Plant Walks and Forage Picnics

Welcome to my plant walk and forage picnic page. New summer walks are listed below. Please scroll down to see them,  or linger and read.

If you are here to buy a Gift Walk for someone, you'll find that payment tab at the bottom of this page. 

For private walks and consultation inquiries, or to be added to my quarterly-ish mailing list, please get in touch by email.

myviljoen (at) gmail (dot) com 

My book, Forage, Harvest, Feast - A Wild-Inspired Cuisine, is a substantial foraging and growing resource, with plant info for collection and for cultivation, and over 500 recipes for three dozen plants. It is intended as a guide for exploring the range of possibilities for delicious and very versatile botanical ingredients growing (or begging to be grown) near you. Buy it from the publisher, your local bookshop, or Amazon.

About my Walks

I lead plant walks and nature immersions in wild and tame green spaces. As much as these experiences are about sharing my passion for plants, and about identifying edible plants, they are an introduction to the rich natural world that surrounds us, even in the middle of a city. 

Every part of every season offers a unique opportunity to learn more about the plants that live with us in plain sight, especially in places where we do not expect to find them. Yes, we even walk in winter.

Groups are small, low-impact, and personal. It's not unusual for new friendships to grow over the course of the walk. Meet plants, make friends!

On our field trips we identify and talk about so-called weeds, or plants whose habit is invasive; introduced species; and native plants, some of which could - and should, but still don't - define an authentic regional cuisine. Awareness, sustainability and stewardship are the cornerstones of these interactions with nature. My own approach evolves, and I welcome the diverse perspectives that everyone brings to our roving discussions.

I hope to help tune your senses to the botanical and natural details at our feet, and above our heads. Nature is right here, and deserves to be seen. It's a bit of an emergency.

Most walks end with a wild-inspired tasting picnic. It's exactly what it sounds like: Tastes of in-season, wild ingredients, as well as preserved small-batch forages from my feral pantry. Where possible, non-foraged ingredients are organic or locally-grown, although I have been known to swoop on something interesting from the local corner store. I take broad dietary preferences (vegan, vegetarian, omnivore) into account where possible within a group. 

You can also book a diet-specific, private walk.

Ways to Walk and Talk

Scheduled Walks - seasonal group walks are posted here (scroll down).

Gift Walks - buy an open ticket to any scheduled walk; valid for one year.

Plant ID - I identify and advise on plants on your land/garden/public space.

Talks, Classes - for botanic gardens, design firms, conservancies, garden clubs, etc.

Consultation - native and edible garden creation, wild recipes, mixology and menus.

Private Walks - for institutions, corporate groups, schools, families, friends.

Cancellation Policy

Refunds are at my discretion: I am a one-woman show and walks with picnics take a lot of time to plan and prepare. If you cancel with up to four days' notice you are welcome to use your ticket (purchased or gifted) as credit towards a future walk. 

Gift Walks

A Gift Walk ($95) is an open ticket that offers admission to any of my seasonal plant walks with forage-picnics (classes I teach for outside institutions like the NYBG are not included). Give an experience that includes plant identification, nature immersion, wild-inspired treats, and the company of interesting and interested humans. Valid for one year. Gift Walks are non-refundable.

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Early Summer Walks

Juneberry Jaunt

5 June

5pm - 7.30pm

$85

Quick, before they are gone. Talk about seasonal. It's June and they are ripe, right on time, just when linden flowers begin to perfume the city. Come and meet, eat and collect the most delicious berries (well, pomes technically) in the city. I think they taste like tiny sweet apples that had blueberry babies. This is the most urban of our wild walks and we will take in the sights, sounds, and botanica of the streets and pocket gardens in the lowlands of Gowanus before enjoying cocktails and canapés, canal-side in the long light of early summer.

Meet up details and menu will be mailed out to attendees this Tuesday.

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Honeysuckle Hunt 

Fort Tilden

13 June 2026

11.30 - 2.30pm

$85

A wealth of interesting plants grows in thickets along the deserted roads of Fort Tilden and we'll sort them out from one another as we wander this lush duneland edge of the city. 

Invasive edibles like mugwort are at peak herbal goodness, and if the honeysuckle gods are with us there will still be plenty of the strangling vines' perfumed flowers to collect. Honeysuckle will be on the menu, and in your drinks, too. 

Parking for this walk is at the fisher's lot near the Silver Gull Beach Club, and requires a sticker-permit, so if you jumped on those early in the year you're set. If you did or could not, I have three rides to offer. If anyone can carpool, please let me know on sign up! Otherwise, it's biking, ferrying, bussing and walking.

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Red, Wineberry and Blue?

Conference House Park, Staten Island

4 July 2026

11.30 - 2.30pm

$85

Will the thickets of invasive wineberries be dripping with fruit? Fingers crossed! But we will also discover some of the native fruits of summer, including spicebush and black walnut. If the mugwort has not taken over the world (it may have) fragrant mountain mint will be piercingly refreshing to crush and sniff, and we will discuss the hundred ways to use that resilient Artemisia vulgaris (that's the mugwort). 

(Conference House itself is pertinent to this holiday, since it was the site of a failed attempt at peace-making in 1680.) 

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