Edible Wild Plants and Mushrooms of the Piscataquog Region

Gathering Black Chokeberries
Event Date: 
Wednesday, May 11, 2022 - 7:00pm

Presentation by Russ Cohen

Wednesday, May 11th

7-9 pm

The Piscataquog Region is home to over 70 species of edible wild plants, some of which are more nutritious and/or flavorful than their cultivated counterparts, and dozens of species of edible mushrooms.  Join Russ Cohen, expert forager and author of Wild Plants I Have Known…and Eaten, for a 90-minute slide show entitled Edible Wild Plants and Mushrooms of the Piscataquog Region. It covers over three dozen of the tastiest species the region has to offer.  These range from plants everyone knows well, like Daisies and Dandelions, to plants they may never have even heard of, like Calamus and Carrion Flower. About a dozen tasty wild mushroom species will be covered as well, including morels in the spring, black trumpet chanterelles in the summer, and hen-of-the-woods in the fall.  Russ will present information for each species on identification tips, edible portion(s), season(s) of availability and preparation methods, along with general guidelines for safe and environmentally-responsible foraging.  Russ will also bring along handouts and samples of tasty treats made with wild edibles for people to sip and/or nibble on.

Until his retirement in June of 2015, Russ Cohen served for over two decades as the Rivers Advocate for the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game’s Division of Ecological Restoration, where one of his areas of expertise was in riparian vegetation.  Since his retirement, Russ now has more time to devote to his passionate avocation: connecting to nature via his taste buds, and assisting others in doing the same. He is an expert forager and author of the book Wild Plants I Have Known…and Eaten, published in 2004 by the Essex County Greenbelt Association, and now in its eighth printing. Russ has been teaching foraging since 1974 and leads foraging walks each year at a wide variety of venues throughout the Northeast.  In addition, since his retirement,  Russ is playing the role of “Johnny Appleseed” for native edible species, propagating plants from seed he has collected, as well as establishing partnerships with land trusts, municipalities, state and federal agencies, schools and colleges, tribal groups, organic/permaculture farms others to plant edible native species on appropriate places on their property.  Russ has initiated over two dozen projects over the last six years.