As part of our initiative to raise awareness about problematic local plants during New York Invasive Species Awareness Week, we hosted a special event entitled ‘Backyard Botanical Bothers’ at RTPI’s new satellite location at 108 East Third Street in Jamestown. I teamed up with a talented local chef, James Salamone to create a few tasty dishes utilizing invasive plants. In the days leading up to Tueday’s event, we foraged for fresh ingredients in local fields and forests. Samples of the two dishes we created, ‘Garlic Mustard Fried Rice’ and ‘Wild Blackberry-Knotweed Cobbler’, were served up to passersby on the street in front of our downtown location between 11am and 1pm, and printed copies of the recipes were made available.
The Project Wild America Youth Ambassadors were on site to share their knowledge of invasive species with visitors, and they distributed informative handouts that they had created on specific organisms that are problematic in our area. The event had a good turnout – the mayor even stopped by to learn a few things and to taste our treats! Visit our website www.rtpi.org for news of future events and programs happening at both of our locations as well other sites around the city.
Note: No beetles were harmed in the making of this cobbler. 😉
Learn It, Love It, Protect It!
~Melanie Smith, Communications Coordinator
Want the recipe(s)? Shoot me an email! msmith@rtpi.org
