For the past 20 years "Wildman” Steve Brill has been introducing committed carnivores to the joys of eating such things as chickweed and shepherd's purse. In public parks, where other people spread a blanket or pitch a ball, Brill chows down on a free vegetarian smorgasbord. This summer the eccentric leaf-eater will don his pith helmet to march munchers throughout Long Island. He'll guide guests to eat flavorsome American persimmons from the Muttontown Preserve, fox grapes from the Long Island Greenbelt Trail in Smithtown and beach plums from Sunken Meadow State Park. Mix in some raspberries, mulberries, strawberries, blackberries and elderberries and you've saved yourself a trip to the drive-thru.

The four hours spent in Brill's company tend to be funny (wait until he plays something on his hand-to-mouth Brill-O-Phone), instructive and — gulp — filling. On our trip, we admit to having palmed a few of the scarier-looking weeds Brill put in our hand. But, he says, nobody's ever gotten a bellyache from eating the plants he selects for consumption. Brill's creed: "Everyone comes home with the fixin's for the best salad they've ever had.