[NYCkayaker] Berries and paddling.

Erik Baard erikbaard@gmail.com
Wed Jun 26 18:10:24 EDT 2013


Good evening!

A few folks have posted to the list about their love of foraging while
kayaking -- mulberries came up a few times.

HarborLAB might soon paddle out with kids for blueberries (wild, lowbush
variety) that I found while researching for an article recently (they
should be ripe soon). If any of you would like to stay in the loop about
this outing if it comes together, drop a note back channel. We welcome new
volunteers.

Another amazing treat was stumbling across shadbush (or one of its *
Amelanchier* cousins) in Brooklyn Bridge Park! HarborLAB was in the park
Saturday as part of the NYC DEP's "Watershed Experience" (
http://harborlab.org/2013/06/24/the-watershed-experience-in-brooklyn-bridge-park/),
an event to promote tourism in our reservoir regions. We were there to
promote the public fleet we're launching on the Neversink Reservoir with
the new school year. It was a great chance to plan with our upstate
partners, but also to meet the terrific Brooklyn Bridge Park Boathouse
crew.

An unexpected bonus was discovering shadbush in Brooklyn Bridge Park! I've
planted many shadbush around the city but never found one mature enough to
bear fruit. What a treat! The blueberry-like fruit tastes almost like fruit
punch and the seed at the center tastes like a tiny almond. More about this
species, a map to this little tree, and further links, in the entry linked
above.

As a side note, mulberries are very much in season. You can pick them in
the cove between Randalls Island and Wards Island, where Little Hell Gate
once passed before landfill fused the islands and Island of Meadow.

Best regards,

Erik

-- 
Erik Baard
The 2011 Greenest New
Yorker<http://thebeat.iloveny.com/i-love-new-york-announces-the-2011-greenest-nyer-3604.html>
!

LEARNING ADVENTURE BOATING!
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www.newtownpippin.org

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