Foraging violets Tis the season for ramps and fiddleheads. After the (hopefully) last snowstorm of the year in late April, both of those popular wild foods began popping up on restaurant menus, at farmers markets and on social media around Vermont. There s growing concern, however, about the sustainability of gathering these green signs of spring. Ramps are especially susceptible to overharvesting, and picking the entire plant or plucking too many from a patch can prevent them from returning the following year. Foragers have long protected the locations of their favorite woodland patches of the garlicky wild leeks and fiddlehead ferns. Now, some are forgoing them altogether. Instead, they re turning their attention to the bright, plentiful flowers such as dandelions and violets scattered throughout fields, lawns and forest edges.