There's a feast of natural food and plenty of natural remedies spread throughout the woods of New Canaan. Luckily, "Wildman" Steve Brill and his daughter Violet know just where to look. The author and forager stopped by the New Canaan Nature Center to give a walking tour of the preserve's trails, teaching families about the wide range of plants that can make a great meal, or a great medicine.
"I do tours all overLong Island, New Jersey, New York," said Brill, who lives in New York City. "But Connecticut seems to be the friendliest place." Every 10 steps or so along the trail, Brill would notice a plant or a mushroom along the way and immediately point it out to the crowd of about 25. If the plant was edible, he would rattle off recipe suggestions as if he were reading directly out of his cookbook. That is, when he wasn't cracking jokes or performing the occasional hambone solo.
But perhaps more importantly, Brill also described plants that looked similar to edible ones, but were deadly poisonous. For example, a plant with fuzzy stems, small white flowers, and a root that looks and smells like a carrot is the edible "wild carrot" or "Queen Anne's Lace." But a plant without the small hairs on the stem, with a root that smells like "a dead mouse" is the deadly wild hemlock. "You could eat that one once," Brill said, "but you won't be around to try it for a second time."
Despite having never been to the New Canaan Nature Center before, Brill found dozens of useful plants quite easily. Of course, he had some help along the way in his daughter, Violet. Brill brings the 6-year-old on about half of his outings to serve as an advanced scout. Throughout the walk, Violet would chime in with tips like, "Daddy! Daddy! There's poor man's pepper over here!"
Brill has written three books on foraging for natural foods: "The Wild Vegan Cookbook," "Shoots and Greens of Early Spring in Northeast North America," and "Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants in Wild (And Not So Wild) Places." He does walking tours and school lectures across the tri-state area.For more information on his upcoming schedule, visit the Wildmans website. For upcoming events at the New Canaan Nature Center, visit its events page.
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