WILD FOOD!
LEARN ABOUT EDIBLE AND MEDICINAL WILD PLANTS AND MUSHROOMS, NATURE, AND ECOLOGY
With
"Wildman" Steve Brill
"Wildman" puts the bite on Japanese Knotweed
THE PURPOSE of this hands-on program is to learn about the environment and get back in touch with nature. By studying foraging and nature, we enjoy our renewable resources and reaffirm our commitment to preserving and rebuilding our ecological riches.
Central Park
Saturday, June 25
The 4-hour walking tour begins at 11:45 AM, Saturday, June 25, at Central Park West and West 72nd St.
Call (914) 835-2153 at least 24 hours ahead to reserve a place.
At The Central Park Lake
Please call and make a reservation. Limited space available
Central Park, always a great park for foraging, is spectacular in early summer. There are many terrific herbs, greens, and berries in season at the same time.
We'll begin with cattails growing by the lake. With cucumber-flavored shoots, flower heads you cook like corn-on-the-cob, and pollen you can use as flour, this is one of the best of wild foods. And if you're so busy harvesting this supermarket of the wild that you don't notice a mosquito zeroing in on you, you can use nearby jewelweed to cure the bite.
Next we'll proceed to the wonderfully sour-flavored sheep sorrel growing nearby. And if that isn't enough, we'll harvest sweet mulberries and juneberries within site of the sorrel. For wild black raspberries, we'll head to the area behind the Delacourte Theatre.
Additional wild vegetables also thrive throughout the park. We'll be looking for poor man's pepper, wood sorrel, lamb's-
quarters, lady's thumb, purslane, and Asiatic dayflower. We should also find the pungent seeds and bulbs of field garlic.
Edible trees grace central park, and we'll be visiting 2 species that are in season all year. We'll find sassafras, the original souce of root beer. This "weed" tree is so prolific, we've been collecting saplings in the same place hundreds of times since 1982 without any impact on the environment whatsoever.
We'll also gather seeds from the Kentucky coffee-tree, which produce the world's best caffeine-free coffee substitute, and a great seasoning for chocolate recipes.
If it has rained beforehand, we may also find gigantic chicken mushrooms, brittle russulas, and prized king bolete mushrooms.
http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/
SUGGESTED DONATION $20 ($10 for children under 12), sliding scale. No one is ever turned away for lack of funds.
Please bring exact change.
BRING plastic bags for vegetables and herbs, paper bags for mushrooms, plastic containers for berries, drinking water, and a pen (to sign in).
RECOMMENDED
Lunch, knife, digger, work gloves, note pad, whistle (so you won't get lost), insect repellent, sun hat or warm hat, an extra sweater, rain gear or boots - as necessary
