Here we are in the heart of spring in Türkiye, where in many places throughout the country, one can truly experience this favorite of the four seasons. That’s right; we are truly lucky to be here in Türkiye and have the opportunity to experience the four characteristic seasons of the year to their fullest and, better yet, to witness many of nature’s wonders at this time of year, from migrating birds to blossoming flowers and wild edible greens.

Season of storks

In spring, nearly half a million storks arrive in Türkiye on their eastern migration route, where they set up large nests, mate and then care for their fledglings until they can take flight. For us mere humans, this means that if we are fortunate, we can spot them in their vast nests and fly back and forth to bring food and supplies to their homestead. Referred to as "Leylek" in Türkish, the white storks that visit Türkiye are a highly-anticipated symbol of spring entry.

While their large nests can be spotted in high spots throughout the country, such as the tops of trees, minarets and, in the case of Ephesus, Roman aqueducts, there is one stork in particular who has been named Yaren that visits his human friend and fisherman Adem on his rowboat every year for which this spring has become the twelfth in a row. The rowboat Yaren visits is in the Ulubat Lake in the village of Eskikarağaç in Bursa’s Karacabey, which also holds a festival for the visiting storks every year in the last week in May.

Blooming of Türkiye’s tulips

Every year, during April, the stunning colors of blooming tulips in Istanbul are celebrated with an International Tulip Festival. This means that several of the city’s parks and Ottoman gardens will be decked out with spectacular tulip designs like colorful carpets. Introduced to Holland by the Ottomans, the Turks first cultivated tulips, who are proud to celebrate this legacy at this time of year. The tulips blossom in the spring and various parks will be devoted to this spectacle, including Emirgan Korusu, Göztepe 60. Yıl Park, Gülhane Parkı, Hıdiv Kasrı, Beykoz Korusu, Çamlıca Tepesi and Sultanahmet Square.

Türkiye's wild greens

Springtime in Türkiye is also when many of the nation’s beloved wild edible greens begin to surface. Villagers in rural regions will be foraging for these precious and nutritional herbs incorporated into many dishes popular in Turkish cuisine. While the Aegean region is particularly famed for its vast selection, wild greens can be sourced from many farmers' markets nationwide. Every year in April, of which this will be the twelfth, the Alaçatı Herb Festival takes place with stands set up throughout the picturesque and popular holiday destination and quaint town in Izmir’s Çeşme. This year’s theme is "rebirth," and it will highlight dishes and greens from the earthquake-affected regions and have musical performances and cooking competitions from April 27 to 30.

For love of artichokes

The month of April is also when the beloved artichokes blossom, which means that not only will you begin to see them at farmers' markets, but they are also celebrated with a festival held annually in Izmir’s Urla, which is a region neighboring Çeşme’s Alaçatı. Another wonderful multiple-day event with stands of artichokes and other local products, cooking competitions and entertaining performances, this year’s "Urla Artichoke Days" ("Urla Enginar Günleri" in Turkish) will be held from April 28 to 30. Both the Alaçatı Herb Festival and the Urla Artichoke Festival, as the former used to be called, offer a wonderful opportunity to discover these two towns entirely oversaturated with summer visitors.

Mushrooms and their morels

During the spring, when the sun meets with the rain in on and off-spurts that present the ideal opportunity for mushrooms to flourish in the forests, the Turks go foraging and you can too. Albeit, this suggestion must come with a word of warning, as mushroom foraging can be dangerous if one is not properly informed of the right types in which to pick. Thus, I would highly advise joining a mushroom-foraging tour with some options in Türkiye. While mycologist Jilber Barutçıyan is Türkiye’s most well-known expert in mushroom identification, and I have taken part in his tours, there are other specialists and organizations such as Fungi TR and Ormandan Tabağa that also organize trips forage for the fungi in the forests of Izmir’s Aegean region and in the Black Sea’s Bole.

Spring’s market specialties

Needless to say, this month is one of the most highly anticipated in terms of farmers' market finds. From mushrooms to artichokes to edible greens, this is a time when these can be found hand-picked by their vendors at many of Türkiye’s local farmer's markets. But, in addition to these goodies, spring is when strawberries peak in Türkiye and taste as sweet as a natural gummy bear. Snow peas, aka mange tout, will also be available and are referred to as "sultaniye" in Turkish, as will wild asparagus, referred to in Turkish as "tilkicen."

Interestingly enough, finding the wider shoots of the cultivated asparagus we are used to is much more difficult than sourcing the wild version. Referred to as "kuşkonmaz" in Turkish, the larger, thicker and broader variety is available at farms where you can order online. In contrast, the foraged variation, thinner shoots, are much more widely available at this time of year at farmers’ markets as Turks love to prepare the greens chopped up and scrambled into eggs.