Saxon Woods (Teens/Adults)

The sunny borders between woodlands and the parking lot provide prime habitat for various wild herbs and greens. We'll look for sheep sorrel and wood sorrel, with their wonderful lemony flavors, plus goutweed, which tastes like parsley, carrots, and celery. Poor man's pepper, a common, delicious wild mustard, also appears in great abundance in sunny habitats, and it's even more common invasive relative, garlic mustard, is taking over the forest.

Poor Man's Pepper

This is one of the best-tasting spicy greens in the world, and it's abundant, renewable, and free!

The hillside adjacent to the woods is also full of burdock, a delicious and healthful taproot, and its relative, common thistle. This forbiddingly thorny plant has a delicious, celery-like flower stalk. Simply wear work gloves until you've peeled off the forbidding-looking thorns.

Burdock

A.k.a. gobo, this tasty root is a staple in East Asia.

In the woods, we'll hunt for more edible and medicinal herbs and beverages such as piquant-flavored greenbrier leaves and shoots; ramps, the world's best onion species; and flavorful pokeweed shoots. We'll also be looking for root beer-flavored sassafras, wintergreen-flavored black birch, and jewelweed, a preventative for poison ivy and a panacea for insect bites and stings. 

For a finale, as we leave the woods, we'll find northern bayberry bushes, with leaves far superior to the unrelated but similarly-flavored bay leaf, growing in the parking lot.

Note:

• Participants should be dressed for the weather, and be aware of very bad subway service. Trains are often canceled due to track work. 
• No sandals (there are mosquitoes, thorns and poison ivy). Everyone should have plastic bags for veggies and herbs, paper bags for mushrooms, which spoil in plastic, containers for berries from late spring through fall, water and lunch, a pen to sign in and extra layers when it's cold.
• Digging implements and pocket knives are optional. 
• Dogs are permitted. Children are encouraged to attend.
• There's no smoking whatsoever at any time.