Edible weeds in the afternoon light of April. The purple flowers belong to henbit (Lamium amplexicaule). The white flower stalks beside them are pennycress, a species of Thlaspi (they taste hot and a little garlicky). The pile below is chickweed (Stellaria media - tasting just like cornsilk smells) to the right and the fine flowering stems of bittercress (Cardamine hirstuta - peppery and nutty). All went into fresh summer rolls for yesterday's walk and forage picnic in Central Park, on a very beautiful spring day.
The next walk is on the 14th in Prospect Park and is all about edible botanical thugs (which we will most definitely eat on the picnic!). You can book via the link below. I have also added two Connecticut events to my late April calendar - a dinner with local food hero James Wayman at Stone Acres, near Mystic, and a walk and lunch the next day, where we tramp the farm for edible goodies and make lunch together.
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Central Park seems an odd place to forage -- don't they use pesticides and/or herbicides? Having never been to Central Park, I don't know.
ReplyDeleteMy walks are primarily plant identification walks. All the plants in one place. And then we have a picnic. We talk quite a lot about herbicides , so the urban setting is very useful for all kinds of digressions on the theme of the environment, invasive versus indigenous, and how foraging ties into the food pathways we follow.
DeleteAn aside - think of all the pesticide and herbicide used on conventionally grown food sold in every supermarket. We eat RoundUp.
I sure wish I had you around my property to tell me what's edible in the woods, Marie! I think I may have spicebush but I'm too nervous to attempt it, should I be wrong. I know I have sumac, that one's easy....and blackberries galore. And millions of dandelions - I suppose I should do something with them, but since I have 3 dogs I'd be quite hesitant as who knows what was on that ground the dandelions sprung from!
ReplyDeleteHire me :-) But scratch the spicebush twigs. They are very fragrant. And they have the early yellow flowers. The only thing that looks similar is Cornelian cherry.
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