Massapequa Preserve (Teens/Adults)

Here's a suburban park with many varied habitats that's going to be loaded with mid-spring shoots and greens. We'll be looking for those wild foods that thrive once the growing season has been developing for several months.

This is "Wildman's" second exploration of this park, so there should still be some surprises, with one exception: Last year, one of the experienced participants continued exploring when the rest of the group turned back, and she spotted an immense stand of cattails. At this time of year, the shoots will be available. Peel the tough outer leaves, and the core tastes like cucumbers, only way better.

Other plants we'll find include a number of tasty wild mustard greens, including poor man's pepper, which tastes like radish and wasabi, and garlic mustard, with garlic-flavored greens and a horseradish-flavored roots.

In addition, we should find culinary and medicinal species such as greenbrier, black birch twigs, mullein leaves, yarrow leaves, sassafras roots, and common spicebush leaves. They all make wonderful, healthful teas, and they're also great seasonings.

Given lots of rain beforehand and some luck, we may find oyster mushrooms and wine cap stropharia mushrooms.

The 3-hour foraging tour of the Massapequa Preserve begins at 12 PM, Saturday, May 11, at the southeast end of Massapequa LIRR station parking lot, on Sunrise Hwy. (Rte. 27), east of Broadway and Rte. 107. Don't go to the north or west sides of the train station.