March 23, April 27, May 18, June 22, July 20, August 24, September 21, October 19, November 16
All classes are on Sundays from 10am – 4pm
The Pacific Northwest is full of a vast variety of tasty greens, flavorful juicy berries, crunchy shoots and roots, nourishing seaweeds, nuts, seeds and mushrooms. In this class, we learn all about them through harvesting and tasting them.
Over the span of three seasons, spring to fall, we get to know these plants through foraging adventures. Our days together are spent on the land harvesting and in the kitchen preparing culinary creations from our harvests for us to enjoy together. Practices of reciprocity and ensuring the abundance of the plants we work with is at forefront in each class.
Wild foods are delicious and contain higher levels of vitamins and minerals than cultivated foods. But harvesting wild foods from the land nourishes us beyond high vitamins and minerals content. Engaging and eating plants that aren’t pampered by humans wakes up something that has become dormant for many of us. There is a wildness, a creativity, a uniqueness that these plants provide to us that can be incredibly profound.
We also fed our spirits by doing all of this together as a group of people. We learn from each other as we harvest, we hear each other's stories and just being in nature together provides a calming medicine that can be incredibly good for our mental wellness and sense of belonging.
This class is suited for people of all levels of experience from total beginners to people with deep relationships with plants already. The class strives to empower students to be able to confidently identify edible plants and incorporate them into our diets and lives.
Harvests
We will spend a day exploring the many types of medicinal and edible seaweeds that are prolific here like nori, wakame, a variety of kelps, fucus and many others.
Berry harvests have consisted of thimble berry, salmonberry, black cap raspberry, various other species of raspberries, wild strawberry, elderberries, salal berry, bunchberry, service berries/saskatoon, red, blue and black huckleberries, native blackberries, native crab apples, hawthorn berries, rose hips and others.
We focus on cultivation of bulbs that are traditional for this bioregion for food like camas, wild onion as well as others and also ramps which is an endangered wild food in the Eastern part of the country. Root harvests have included burdock, and other fall roots.
Mushroom harvests have consisted of morels, chanterelles, oyster mushrooms, shaggy manes and lobster mushrooms.
We will also go through the process of tapping big leaf maple trees to make maple syrup.
We prepare a variety of jams, savory dishes and desserts from our harvests and enjoy them together.
If you’d like to also learn about medicinal plants of the area, this course is well suited to be taken in conjunction with the Foundations of Herbal Program which meets the Saturday prior to this class.
Instructor
The course is led by Leslie Lekos, director of Wildroot Botanicals.
Locations
We will be meeting in adjacent areas to Bellingham in a different wild area each month. An email will be sent prior to class with details.
Being Prepared for the Weather
We will be outside at our harvesting sites rain or shine. It is important to always come to class prepared to be outside. Good walking shoes are important as well as layers and rain gear for cold weather months. Sunblock and hats are important for summer months. It can also be useful to bring something to sit on and a water bottle for the day.
Discover Pass & National Forest Pass
A Discover Pass is needed at some of the sites we will be traveling to. Please consider purchasing one for the year. It is $35 for a year pass or $11.50/day and can be purchased at http://discoverpass.wa.gov. The pass supports our Washington State Parks. If you’d rather not buy your own pass, in past years some students carpooled. We suggest chipping in for gas money for the driver each day.
There is one class in the late summer when drivers will need to have a national forest pass that can be purchased here.
Lodging for Out of Town Guests
Several of our students come from out of town. We are located between Bellingham and Burlington/Mount Vernon so staying in either location is where students often choose to stay.
Cost
$1,200
(1) Regular price is $1200 due before the start of class.
(2) Payment Plan – you have the option of a payment plan of $300 deposit, plus 4 payments of $250 (total of $1300) After your $300 deposit is made, the next payments will be due on the first of each month for 4 months.
(3) Early Bird Pricing $1100 is available if you register by January 1, 2025. Use the discount code EARLYBIRD2025 at checkout.
(4) If you register for any two 9 month programs (the Foundations Program and Wild Foods Connections Program), you receive a $100 discount. Use discount code TWOCOURSES2025 at checkout.
Scholarships are available for BIPOC students. Email us to inquire.
Adverse Conditions
Please note that if there are events beyond our control, such as illness, forest fire smoke, or extreme weather that compromise student safety then the school may reschedule a class to another date.