Class List 2020
|
May
1-3rd Practical Ecoculture: Tending and propagating native plants with Sam Thayer 8-10th Spring Foraging with Sam Thayer June 12-14th Introduction to Foraging and Plant identification with Sam Thayer |
August
14-16th Mushroom Foraging with Sam Thayer and Adam Haritan September 25-27th Midwest Wild Harvest Festival October 2-4th Fall Foraging With Sam Thayer |
Practical Ecoculture: Tending and propagating native plants with Sam Thayer
May 1-3, 2020
Weyerhaeuser, WI
Class Limit: 9
Cost: $300/person
Time: Friday 5:00pm-Sunday 2pm
This class has a limit of 9 people. Cost is $300, it includes some of your meals, and includes dorm style housing for most participants.
In this weekend you’ll learn the basics of ecoculture—both philosophy and practice. Ecoculture is the ancient practice of tending natural plant communities to increase their productivity of human food. It is the way to fulfill the human dream of living in a vibrant and sustainable natural community that produces healthy and diverse food and biofuel while also remaining a paradise for wildlife, and maintaining ecosystem services such as building soil, storing carbon, and maintaining watersheds.
We will be looking at real examples of ecoculture in practice, such as woodland managed for syrup, nuts, and edible forest herbs. We will discuss how to assess a site and decide which food plants are appropriate for it. We will learn about the management of wetland plants and field herbs as well. We will cover small-scale reclamation orcharding (planting on previously cleared farmland) with hardy woody crops and native perennials. We will discuss how to assess and control invasive plants over the long-term. Students will learn basic methods of plant propagation, and what species each method works best with. We’ll cover the care of plants after planting or transplanting, and techniques of longer-term management. Most importantly, students will get to practice all of these skills in their real application, being involved in some of our numerous ecoculture projects and experiments—planting, transplanting, thinning, and otherwise tending a few dozen native edible species.
Lodging is included in the price for the class. There is group style housing, with semi-private sleeping quarters (the rooms may be shared with up to 3 other people). Camping on site is also an option. Lunch and supper on Saturday and lunch on Sunday is also included. Breakfasts and supper on Friday evening are on your own.
If you are interested in attending this class, please email: Sam@foragersharvest.com and he will provide you with a registration form. There is NO ONLINE registration for these classes.
May 1-3, 2020
Weyerhaeuser, WI
Class Limit: 9
Cost: $300/person
Time: Friday 5:00pm-Sunday 2pm
This class has a limit of 9 people. Cost is $300, it includes some of your meals, and includes dorm style housing for most participants.
In this weekend you’ll learn the basics of ecoculture—both philosophy and practice. Ecoculture is the ancient practice of tending natural plant communities to increase their productivity of human food. It is the way to fulfill the human dream of living in a vibrant and sustainable natural community that produces healthy and diverse food and biofuel while also remaining a paradise for wildlife, and maintaining ecosystem services such as building soil, storing carbon, and maintaining watersheds.
We will be looking at real examples of ecoculture in practice, such as woodland managed for syrup, nuts, and edible forest herbs. We will discuss how to assess a site and decide which food plants are appropriate for it. We will learn about the management of wetland plants and field herbs as well. We will cover small-scale reclamation orcharding (planting on previously cleared farmland) with hardy woody crops and native perennials. We will discuss how to assess and control invasive plants over the long-term. Students will learn basic methods of plant propagation, and what species each method works best with. We’ll cover the care of plants after planting or transplanting, and techniques of longer-term management. Most importantly, students will get to practice all of these skills in their real application, being involved in some of our numerous ecoculture projects and experiments—planting, transplanting, thinning, and otherwise tending a few dozen native edible species.
Lodging is included in the price for the class. There is group style housing, with semi-private sleeping quarters (the rooms may be shared with up to 3 other people). Camping on site is also an option. Lunch and supper on Saturday and lunch on Sunday is also included. Breakfasts and supper on Friday evening are on your own.
If you are interested in attending this class, please email: Sam@foragersharvest.com and he will provide you with a registration form. There is NO ONLINE registration for these classes.
Spring Foraging with Sam Thayer
May 8-10, 2020
Weyerhaeuser, WI
Class Limit: 12
Cost: $300/person
Time: Friday 5:00pm-Sunday 2pm
Spring is the rebirth of plant growth, a time when there is an incredible variety of edible shoots and greens available in every landscape. In this weekend we will be learning wild edibles in a variety of habitats in Northwest Wisconsin: hardwood forests of the Blue Hills, conifer-aspen forests, river floodplain, fields and meadows, swamps and marshes. Participants will learn field identification, what parts to use, sustainable harvesting practices, how to prepare the plants for cooking. Then I’ll show you some of the convenient, practical, and satisfying ways that we use these vegetables in delicious everyday meals. Spring is also a time for root vegetables, and we’ll use a few of these as well.
Students should be prepared to walk a mile or so. We spend about half of our time in the field, where there will be mosquitoes, black flies, and ticks. There may be an opportunity to wade (or you can watch from shore). About 30% of our time is spent in preparing and eating what we gather, and the remainder is discussion time at the class cabin.
Lodging is included in the price for the class. There is group style housing, with semi-private sleeping quarters (the rooms may be shared with up to 3 other people). Camping on site is also an option. Lunch and supper on Saturday and lunch on Sunday is also included. Breakfasts and supper on Friday evening are on your own. We will be incorporating foraged food into our meals, but we will not be eating an exclusively wild diet.
If you are interested in attending this class, please email: Sam@foragersharvest.com and he will provide you with a registration form. There is NO ONLINE registration for these classes.
May 8-10, 2020
Weyerhaeuser, WI
Class Limit: 12
Cost: $300/person
Time: Friday 5:00pm-Sunday 2pm
Spring is the rebirth of plant growth, a time when there is an incredible variety of edible shoots and greens available in every landscape. In this weekend we will be learning wild edibles in a variety of habitats in Northwest Wisconsin: hardwood forests of the Blue Hills, conifer-aspen forests, river floodplain, fields and meadows, swamps and marshes. Participants will learn field identification, what parts to use, sustainable harvesting practices, how to prepare the plants for cooking. Then I’ll show you some of the convenient, practical, and satisfying ways that we use these vegetables in delicious everyday meals. Spring is also a time for root vegetables, and we’ll use a few of these as well.
Students should be prepared to walk a mile or so. We spend about half of our time in the field, where there will be mosquitoes, black flies, and ticks. There may be an opportunity to wade (or you can watch from shore). About 30% of our time is spent in preparing and eating what we gather, and the remainder is discussion time at the class cabin.
Lodging is included in the price for the class. There is group style housing, with semi-private sleeping quarters (the rooms may be shared with up to 3 other people). Camping on site is also an option. Lunch and supper on Saturday and lunch on Sunday is also included. Breakfasts and supper on Friday evening are on your own. We will be incorporating foraged food into our meals, but we will not be eating an exclusively wild diet.
If you are interested in attending this class, please email: Sam@foragersharvest.com and he will provide you with a registration form. There is NO ONLINE registration for these classes.
Introduction to Foraging and Plant Identification with Sam Thayer
June 12-14, 2020
Weyerhaeuser, WI
Cost: $300/person
Class Limit: 12
Time: Friday 5:00pm-Sunday 2pm
In this class we will be gathering wild plants in the fields, marshes, swamps, and forests of Northwest Wisconsin, just as in the other foraging weekends. However, we take some extra time to get the participant comfortable with the process of identifying plants. Students are not overloaded with vocabulary or taxonomy—I give you a basic understanding of the most common and useful botanical terms that you will see again and again on your foraging journey. During our time in the field we will use this vocabulary of plants to describe and understand what we see, to help commit all this to memory. You’ll learn to recognize five common plant families that each contain numerous edible species. After this weekend, you’ll feel ready and confident to go out and identify and use wild plants on your own. Along the way, you’ll learn a whole bunch of great wild foods, and have the opportunity to prepare and try them. While this class is a great place for the beginner to start, it is definitely not limited to beginners. The plants covered in this class slightly overlap those learned in the spring weekend—but when we are collecting the same species, it is usually a different part.
Lodging is included in the price for the class. There is group style housing, with semi-private sleeping quarters (the rooms may be shared with up to 3 other people). Camping on site is also an option. Lunch and supper on Saturday and lunch on Sunday is also included. Breakfasts and supper on Friday evening are on your own. We will be incorporating foraged food into our meals, but we will not be eating an exclusively wild diet.
If you are interested in attending this class, please email: Sam@foragersharvest.com and he will provide you with a registration form. There is NO ONLINE registration for these classes.
June 12-14, 2020
Weyerhaeuser, WI
Cost: $300/person
Class Limit: 12
Time: Friday 5:00pm-Sunday 2pm
In this class we will be gathering wild plants in the fields, marshes, swamps, and forests of Northwest Wisconsin, just as in the other foraging weekends. However, we take some extra time to get the participant comfortable with the process of identifying plants. Students are not overloaded with vocabulary or taxonomy—I give you a basic understanding of the most common and useful botanical terms that you will see again and again on your foraging journey. During our time in the field we will use this vocabulary of plants to describe and understand what we see, to help commit all this to memory. You’ll learn to recognize five common plant families that each contain numerous edible species. After this weekend, you’ll feel ready and confident to go out and identify and use wild plants on your own. Along the way, you’ll learn a whole bunch of great wild foods, and have the opportunity to prepare and try them. While this class is a great place for the beginner to start, it is definitely not limited to beginners. The plants covered in this class slightly overlap those learned in the spring weekend—but when we are collecting the same species, it is usually a different part.
Lodging is included in the price for the class. There is group style housing, with semi-private sleeping quarters (the rooms may be shared with up to 3 other people). Camping on site is also an option. Lunch and supper on Saturday and lunch on Sunday is also included. Breakfasts and supper on Friday evening are on your own. We will be incorporating foraged food into our meals, but we will not be eating an exclusively wild diet.
If you are interested in attending this class, please email: Sam@foragersharvest.com and he will provide you with a registration form. There is NO ONLINE registration for these classes.
Mushroom Foraging Class with Adam Haritan and Sam Thayer
August 14-16, 2020
Weyerhaeuser, WI
Cost: $325/person
Class Limit: 15
Time: Friday 5:00pm-Sunday 2pm
We are excited to once again collaborate with Adam Haritan of Learn Your Land and introduce or help enhance your experience with the fungal world. Don't miss this rare opportunity to learn from two of the best wild food instructors at the same time!
In this class you’ll learn to confidently and safely identify edible mushrooms—of course. But beyond that, we’ll give you the tools to begin a lifetime of successful mushrooming. We’ll teach you to recognize the basic groups of mushrooms, which is the first step in identifying them. You’ll learn how to use field guides to identify unfamiliar mushrooms and determine their edibility: both the process and the important terminology. We’ll do spore prints together (sounds complex and technical, but it’s easy, and doesn’t require a single piece of equipment that isn’t already in your home). We’ll have exciting hours searching the woods for fungi, and you’ll be dazzled by the forms and variety. We’ll explore the varied and rich woodlands of the Blue Hills, as well as fields, lawns, pastures, and parks. From what we find, we’ll select the best species to bring back and cook. You’ll learn practical ways to store the humungous pile of fungus you bring home from the next mother lode of mysterious mushrooms, and tips on mushroom cooking. You’ll learn what a mushroom really is (very few people actually know) and gain some insight into how fungal organisms live and reproduce, what makes them different from plants and animals, and their immensely important role in the Earth’s ecology.
You’ll leave knowing how to identify the basic classes of mushrooms, some common edible mushrooms, and with a new appreciation and understanding of the fungal world. And you’ll be prepared to identify the mushrooms in your neighborhood.
Lodging is included in the price for the class. There is group style housing, with semi-private sleeping quarters (the rooms may be shared with up to 3 other people). Camping on site is also an option. Lunch and supper on Saturday and lunch on Sunday is also included. Breakfasts and supper on Friday evening are on your own. We will be incorporating foraged food into our meals, but we will not be eating an exclusively wild diet.
If you are interested in attending this class, please email: Sam@foragersharvest.com and he will provide you with a registration form. There is NO ONLINE registration for these classes.
August 14-16, 2020
Weyerhaeuser, WI
Cost: $325/person
Class Limit: 15
Time: Friday 5:00pm-Sunday 2pm
We are excited to once again collaborate with Adam Haritan of Learn Your Land and introduce or help enhance your experience with the fungal world. Don't miss this rare opportunity to learn from two of the best wild food instructors at the same time!
In this class you’ll learn to confidently and safely identify edible mushrooms—of course. But beyond that, we’ll give you the tools to begin a lifetime of successful mushrooming. We’ll teach you to recognize the basic groups of mushrooms, which is the first step in identifying them. You’ll learn how to use field guides to identify unfamiliar mushrooms and determine their edibility: both the process and the important terminology. We’ll do spore prints together (sounds complex and technical, but it’s easy, and doesn’t require a single piece of equipment that isn’t already in your home). We’ll have exciting hours searching the woods for fungi, and you’ll be dazzled by the forms and variety. We’ll explore the varied and rich woodlands of the Blue Hills, as well as fields, lawns, pastures, and parks. From what we find, we’ll select the best species to bring back and cook. You’ll learn practical ways to store the humungous pile of fungus you bring home from the next mother lode of mysterious mushrooms, and tips on mushroom cooking. You’ll learn what a mushroom really is (very few people actually know) and gain some insight into how fungal organisms live and reproduce, what makes them different from plants and animals, and their immensely important role in the Earth’s ecology.
You’ll leave knowing how to identify the basic classes of mushrooms, some common edible mushrooms, and with a new appreciation and understanding of the fungal world. And you’ll be prepared to identify the mushrooms in your neighborhood.
Lodging is included in the price for the class. There is group style housing, with semi-private sleeping quarters (the rooms may be shared with up to 3 other people). Camping on site is also an option. Lunch and supper on Saturday and lunch on Sunday is also included. Breakfasts and supper on Friday evening are on your own. We will be incorporating foraged food into our meals, but we will not be eating an exclusively wild diet.
If you are interested in attending this class, please email: Sam@foragersharvest.com and he will provide you with a registration form. There is NO ONLINE registration for these classes.
Fall Foraging Sam Thayer
October 2-4, 2020
Weyerhaeuser, WI
Cost: $300/person
Class Limit: 12
Time: Friday 5:00pm-Sunday 2pm
Fall is the culmination of the foraging season, when vast quantities of food are available for harvesting. My favorite time to be a forager. It is the time to rejoice in rich meals made with fresh produce and to store bulk food so that you can have wild meals throughout the winter. In this weekend, we’ll be gathering, processing, and cooking some of this bounty. The list will include nuts (some mixture of acorns, hickory nuts, walnuts, butternuts, and hazelnuts), root vegetables, wetland vegetables, seeds, and fruits. You’ll not only learn how to identify and use these foods, but also how to store them for the longer term. Fall also produces a resurgence of woodland leafy greens, and we’ll be incorporating some of these into our meals.
We will be exploring a variety of habitats: pine barrens, dry forest, mixed hardwood forests, old fields, brushy areas, and wetlands. There will be a few short drives to nearby sites to see a variety of plants (such as visiting a bog with cranberries and aronia). At some point I’ll be wading in some cold, shallow water, and you might want to come along—so be prepared). Mushrooms will not be our focus but the better kinds may be collected incidentally when we encounter them. We are going to learn a ton in this class, and gather less than a ton (I’m usually literal), but you will be most impressed at how much food there is to discover in the autumn outdoors—we will simply not have time to cover it al!
Because there is such a bounty, we will not dive into the intricate details of processing techniques like grinding and leaching acorns, making nut oils, or the more specialized harvesting techniques necessary for plants like wild rice, lotus, and wapato. We will get to do some of the less involved processing, such as making nut milk and roasting cattail rhizomes, simple hot-leach of acorns, and parching and winnowing one grain or seed.
Lodging is included in the price for the class. There is group style housing, with semi-private sleeping quarters (the rooms may be shared with up to 3 other people). Camping on site is also an option. Lunch and supper on Saturday and lunch on Sunday is also included. Breakfasts and supper on Friday evening are on your own. We will be incorporating foraged food into our meals, but we will not be eating an exclusively wild diet.
If you are interested in attending this class, please email: Sam@foragersharvest.com and he will provide you with a registration form. There is NO ONLINE registration for these classes.
October 2-4, 2020
Weyerhaeuser, WI
Cost: $300/person
Class Limit: 12
Time: Friday 5:00pm-Sunday 2pm
Fall is the culmination of the foraging season, when vast quantities of food are available for harvesting. My favorite time to be a forager. It is the time to rejoice in rich meals made with fresh produce and to store bulk food so that you can have wild meals throughout the winter. In this weekend, we’ll be gathering, processing, and cooking some of this bounty. The list will include nuts (some mixture of acorns, hickory nuts, walnuts, butternuts, and hazelnuts), root vegetables, wetland vegetables, seeds, and fruits. You’ll not only learn how to identify and use these foods, but also how to store them for the longer term. Fall also produces a resurgence of woodland leafy greens, and we’ll be incorporating some of these into our meals.
We will be exploring a variety of habitats: pine barrens, dry forest, mixed hardwood forests, old fields, brushy areas, and wetlands. There will be a few short drives to nearby sites to see a variety of plants (such as visiting a bog with cranberries and aronia). At some point I’ll be wading in some cold, shallow water, and you might want to come along—so be prepared). Mushrooms will not be our focus but the better kinds may be collected incidentally when we encounter them. We are going to learn a ton in this class, and gather less than a ton (I’m usually literal), but you will be most impressed at how much food there is to discover in the autumn outdoors—we will simply not have time to cover it al!
Because there is such a bounty, we will not dive into the intricate details of processing techniques like grinding and leaching acorns, making nut oils, or the more specialized harvesting techniques necessary for plants like wild rice, lotus, and wapato. We will get to do some of the less involved processing, such as making nut milk and roasting cattail rhizomes, simple hot-leach of acorns, and parching and winnowing one grain or seed.
Lodging is included in the price for the class. There is group style housing, with semi-private sleeping quarters (the rooms may be shared with up to 3 other people). Camping on site is also an option. Lunch and supper on Saturday and lunch on Sunday is also included. Breakfasts and supper on Friday evening are on your own. We will be incorporating foraged food into our meals, but we will not be eating an exclusively wild diet.
If you are interested in attending this class, please email: Sam@foragersharvest.com and he will provide you with a registration form. There is NO ONLINE registration for these classes.
Refund policy: A refund can be issued up to 30 days before the class date with a $30 service fee; afterward, a 75% refund will be issued only upon filling your space in the class.