"When times are hard, it's nice to know that there is free food in your backyard," said Miranda Easton. "It's like a garden that you don't have to plant."

Easton has put together a tutorial and tasting, Wild Edibles - A Taste of Fall, to be presented Sept. 26, from 1-2:30 p.m at the Carbon County Environmental Education Center.Easton was a bit circumspect about the menu."It depends on what is blooming," she said. "We are having a weird end-of-the-summer where things that shouldn't be are blooming and things that should not be blooming have already bloomed and might not be around."This season, there was constant rain," Easton noted. "It never got to be scorchingly hot where things dried up and died. Flowers that should be dead are blooming a second time. Many things have ripened a month early."We are definitely having sassafras, goldenrod and red clover teas, and we might have red clover fritters. It all depends if they are still blooming because they have to be fresh," Easton added."If we can find grapes, we will have wild grape jelly," she continued. "Also, raspberry cobbler, blackberry cake, dandelion chocolate coffee, yellow wood sorrel salad dressing, white pine bark candy, and hopefully, some roasted acorns."Cooking foraged foods is a bit like going to the farmer's market one week tomatoes are plentiful, the next week they're gone. But unlike shopping at the farmer's market, the forager needs to know what they are harvesting."Always know what plants you are looking at," she said. "If you don't know what you are looking at, don't pick it. We are not touching upon mushrooms for that reason."What forage is edible often depends on the location and the time of the year. In wet areas, cattails are edible. The entire plant is edible when it forms as a shoot that looks like asparagus in the early spring. Once it matures, only the root is edible and is said to taste like a sweet potato. The pollen can be used to make sunshine pancakes.Easton urges care when foraging in swampy areas for cattails."They filter impurities out of the water," she said. "If the water is polluted, you will get that when you eat it."In fields, where you can find red clover, goldenrod, multi-flora rose, blackberries and acorns, she likewise cautions to avoid foraging where runoff and exhaust from automobiles may contaminate the soil.That's why, along with telling people about how to forage, she will be covering safety procedures for foraging. She will also demonstrate cooking of wild edibles and offer samples and recipes. To supplement the backyard buffet will be a barbecue of wild game. The species is not identified as the game has not yet been shot.Easton noted that some wild edibles must be cooked to be safely eaten. She cited rhubarb as an example."Wild edibles are not things that would be all I eat," Easton said. "But if you are ever lost in the woods it can help you survive."The tutorial and tasting, Wild Edibles - A Taste of Fall, will be presented Saturday at the Carbon County Environmental Education Center, 151 E. White Bear Drive in Summit Hill. As foods will need to be prepared in advance, registration is required. Call (570) 645-8597. There is a charge for nonmembers.