Forage with naturalist and wild food enthusiast, Russ Cohen.
Thursday, August 15th, 2019
Time: 10 a.m. to approx. 12 noon
Location: Meet at the Museum
Fishers Island is home to over 70 species of edible wild plants – some of which are more nutritious and/or flavorful than their cultivated counterparts. Join Russ Cohen, expert forager and author of “Wild Plants I Have Known…and Eaten” for a ramble through a shaggier part of the Island. Russ is currently in his 45th year of teaching courses about wild edibles and will present information on each species encountered including identification tips, edible portion(s), season(s) of availability and preparation methods. Russ will also provide general guidelines for safe and environmentally-responsible foraging.
Limited to 30 people. To assure a spot, please sign up by contacting the Museum by phone (631-788-7239) or e-mail (fimuseum@fishersisland.net)
(Please note also the related talk that Russ is giving on August 14th, 2019 at the Museum.)
RUSS COHEN
Until his retirement in June of 2015, Russ Cohen’s “day job” was serving 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. Now Russ has more time to pursue his passionate avocation, which is connecting to nature via his taste buds. In addition to leading over three dozen foraging walks and talks each year at a wide variety of venues throughout the Northeast, Russ has now taken on a role as a “Johnny Appleseed” of sorts for edible native species. He has set up a small nursery (near his childhood home in Weston, MA) where he is growing over 1,000 plants, representing more than a third of the more than 170 species native to New England ecoregions that are edible by people. Many of these plants were propagated from seed Russ gathered himself. Russ has also formed partnerships with land trusts, municipalities, state and federal agencies, schools and colleges, tribal groups and others, to plant plants from his nursery on appropriate places on their properties. You can read more about this endeavor in the article Russ Cohen’s Wild Edible Adventures, by Cathy Walthers, which ran in the Summer 2018 issue of Edible Boston Magazine, or this article, Meet the ‘Johnny Appleseed’ of Edible Native Plants, by Barbare A. Schmitz, which ran in the Spring 2019 issue of the Wild Ones Journal.
