If you like Wildman Steve Brill, you’ll love his new video, “Wild Edible Basics.”

For those unfamiliar with the Queens native, Brill is an author, naturalist and expert forager, who conducts tours at local parks showing the tastiness of wild plants and their medicinal qualities.

He has written several books, including a tasty cookbook, and always warns people never to try unknown plants, which may be poisonous or at least give you a bellyache. In his first venture into video land, Brill offers something for everyone. There’s comedy, lots of information, recipes and even a musical rendition of “I’m Looking Over A Four-Leaf Clover,” on his quirky “brillophone.”

How to describe the brillophone is almost an impossibility. The talent was learned from his father whereby Brill cups his hands over his mouth and manages to make musical sounds by clapping and exhaling. It’s all rather odd but fascinating and a regular part of any of his walks.

The 56-minute video is well put together with graphics, real music, narration and clips from his tours. Geared to the beginner forager, the video highlights several innocuous looking or feared plants such as poison ivy, jewelweed, black walnut, chicken mushroom and lamb’s-quarter.

I bet you didn’t know that jewelweed, with its orange flower, is an antidote for poison ivy and usually grows nearby. Rub it on if you’ve touched poison ivy to prevent the rash.

Nuts from the black walnut tree have a more intense flavor than traditional walnuts but are full of vitamins and a great addition to recipes. Just use less of them. He even shows you how to break them open.

Lamb’s-quarter is a common “weed” that is full of calcium and chicken mushrooms must be fully cooked to eat and do taste like poultry. Brill also discusses burdock, which has a long, tasty root that the Wildman says is delicious cooked. He demonstrates a Japanese recipe called kinpira gobo using burdock.

One common plant even I recognized, was the Rosa rugosa, a wrinkled rose usually found near the beach. It has a lovely aroma and its rose hip (round red to orange hard ball) is full of vitamin C and often used in tea. Brill demonstrates that you can pop open the rose hip, remove the bitter seeds and eat the sweet fruit inside. Who knew?

The video also goes into drying, freezing and collecting specimens. Brill shows what you should bring on a foraging outing (plastic bags, paper bags, digging tool, gloves and plastic containers). He advises never to take too much and to be very sure the plant is safe to eat.

The Wildman showcases his dehydrator, which he calls a great tool in preserving plants. “They stay green and the nutrients remain,” Brill demonstrated from his former apartment in Briarwood.

Jars of frozen samples complement his collection that sit on shelves. “I couldn’t cook without them,” he said of some of the dozens of arcane ones he keeps.

You will find this video both entertaining and informative. For anyone intrigued in foraging, this is a good introduction. Watch for more Wildman videos in the future. You can order the first from Brill for $18, which includes shipping and handling. Send checks to Wildman Steve Brill, 320 Palmer Terrace #2A, Mamaroneck, NY 10543.

But if you really want a hands-on lesson, I would recommend taking one of his walks. From first-hand experience, I can attest to the fact that they are also both fun and informative. The next one is scheduled for Cunningham Park in Fresh Meadows on Saturday, July 31st at 1:30 p.m. The group will meet at Union Turnpike and Francis Lewis Boulevard.

The suggested donation is $10 for adults and $5 for children under 12 but the Wildman will never turn anyone away due to lack of funds. To reserve, call 914-835-2153.

Foragers will be able to find wineberries, raspberries, red currants, garlic mustard seeds, wood and sheep sorrel, yarrow, wild leeks, purslane and Asiatic dayflowers. Brill will also look for jewelweed, that magic cure for poison ivy, and sassafras, which is used to make root beer and sarsaparilla.

[Wildman's note: sarsaparilla is actually a different plant.]

Bolete and chicken mushrooms will also be on the menu.

Brill, who grew up in Kew Gardens and later lived in Kew Gardens and Briarwood, moved to Westchester a couple of years ago after meeting his future wife, Leslie-Anne. Both are vegetarians and she contributed to his cookbook that was published in 2002. The couple had their first child, a daughter named Violet, in May.