Central Park
Saturday, March 15

The 2008 foraging season shifts into high gear 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 late winter and early spring. These are some of the plants we'll be looking for:

Cold-weather shoots and greens abound in Central Park. We'll be finding large stands of field garlic, with mild-flavored onion-like bulbs, and tender young leaves that you use like chives.

The first leaves of curly (yellow) dock will appear near the West 79th St. overpass and the bridle path, and the first sweet and sharp daylily shoots will be popping up along the embankment of the reservoir will be a treat for all.

There may be chickweed near Belvedere castle or elsewhere, and we'll find new, young garlic mustard greens with their horseradish-flavored taproots along the edge of the lake.

Sheltered by a huge sun-warmed rock in the Ramble, the first rhubarb-like shoots of Japanese knotweed will be making their debut for the year.

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 the hazelnut, witch hazel, common spicebush, and carnelian cherry.

With a little luck and lots of rain, we may even find such cold-weather gourmet wild mushrooms as the enoki and the oyster mushroom.