 497-3179. He has a rendezvous planned for May 23 through 26, and one day, May 24, will be devoted to finding and identifying edible wild plants. Admission is free. His Web site is www.weteachu.com.