This woodland park is as scenic as it is bountiful. A great abundance of edible and medicinal wild plants and mushrooms makes Putnam State Park a great venue for foraging in the fall.

Common edible "weeds" such as Asiatic dayflower, chickweed, wood sorrel, and sheep sorrel grow in sunny areas throughout.

An area near the parking lot where we meet features large, tasty burdock roots. The trailsides are full of sassafras and black birch trees, while rocky slopes provide mullein and northern bayberry leaves.

The group will hunt for berries such as the sweet-sour autumn olive (actually a member of the honeysuckle family), and the mild-flavored but colorful partridge berry.

This is one of the best locations for wild nuts. The ground will be littered with delectible shagbark hickory nuts, black walnuts, and white oak acorns, and "Wildman" will teach you how to collect, process, and use these nutritous foods.

Although the leaves are long dead, the bulbs of ramps (wild leeks) are at their best. They're rampant in the woods, and the "Wildman" will encourage everyone to "take a leek!"

This is one of the best parks anywhere for wild mushrooms, especially if it's rained beforehand. In past years, we found large quantities of choice honey mushrooms and aborted entoloma mushrooms on this tour. Other possibilities include gigantic chicken mushrooms and hen-of-the-woods, oyster mushrooms, pear-shaped puffballs, and the enoki or velvet foot mushroom, which is prized in Japan.