Edible Wild Plant/Mushroom Walks and Talks -
Schedule for the Year 2021.
Dulse Seaweed - Photo by Russ Cohen
NOTE: Wild edible walks and talks are done for the 2021 season. A prelimimary calendar of 2022 programs will be posted here in early 2022.
Please contact Russ at eatwild@rcn.com or (781) 646-7489 (h) for more information.
Click here for information on Russ's foraging book:
"Wild Plants I Have Known...and Eaten". Copies of the book will be available at all the "in person" events below.
FYI, an excerpt of Russ' book can be read on-line
in the Jan/Feb 2005 edition of
Spirit of Change Magazine.
Click here to see and listen to Russ' October 2013 appearance on NPR affiliate WGBH, including video clips and an interview on Boston Public Radio, about fall foraging opportunities in eastern Massachusetts. Click here to read "Outdoor Dining: Foraging with Russ Cohen", a profile appearing in the September/October 2014 edition of the Appalachian Mountain Club's AMC Outdoors magazine. Read a profile of Russ appearing in Northern Woodlands Magazine's Community Conversations, October, 2020. NEW! Watch a segment about Russ that aired on the Chronicle TV show on 7/27/21.
| Date | Time | Sponsor(s) | Location |
|---|
| Wed. Feb. 24 | 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM | University of Maine Extension
(slide show) | online |
| Sat. March 20 | 9:15 AM - 10:30 AM | Mass. Land Trust Coalition
(slide show - part of the 2021 MA/RI Land Conservation Conference) | online |
| Thurs. March 25 | 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM | Becket Athenaeum
(virtual walk and commentary) | online
(filmed in Great Barrington, MA) |
| Tues. March 30 | 7:00 PM - 8:15 PM | Society for the Protection of NH Forests
(slide show) | online |
| Tues., April 6 | 7:00 PM - 8:15 PM | NOFA/MASS
(free webinar) | online |
| Tues. April 13 | 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM | Groton (MA) Public Library
(slide show) | online |
| Mon., April 26 | 7:00 PM - 8:45 PM | Portsmouth Public Library
(slide show) | online |
| Wed. April 28 | 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM | Brewster Conservation Trust
(slide show) | online |
| Thurs., April 29 | 7:00 PM - 8:15 PM | Lexington Nature Speaker Series
(slide show) | online |
| Thurs.,May 6 | 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM | Morse Institute (Natick Public) Library
(slide show) | online |
| Wed., May 12 | 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM | Freedom's Way National Heritage Area
(slide show) | online |
| Thurs., May 13 | 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM | Nashua Public Library
(slide show) | online |
| Tues., May 25 | 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM | Allandale Farm*
(walk) | Boston, MA |
| Wed., June 2 | 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM | Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council
(walk) | Providence, RI |
| Sat., June 5 | 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM | The Nature Museum*
(walk) | Grafton, VT |
| Thurs. June 10 - Sun., June 13 | online
(on demand) | International Herb Symposium*
(slide show and virtual walk) | online |
| Tues., June 15 | 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM | Waltham Fields Community Farm* | Waltham, MA |
| Wed., June 16 | 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM | Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council
(walk) | Smithfield, RI |
| Thurs., June 17 | 4:00 PM - 6:30 PM | Audubon Society of Rhode Island*
(walk) | Bristol, RI |
| Sun., June 20 | 1:00 PM -2:15 PM | Harvard University Museums of Science and Culture
(virtual wild edibles walk + Q+A) | online |
| Thurs., June 24 | 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM | Allandale Farm*
(walk) | Boston, MA |
| Wed., July 7 | 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM | Brewster Conservation Trust
(walk) | Brewster, MA |
| Tues. July 13 | 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM | Flint (aka Middleton Public) Library*
(walk) | Middleton, MA |
| Thurs. July 15 | 5:45 PM - 7:45 PM | Tower Hill Botanic Garden*
(walk) | Boylston, MA |
| Fri., July 23 | 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM | Maine Audubon/
Wild Seed Project*
(walk) | Falmouth, ME |
| Mon. July 26 | 5:30 PM - 8:00 PM | Atowi | Brattleboro, VT |
| Fri., August 6 | 10:00 AM - 2:30 PM | Essex National Heritage Area*#
(walk) | Salem, MA
(Bakers Island) |
| Mon., Aug. 9 | 1:00 PM - 4:30 PM | The Livery*# | Sunapee, NH |
| Wed., Sept 1 | 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM | Waltham Fields Community Farm* | Waltham, MA |
| Thurs., Sept. 23 | 7:30 AM - 9:30 AM | Buzzards Bay Coalition* | Acushnet, MA |
| Tues. Sept. 28 | 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM | Wilbraham Public Library
(slide show) | Wilbraham, MA |
| Wed. Sept. 29 | 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM | West Newbury Wild and Native
(slide show) | online |
| Thurs. Sept. 30 | 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM | West Newbury Wild and Native*#
(walk) | West Newbury, MA |
| Mon., Oct. 11 | 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM | Middlesex Conservation District
(walk) | Westford, MA |
| Wed. Oct. 20 | 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM | Appalachian Mountain Club, Worcester Chapter
(slide show) | online |
NOTE: The events list below are from last year (2020). Some of these were recorded and are available online. See, e.g., videoed segments of a virtual wild edible walk along the Housatonic River in Great Barrington, MA, which was filmed at the end of May. For other walks and talks that were recorded: if the word "online" in the list below is clickable, you should be able to access it.
| Date | Time | Sponsor(s) | Location |
|---|
| Sat., Jan. 18 | 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM | Mt. Cuba Center*
(slide show) | Hockessin, DL |
| Thurs. Jan. 30 | 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM | Boxford Trails Association/Boxford Open Land Trust
(slide show) | Boxford, MA |
| Thurs. March 5 | 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM and
4:00 PM - 5:30 PM | Ecological Landscape Alliance*
(slide show and hands-on workshop) | Amherst, MA |
| Thurs. May 14 | 7:00 PM - 8:15 PM | Boston Food Forest Coalition
(webinar) | online |
| Thurs. May 28 | 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM | Mass. Association of Conservation Commissions*
(webinar) | online |
| Sat., May 30 | 1:30 PM - 4:00 PM | Mass. Rivers Alliance*
(online video) | Filmed in Great Barrington, MA |
| Thurs. June 4 | 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM | Waltham Fields Community Farm*/Historic New England*
(virtual walk) | online |
| Thurs. June 11 | 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM | Paul Pratt Public Library
(aka Cohasset Public Library)
(slide show) | online |
| Wed., June 17 | 7:00 - 8:30 PM | Brewster Conservation Trust
(slide show) | online |
| Wed., July 1 | 7:00 PM - 8:15 PM | Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust
(slide show) | online |
| Wed., July 8 | 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM | Wild Seed Project
(slide show) | online |
| Wed., July 15 | 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM | The Trustees of Reservations*
(walk) | North Andover, MA |
| Tues., July 21 | online | Essex County Greenbelt Association*
(virtual walk) | online- filmed in Essex, MA |
| Thurs. July 23 | 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM | Rodgers (Hudson, NH Public) Library*
(slide show) | online |
| Sat., July 25 | 3:30 PM - 6:00 PM | Audubon Society of Rhode Island*
(walk) | Bristol, RI |
| Sun. July 26 | 10:45 AM - 12:15 PM | Northeast Regional Permaculture Convergence
(webinar) | online |
| Tues. Aug. 4 | 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM | North County Land Trust
(slide show) | online |
| Thur., Aug. 6 | 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM | Wildlands Trust
(slide show) | online |
| Fri., Aug.28 | 7:00 PM - 8:15 PM | Sippican Lands Trust
(slide show) | online |
| Sat., Sept. 12 | 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM | Ware River Nature Club
(walk) | Hubbardston, MA |
| Tues. Sept. 15 | 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM | D Acres
(walk) | Dorchester, NH |
| Wed., Sept. 23 | 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM | Ware River Nature Club
(slide show) | online |
| Tuesday, Sept. 29 | 3-5 PM | North County Land Trust#
(walk) | Sterling, MA |
| Tuesday, Oct. 6 | 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM | Tower Hill Botanic Garden*
(walk) | Boylston, MA |
| Tuesday, Oct. 6 | 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM | Morse Institute (Natick Public) Library
(slide show) | online |
| Wed. Oct. 14 | 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM | Somerville Garden Club
(slide show) | online |
| Wed., Oct. 21 | 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM | Derry Public Library
(slide show) | online |
| Thurs. Oct. 29 | 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM | Tower Hill Botanic Garden*
(slide show) | online |
| Tues. Dec. 15 | 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM | Pittsfield Green Drinks
Berkshire Environmental Action Team (BEAT)
(slide show) | online |
§ = includes a wild foods tasting, cooking demonstration and/or dinner;
# = class is already full
* = It is necessary to pre-register directly with the Sponsor for these events. Click on the link(s) provided for each respective event for more info, or contact the sponsor via the following telephone numbers or emails:
The Nature Museum: Jay DeGregorio, (412) 719-1080; Audubon Society of Rhode Island: (401)245-7500 ext. 3112); Waltham Fields Community Farm: (Jessica Herwick, (781) 899-2403); Allandale Farm: (617) 524-1531; allandale@allandalefarm.com; Tower Hill Botanic Garden: (Kyle Jacoby, (508) 869-6111 x101); Essex Heritage: (978)-740-0444); Essex County Greenbelt Association (Jane Rumrill, (978) 768-7241); Flint (aka Middleton Public) Library: Charlie Pope, cpope@flintpublib.org; The Livery (Barbara Sullivan,(603) 540-5084); Wild Seed Project:info@wildseedproject.net; Maine Audubon: (207) 781-2330; International Herb Symposium: https://www.internationalherbsymposium.com/; Buzzards Bay Coalition Sarah E. Jennings, 508-999-6363 x.282.
[Note: For those of you who haven't as yet attended one of the outdoor walks/courses,
we usually encounter 25-40 different species of edible
wild plants (and, in season, pending favorable weather conditions, mushrooms). Keys to the identification of each species
are provided, as well as information about its edible portion(s), season(s)of availability,
flavor and nutritive value, and some tips on preparation if
necessary. Guidelines for safe and environmentally responsible foraging are also provided.
Participants often find a jackknife and several
bags for collecting samples useful as well as a notebook and pen. Those who have
already been on one or more of these walks often find a refresher course
of great value. In addition, there is a constantly changing variety of edible
wild plants throughout the year, even at the same location, so that
different plants are typically encountered on each visit. If you are especially interested
in mushrooms (edible and otherwise), you might also want to check out
the Boston Mycological Club. ]
Last update: 10/26/2021
Information on Russ's foraging book:
"Wild Plants I Have Known...and Eaten"
Foraging articles by or about Russ in Mass. Wildlife Magazine, Yankee Magazine, Edible Boston Magazine, AMC Outdoors Magazine, etc.
Russ Cohen's Biography
Comprehensive (as of 1999) Edible Wild Plant etc. Bibliography, plus updated excerpt
Recipes, including "Faux Gumbo" and "100% Wild Salad" as prepared on the PBS Victory Garden TV program
List of Sponsoring Organizations of Russ' foraging programs