Boscobel Restoration
Sunday, May 18

This sprawling estate, setting for an environmental festival by Riverkeeper.org, is crawling with wild plants.

Lawns, overgrown areas, fields, and the borders of woods, and woodland trails are great habitats for mid-spring shoots and greens. Some of the species we'll be finding there include field garlic, garlic mustard, hedge mustard, poor man's pepper, field peppergrass, violets, Asiatic dayflower, chickweed, and sheep and wood sorrel.

Burdock will be overrunning disturbed habitats. Add razor-thin slices of the roots to soups or rice. And at this time of the year only, you can also cook the immature flower stalks, which taste like artichoke hearts.

Pokeweed is another seasonal potherb, usually growing in partially shaded habitats. This vegetable is superb boiled in 2 changes of water (it's poisonous raw!) and flavored with tamari soy sauce and garlic lightly browned in olive oil.

Woodland areas may provide piquant greenbrier shoots as well as sassafras, the original source of root beer.

Springtime wild mushrooms could also be abundant, especially if there's been rain. We'll be looking for fairy ring mushrooms, wine-cap stropharias, dryad's saddle, and chicken mushrooms on this tour.