Saturday, Sep 16, 2017
10:00 am
– 6:00 pm
We are back for Richmond Hill Block Association’s 44th Annual Park Fair on Saturday, September 16th from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. near the Buddy Monument, located in Forest Park at the intersection of Myrtle Avenue and Park Lane South.
Find us to learn more about the QueensWay or stop by to ask us questions.
111-0-111-4 Park Ln S, Richmond Hill, NY 11418, USA
Sunday, Sep 3, 2017
10:00 am
– 12:00 pm
The 2 hour walking tour of The Queensway and adjacent Forest Park begins at 10 AM, Sunday, September 3, at the NE corner of Woodhaven Blvd. and Forest Park Dr., in front of Victory Field in Woodhaven, Queens.
The suggested donation is $20/adult, $10/child under 12. At least 24 hours in advance to reserve a spot on tour.
SIGN UP LINK
DETAILS BELOW
We’ll hike along a long-abandoned LIRR trackway, plus wild, wooded trails running through a large, mature forest. We’ll also examine thickets and cultivated areas, all loaded with wild plants. This is the start of the nut season, and the butternut is one of the best. We’ll crack these flavorful nuts open with rocks, and enjoy a treat you can’t buy anywhere.
Butternuts
One of the best-tasting of nuts, this one isn’t grown commercially only because the tree doesn’t provide a huge harvest of nuts every single year.
Most roots are out of season in the summer, but burdock, an expensive detoxifying herb sold in health food stores, is an exception, and it abounds in human-disturbed areas scattered throughout the trailsides, where it’s invasive. Instead of brewing it as a tea, it’s so common, you cook it like potatoes, or marinate and bake it to make vegan beef jerky.
Another root that’s in season is sweet cicely. This one tastes like black licorice, and it’s great in dessert dishes and oatmeal. Sassafras root, the original source of root beer, stays in season all year. You use it for making tea and root beer, as the thickener for gumbo, called filé powder, and as a cinnamon-like seasoning.
Another tree we’ll look for is the black birch. It grows in the woods, with twigs that taste like wintergreen, and it provides the raw material for making birch beer. You can steep the twigs in hot water to make a fabulous tea, with anti-inflammatory properties that protect you from heart disease, similar to the chemically-related aspirin. You can also thicken an apple juice decoction with agar, season and sweeten it, and create black birch Jello. Even better, use it, along with raisins, coconut milk, stevia, lemon rind, and some vanilla bean to flavor a tapioca-thickened Stick Pudding.
There are plenty of summer herbs and greens in season. We’ll find mugwort, a tonic for the female reproductive system, and lamb’s-quarters, which you use like its relative, spinach. We’ll also be collecting Asiatic dayflower, hedge mustard, poor man’s pepper, lady’s thumb, and wood sorrel, all great for salads, sandwiches, and cooked vegetable dishes.
Wild seeds are in season too. We’ll hunt for the spicy seeds of garlic mustard, walnut-flavored seeds of jewelweed (a panacea for skin irritation— the juice in the stem even cures mosquito bites and prevents poison ivy rash), plus the wild grains of foxtail grass. With lots of rain and a bit of luck, gourmet chicken mushrooms, milky mushrooms, boletes, and russulas may be emerging. Don’t miss a fantastic tour of this vastly under-appreciated nature trail.
Chicken Mushroom
Foraging expert Violet Brill combined her interests in ornithology and mycology to find this 30-lb. chicken mushroom from a moving car!
“Naturalist-author “Wildman” Steve Brill is America’s go-to guy for foraging. He’s been leading foraging tours and providing demos for the public, for schools, day camps, birthday parties, museums, nature centers, parks departments, restaurants and chefs, garden clubs, hiking clubs, teaching farms, nurseries, and other organizations, in parks and natural areas throughout the Greater NY area, since 1982.
http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/
Forest Park Dr, Woodhaven, NY 11421, USA
Sunday, Aug 20, 2017
8:45 am
– 2:45 pm
We are regulars at the GrowNYC Forest Hills Greenmarket and we always look forward to going back to set up our table information sessions!
106-1-106-99 70th Ave, Forest Hills, NY 11375, USA
Saturday, Aug 19, 2017
1:00 pm
– 3:00 pm
Join Earth Citizens Club at Ehrenreich-Austin Playground for a Learn to Ride (Bikes) Class with Program Instructors from Bike New York
We will have a table with information on the QueensWay if interested in finding out more
Sign up at the link for Class -> http://bit.ly/2fmaKde
Original 
Sam Polcer
Ehrenreich-Austin Playground, Queens, NY, United States
Tuesday, Aug 1, 2017
6:00 pm
– 9:00 pm
Friends of the QueensWay will join other local organizations in celebrating this annual event. Stop by our QueensWay table to find out more info about our project or get an introduction to it.
The 112th Precinct will celebrate National Night Out at MacDonald Park in Forest Hills. The festivities will take place from 6 to 9 p.m. in the vicinity of Queens and Yellowstone Boulevards. There will be free food, games, entertainment and giveaways. Call 718-520-9321 for more information. (In the event of inclement weather, the festivities will take place at the nearby Forest Hills Jewish Center.)
MacDonald Park, Queens, NY, United States
Sunday, Jul 30, 2017
9:00 am
– 3:00 pm
We are regulars at the GrowNYC Forest Hills Greenmarket and we always look forward to going back to set up our table information sessions!
Join us by stopping by and chatting with our volunteers while finding out more about the QueensWay.
106-1-106-99 70th Ave, Forest Hills, NY 11375, USA
Sunday, Jul 9, 2017
11:00 am
– 2:00 pm
The 4th Annual QueensWay Bike Ride will be hosted by Friends of the QueensWay as a bike tour along the streets adjoining the QueensWay site. The ride will include a series of brief stops and hikes along the QueensWay.
To RSVP a spot, go to eventbrite link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/queensway-ride-2017-tickets-35359472133
The ride begins at Shalimar Diner in Rego Park
The ride will terminate at Aqueduct Casino in South Ozone Park, allowing Manhattan riders to take the A train back if needed.
The distance for the “Main Ride” is approximately 7-8 leisurely paced miles. The total distance, if one starts in Manhattan, is 25 miles.
To RSVP a spot, go to eventbrite link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/queensway-ride-2017-tickets-35359472133
We hope you can join us on the ride!
Shalimar Diner, Queens, NY, United States
Sunday, Jun 25, 2017
9:00 am
– 3:00 pm
We are regulars at the GrowNYC Forest Hills Greenmarket and we always look forward to going back to set up our table information sessions!
Join us by stopping by and chatting with our volunteers while finding out more about the QueensWay.
106-1-106-99 70th Ave, Forest Hills, NY 11375, USA
Sunday, Jun 11, 2017
10:00 am
– 6:00 pm
We are back at this year’s Forest Hills Festival of the Arts, hosted by Forest Hills Chamber of Commerce, after two years.
We are happy to share updates on the QueensWay!
7150-7156 Austin St, Forest Hills, NY 11375, USA
Saturday, Jun 17, 2017
11:00 am
– 1:30 pm
This third date has been added by popular demand; it will be the last of the season.
RSVP HERE
This walking tour of the QueensWay is primarily a tour on city streets adjoining the QueensWay with a brief walk on the rail bed section in Forest Park (please wear long pants, and hiking or walking shoes). Get a chance to see the “before” condition and learn about the history of the site & project from our tour leaders.
Tour spans approximately 2.5 miles as we weave through city streets and on to the QueensWay. The starting point for the tour is different from the ending point; please plan accordingly. We start in Forest Hills and end in Forest Park.
RSVP HERE
107 Continental Ave, Forest Hills, NY, United States
