Central Park
Saturday, March 1

The 2008 season, the twenty-sixth, opens with this most popular of parks for foragers. Because of its varied habitats and the combination of wild and cultivated, native and exotic plants, Central Park is a great place to forage, even in the winter and early-spring. Here are some of the plants we'll be finding:

Cold-weather greens abound in Central Park. We'll be finding large stands of field garlic, with mild-flavored onion-like bulbs and tender young leaves which you use like chives. And the first sweet and sharp daylily shoots popping up along the embankment of the reservoir will be a treat for all.

There may be chickweed near Belvedere castle, and we'll find new, young garlic mustard greens with their horseradish-flavored taproots in various locations.

Wet lawn areas could feature spicy Pennsylvania bittercress, and sunny spots with poor soil may produce shepherd's purse, the most mild-flavored mustard green. A cultivated area near the lake is always overgrown with sour-flavored sheep sorrel, one of the tastiest edible "weeds".

Ground ivy, a.k.a gill-over-the-ground, is an attractive member of the mint family quite tolerant of the cold. This resident of lawns makes a delightful tea that's used in herbal medicine for water retention.

Sassafras, the original source of root beer, is in season all year, as are the seeds of the Kentucky coffee tree, for making caffeine-free coffee.

There will also be beautiful early season flowers to observe, including those of witch hazel, common spicebush, and carnelian cherry.

The most spectacular are those of the hazelnut bushes near the Delacorte Theater, with long, pollen-covered male catkins and tiny, radiating, crimson female flowers. And "Wildman" will have magnifying loupes so everyone can see them in their full glory.