Hunt for Wild Cattails with Wildman Steve Brill, Sunday, Apr 15

Hunt for Wild Cattails at Stone Barns Center

 with naturalist/author "Wildman" Steve Brill

1 PM on Sunday, April 15

 

America's go-to guy for foraging, "Wildman" Steve Brill, will lead one of his world-famous foraging tours of Stone Barns Center in Pocantico Hills, NY. Here's a natural area you'll love exploring in early spring, with lots of common species, and some surprises always in store. There are cultivated areas, thickets, streams, and woodlands, all with different plant communities. Wild herbs and greens will be thriving in fields and disturbed habitats. We'll look for ground ivy, sheep sorrel, field garlic, hedge mustard, shepherd's purse, garlic mustard, and chickweed. In addition, we'll find culinary and medicinal herbs such as northern bayberry, black birch, yarrow, sassafras, and spicebush twigs.

See his full calendar here
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Meetup: Foraging in Central Park, Oct 31, NYC

Tour: Foraging with Naturalist "Wildman" Steve Brill in Central Park, Oct 31, 11:45 am
The Metro NYC Environmental Meetup Group

Thanks to its varied habitats and combination of native and introduced species, this world-famous park overflows with wild food.
The 4-hour walking tour begins at 11:45 AM on Halloween, Saturday, October 31, at 106th St. and 5th Ave.

Call (914) 835-2153 at least 24 hours ahead to reserve a place.

Hunt for Black Walnuts, Croton Aqueduct, Mon, October 12th

Hunt for Black Walnuts on the Croton Aqueduct
with naturalist/author "Wildman" Steve Brill

On Columbus Day, Monday, October 12, naturalist/author "Wildman" Steve Brill will lead one of his world-famous Wild Food and Ecology Tours of the Croton Aqueduct in Dobbs Ferry, NY.

This long trail used to be where water was brought to Manhattan from Westchester. Now it's a beautiful walking and biking path lined with all manner of edible weeds. Here are some of the autumn plants we can expect on this tour:

We'll certainly find plenty of field garlic, a member of the onion/garlic family that comes up in the spring and re-emerges in the fall. Delicate chickweed, with a flavor like corn on the cob, is a likely find in sunny areas. Spicy poor man's pepper, spinach-flavored lamb's-quarters, and sour-flavored sheep sorrel and wood sorrel should be around too. Garlic mustard is another strong-flavored plant that will add zing to any salad or cooked grain or vegetable dish. The horseradish-flavored roots are in season at this time of the year.

Burdock, with a hearty, potato-flavored taproot, grows everywhere, and we're certain to find one location with soft soil where we'll be able to be able to dig it out easily. Other roots we're likely to find in overgrown areas include peppery-flavored common evening primrose, and white, chewy wild carrots, the same plant that produces the familiar Queen Anne's Lace flower in the summer. We'll also get to compare it with deadly poison hemlock, the plant that killed Socrates.

Black walnuts are among the tastiest and most nutritious of nuts, and they should be littering the ground under the huge trees. Everyone will learn how to remove the green husks, and crack the nuts open with rocks.

"Wildman" cracks open black walnuts on the pavement with a rock.

Spectacular mushrooms also abound at this time, especially if there have been recent heavy rains. Huge hen-of-the woods (sold in health food stores as maitake), gigantic chicken mushrooms (which really taste like chicken), golden-brown honey mushrooms, the prized aborted entoloma, various species of puffballs including the huge giant puffball, and savory meadow mushrooms may pop up anywhere along the trails.

The 2-hour tour begins at 1 PM, Monday, Columbus Day, October 12, at the intersection of Main St. and Cedar St. in Dobbs Ferry. To attend, call (914) 835-2153 at least 24 hours beforehand and reserve a place.

The suggested donation is $15 for adults, $10 for children under 12. (Please bring exact change.) Nobody is ever turned away due to lack of funds. For "Wildman's" 2008 tour calendar and additional info, visit http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com.

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Contact: "Wildman" Steve Brill, (914) 835-2153 wildman@wildmanstevebrill.com
http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com

Foraging at Green Chimneys, Sun, October 11th

Hunt Common Evening Primrose Root at Green Chimneys with naturalist/author "Wildman" Steve Brill

On Sunday, October 11, naturalist/author "Wildman" Steve Brill will lead one of his world-famous foraging tours at Green Chimneys, in Brewster, NY. Green Chimneys is the nationally renowned, non-profit organization with a mission of restoring possibilities and creating futures for children with emotional, behavioral and learning challenges through educational, therapeutic and outreach services, while providing care for animals and nature, thereby promoting a philosophy of dignity and worth for all living things.
These 3 foraging tours are part of the Annual Fall Harvest Festival. We'll be exploring a farm with plenty of open, sunny areas as well as woodlands, ideal for fall foraging.
Common edible "weeds" such as Asiatic dayflower, chickweed, wood sorrel, lamb's-quarters, and sheep sorrel grow in sunny areas throughout.

The trail sides are full of sassafras and black birch trees, while the ground may be littered with black walnuts, white oak acorns, and hickory nuts.
Roots are also in season in autumn. We'll be looking for common evening primrose, field garlic, and wild carrots.

This is an excellent place for wild mushrooms, especially if it's rained beforehand. We'll be on the lookout for honey mushrooms, aborted entoloma mushrooms, gigantic chicken mushrooms and hen-of-the-woods, oyster mushrooms, giant puffballs, and the enoki or velvet foot mushroom, which is prized in Japan.

The 3 walking tours run on Sunday, October 11, from 1 to 1:50 PM, 2 to 2:50 PM, and 3 to 4 PM, at Green Chimneys, 400 Doansburg Rd., in Brewster, NY. The tours are free with admission to the Fall Harvest Festival, $10/adult, $5/child.

Call (845) 279-2995, ext. 286 for further information. No reservations are necessary.
For "Wildman's" 2009 tour calendar and additional info, visit http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com

Hunt for Wild Water Mint on the Appalachian Trail, Sunday, Aug 23rd

Hunt for Wild Water Mint on the Appalachian Trail

with naturalist/author "Wildman" Steve Brill

On Sunday, August 23, naturalist/author "Wildman" Steve Brill will give a free talk and presentation at Native Landscaping in Pawling, and lead one of his world-famous Wild Food and Ecology Tours of the adjacent Appalachian Trail in Pawling, NY. The subject matter: foraging—the ecological harvesting and uses of common edible wild plants and mushrooms.

The free 60-minute presentation, followed by a 4-hour walking tour begins at 10:30 AM, Sunday, August 23, at Native Landscapes, 991 Route 22, in Pawling, NY. The suggested donation for the tour is $15 for adults, $10 for children under 12. (Bring exact change). Nobody is ever turned away due to lack of funds.

To attend, call (914) 835-2153 at least 24 hours beforehand and reserve a place. For the 2008 tour calendar and additional info, visit http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com,

The Appalachian Trail is America's most famous hiking trail, running for hundreds of miles from Maine to Georgia. Our stretch is loaded with wild foods.

As soon as we depart from the railroad station where we meet, we'll find the huge leaves of burdock, with an edible root that tastes like potatoes. Nearby, we'll find loads of wild parsnips, garden escapees that taste even better than their commercial forerunners, plus lots of wild carrots, a.k.a. Queen Anne's Lace.

Other common herbs and greens we can expect include water mint and wild mint, lamb's-quarters, yarrow, purslane, sheep sorrel, wood sorrel, poor man's pepper, sassafras, water mint, various wild mustards, and black birch.

Water Mint

This common wetland species imparts a remarkably complex and satisfying flavor to any dish where mint is normally used.

We'll also find lots of jewelweed, a major medicinal herb with juice that relieves a variety of skin irritations, from insect bites to preventing poison ivy rash. In addition to the common species, spotted jewelweed, which has an orange flower, this is the only tour where we'll also find pale jewelweed, with its yellow flower.

If it has rained beforehand, the mushrooming should be as great as it was in past years. We may find large quantities of delectable parasol mushrooms, gourmet boletes, brittle russulas, smoky-flavored black trumpets, luscious meadow mushrooms, mild-flavored coral mushrooms, meaty hygrophorus milky mushrooms, and gigantic chicken mushrooms. Other unexpected species could easily surprise us.

The free 60-minute presentation, followed by a 4-hour walking tour begins at 10:30 AM, Sunday, August 23, at Native Landscapes, 991 Route 22, in Pawling, NY. The suggested donation for the tour is $15 for adults, $10 for children under 12. (Bring exact change). Nobody is ever turned away due to lack of funds.

To attend, call (914) 835-2153 at least 24 hours beforehand and reserve a place. For the 2008 tour calendar and additional info, visit http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com,

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Contact: "Wildman" Steve Brill, (914) 835-2153, wildman@wildmanstevebrill.com, http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com

Native Landscapes, (845) 855-7050,

http://www.nativelandscaping.net,

pete@nativelandscaping.net

Hunt for Wild Wineberries at Ryder Farm

with naturalist/author "Wildman" Steve Brill


At 10 AM, Tuesday, July 21, naturalist/author "Wildman" Steve Brill will give a talk and lead one of his world-famous foraging tours of Ryder Farm, in Brewster, NY. The grounds of this long-standing organic farm are loaded with wild foods, and on this tour of this beautiful locale, we could be finding anything.

Fruit and berries are spectacular at this time of year. Wineberries will be at their peak. These Asian raspberries, which are easy to collect in quantity, are much more flavorful than their wimpy commercial counterparts. These juicy, sweet-and-sour berries are in season from mid-July to mid-August, and they grow in abundance in thickets throughout the northeast.

Blackberries are just coming into season. One of the most flavorful is the dewberry, an early-season species that trails the ground. We may also find the first ripe elderberries of the summer. They're not sweet, and they must be cooked, but they're great, sweetened, in pancakes, muffins, and breads.

Black cherries will also be in season. These native bittersweet fruits, with the flavors of cherry and grapefruit, are great raw, and superb cooked with a thickener and sweetener in all the standard puréed fruit desserts.

Plenty of herbs and greens are in season all summer. On this tour, we'll be looking for lamb's-quarters, purslane, wood sorrel, sheep sorrel, poor man's pepper, burdock, sassafras, jewelweed, and Asiatic dayflower, among others.

With lots of rain and a bit of luck, we could find gourmet mushroom species such as chicken mushrooms, chanterelles, boletes, and russulas.

The 30-minute talk followed by a 60-minute walking tour begins at 10 AM, Tuesday, July 21, at Ryder Farm, 400 Starr Ridge Rd., in Brewster, NY. The suggested donation is $15/adult, $10/child under 12. Please call (914) 835-2153 at least 24 hours in advance to reserve a place.

For "Wildman's" 2009 tour calendar and additional info, visit http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com

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Contact: "Wildman" Steve Brill, (914) 835-2153 wildman@wildmanstevebrill.com, http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com

Wild Foods Tour of Bylane Farm with Wildman Steve Brill, Sun, June 28

Nationally Renowned Forager "Wildman" Steve Brill Will Teach You to Identify Edible & Medicinal Plants at Bylane Farm

Sunday, June 28, 1 p.m.–3 p.m.

This tour is co-sponsored by Katonah Green. It will begin with an organic vegetarian lunch, followed by a brief talk, then the foraging tour. Copies of Steve Brill’s books and his recent DVD release, will be available for purchase and signing.

PRICING
There is a $40 charge, which includes an organic, vegetarian lunch. You must sign up by June 25th to reserve your lunch.

A non-lunch price is available for $30.

PAYMENT
To pay by credit card, sign up at http://www.meetup.com/Katonah-Green-and-Beyond/. Cash and checks accepted at the event.

More info, reservations: 914.763.0474

Bring plastic bags for collecting wild edibles, insect repellent, and a sun hat. No sandals.

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Naturalist-Author "Wildman" Steve Brill has been leading foraging tours in parks throughout the Greater NY area since 1982. His Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants in Wild (and Not-So-Wild) Places (William Morrow Publishers, 1994) is considered a classic on the subject, his innovative Wild Vegetarian Cookbook (Harvard Common Press, April, 2002) is changing the way people think of preparing gourmet food, his Shoots and Greens of Early Spring in Northeastern North America (self-published, 1986 and 2008) teaches people how the foraging season begins, and his Foraging With the "Wildman" DVD series is showing people how it's all done. But he's still best known for having been handcuffed and arrested by undercover park rangers for eating a dandelion in Central Park!

Forage for Wild Edibles with Wildman Steve Brill, Katonah, May 24th

10 AM, Saturday, May 24th: Forage for Wild Edibles with Wildman Steve Brill around the fields and trails of John Jay Homestead!

With farmlands, lawns, a woodland, and edge habitats, and cultivated areas, this picturesque historical site is an ideal venue for a mid-spring foraging tour. Held in conjuction with Katonah Green and Beyond Meetup, you can be assured that there will be tons of wild greens to be found.

Everything edible that comes up in the spring could be there. In sunny areas and along the edges of trails and woodlands, we'll look for tasty violet leaves, piquant greenbriar leaves and shoots, sour curly dock greens and flower stalks, spicy garlic mustard leaves and flowers, and jewelweed, a poison ivy preventative and cure for mosquito bites.

Disturbed habitats should produce pokeweed, a fabulously tasty, highly nutritious potherb that's poisonous if you consume it raw, or dine on the roots, berries, or seeds.

We'll look for sassafras, the original source of root beer, along the edge of the woods. Further in, we may find wintergreen-flavored black birch trees; and spicebush leaves, for making a flavorful anti-fever tea.

Given enough rain beforehand, we could run into some choice spring mushrooms. There may be chicken mushrooms, dryad's saddle, wine-cap stropharias, or even morels.

Might Find: Chicken Mushrooms: It really does taste like chicken when cooked with the appropriate spices!

The 2-hour walking tour begins at 10 AM, Sunday, May 24, at the John Jay Homestead, 400 Jay Street/Route 22, in Katonah, NY. It will be followed by an optional BYO lunch gathering.

The fee is $30.
To reserve your spot and pay by credit card go to the Katonah Green and Beyond Meetup Group Site
Call 914-763-0474 if you need to pay by check or cash, or would like more information. Visit Katonah Green for more information.

CHILDREN's POLICY: if your children are into foraging, please bring them. We would prefer not to have children attend who will be making noise loud enough to make it difficult for other participants to hear Steve speak. But if your children are of a nature that does well in groups and is interested in the subject matter, we would love to have them! Call to discuss food and price.

Learn more about Wildman Steve Brill