Learn about spring’s earliest buds and blooms when Adkins Arboretum offers a popular Soup ’n Walk program on Sat., March 23. Following a guided walk through the Arboretum’s woodland, meadows and wetland, enjoy a delicious and hearty lunch along with a brief lesson about the meal’s nutritional value. Copies of recipes are provided.

Led by an Arboretum docent, the walk will focus on skunk cabbage, spring beauty and bloodroot blooms and the soft buds of paw paw, hickory and tulip tree. The menu includes beet and cabbage soup, black-eyed pea salad, dill rye bread with strawberry jam, and raspberry rhubarb cobbler.

Participants may register for a one-hour walk that begins at 11 a.m. or a two-hour walk that begins at 10 a.m.

The Soup ’n Walk program is $20 per person for members, $25 per person for the general public. Register at adkinsarboretum.org or call 410-634-2847, ext. 0. To schedule Soup ’n Walk programs for groups of 15 or more, contact Ginna Tiernan, Adult Program Coordinator, at 410-634-2847, ext. 27 or gtiernan@adkinsarboretum.org.

In photo: Docent Julianna Pax, at right, points out mountain laurel during a Soup ’n Walk program at Adkins Arboretum. The next Soup ‘’n Walk program is Sat., March 28.

Adkins Arboretum is a 400-acre native garden and preserve at the headwaters of the Tuckahoe Creek in Caroline County. Open year round, the Arboretum offers educational programs for all ages about nature and gardening. Through its Campaign to Build a Green Legacy, it will build the W. Flaccus and Ruth B. Stifel Center at Adkins Arboretum and a “green” entranceway to broaden educational offerings and research initiatives promoting best practices in conservation and land stewardship. For additional information about Arboretum programs, visit www.adkinsarboretum.org or call 410-634-2847, ext. 0.