New York
Foraging – Prospect Park
Hiding in plain sight within Central Park is a rich world of edible and medicinal plants and mushrooms.
Late summer brings an abundance of wild foods to this park—from leafy greens to medicinal roots and flavorful fruits. We’ll gather vibrant salad ingredients like spicy hedge mustard, lemony wood sorrel, spinach-flavored lamb’s-quarters, and corn-flavored chickweed, along with burdock root, sassafras, and fragrant spicebush berries. These resilient plants grow in abundance and make for a forager’s dream this time of year.
We’ll also keep an eye out for Kentucky coffee-tree seeds, juicy blackberries, elderberries, and thornless purple-flowering raspberries. If conditions are right, we may spot gourmet mushrooms like chanterelles, chicken mushrooms, and king boletes.
Whether you're new to foraging or looking to deepen your connection to the wild foods around you, this walk will open your eyes—and taste buds—to the incredible, edible offerings of springtime in the city.
Ticket Type
When
08/16
Time
11:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Intensity
About
Steve Brill has been taking people on nature walks in New York's Central Park, and parks throughout the Greater NY area, since 1982. He gained notoriety in 1986, when he was arrested in New York City's Central Park for eating a dandelion. In 1994, Brill published his book: Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants in Wild (and Not So Wild) Places which explains how to identify and forage for edible or medicinal plants. In 2001, Brill published The Wild Vegetarian Cookbook: A Forager's Culinary Guide; a 500 recipe wild and natural foods cookbook.
