Foraging with Russ Cohen
On October 1st of 2011, members of the Culinary Guild gathered at Great Brook Farm State Park. The goal was to learn about wild edibles with professional environmentalist and wild foods enthusiast Russ Cohen.
Over 66 wild edibles have been identified in Great Brook Farm State Park. Sheltered from the light morning drizzle by one of the park’s wooden picnic areas, we listened as Russ explained how to forage and showed us some of the plants we should look for and avoid. Russ’s brief lecture was just long enough for the sky to clear, leaving us with a brilliant, cool day for foraging.
Guida Ponte watches as Russ discusses wild mushrooms before foraging.
Everyone was eager to learn from Russ, including member Phil Minervo, young enthusiast Margaret, and member Nona Dreyer.
In the field Russ was a dynamic, hands-on teacher.
In the field we saw dozens of wild edibles, including milkweed...
wild grapes...
and hickory nuts.
Our youngest event attendee shows off a find for the camera.
After we finished foraging, we traveled to Verrill Farm in Concord, where we enjoyed a delicious meal made using foraged ingredients from a previous trip that Russ had taken.
If you’re interested in learning more about the Guild or attending one of our events, please visit the Culinary Guild of New England’s website: CulinaryGuild.org