Marine Park,
Sunday, May 4

This vastly under appreciated park offers all the best wild foods of the rich seashore habitat. The sandy soil is poor, limiting tree growth but benefiting plants that can take advantage of the full sunlight and nutrient-poor soil. Many of these species are at their peak in mid-spring.

One of these is wild asparagus, a feral version of the familiar commercial shoot, but much better tasting. It grows in thickets throughout the park.

The fields of south of Ave. U provide greens such as curly dock (no relation to Moe Dock or Larry Dock — Nyuck! Nyuck! Nyuck!), garlic mustard, field garlic, daylily shoots, and lamb's-quarters. We also find plenty of the medicinal plant mullein, and the fragrant pineapple-weed, a pineapple-scented relative of chamomile.

The sun and sand makes this one of the best habitats for root vegetables. We'll be finding stands of sweet wild parsnips and peppery common evening primrose roots, as well as highly flavored white-colored wild carrots (Queen Anne's Lace).

And a woodland area will provide delectably sour greenbriar leaves and shoots.