Wild Food and Self-Reliance Discovery

To attend and for exact location, register HERE

What are some of the tried-and-proven methods for navigation that people have used for centuries?
We’ll begin with observations of the terrain — shadows, looking at trees, moisture, feeling rocks, insect signs, etc.
We’ll learn how to use the stars, the sun, the moon, for navigation, including how to read the natural terrain. These are skills that our grandparents took for granted, but as we rely more and more on technologies, we have forgotten these very basic skills.
Yes, you’ll also learn the basics of how to read a map, how to use a compass, how to align the map with a compass, and ways to navigate the terrain with these tools.
Since this is a two-hour lunchtime class, we will cover the most basic skills.
We’ll do exercises to test your new skills. Bring a notebook.
Location sent with registration
$65 (Students and seniors, $45)
This class can be applied towards Bushcraft Certificate

To attend and for exact location, Register HERE

SEASONAL FORAGING — SUMMER
Saturday, June 20, 10 a.m.
This series of field trips occurs one per season, so you can learn to see nature through the seasons, from a forager’s perspective.
The essence of this class is to develop seasonal knowledge and observational skills: How to look, where to look, what to look for. Plus, we will also focus on responsible and sustainable gathering methods, including collection of seeds and cuttings so you can grow plants in your own backyard.
You’ll learn how to identify and collect foods, medicines, soaps, fire-materials, and other useful parts of plants. You’ll learn to think like foragers of the past, who had to have an intimate knowledge of the seasons, and foresight for the future. (For example, sometimes you do NO foraging in an area if the plant or seed is not abundant.)
Join us each quarter for an insightful walk into a wild area, with a focus on interpreting what’s available that season. Each session will include demonstrations, hands-on practice, and sampling of the seasonal foods, such as salad, soup, biscuit, or tea. Each session includes a list of what is normally available in that season.
SUMMER
In this period, there usually has not been rain for awhile, so the environment is a bit drier. Most of the early spring vegetation is mature. However, there are some greens that develop a bit later and are typically found in summer, such as purslane, and lamb’s quarter. This is also the time for many of the fruits to be collected, such as wild cherries, manzanitas, and the ceonothus berries which are used for soap. The acorns are starting to mature. You’ll learn what’s in season in this traditional “harvest” time, and how to collect sustainably, and responsibly.

To attend and for exact location, register HERE

Learn to make traps, triggers, snares, deadfalls — learn by doing!
Thursday, June 25, noon
Note: We do not go out and try to kill or trap animals when we do this class.
We recognize that hunting and fishing are long-established methods of putting food on the table, especially during times of hardship and emergency. Though I have never really been what you’d call a “hunter,” I always wanted to know how to capture and clean animals for food, if I had to. I learned originally how to clean animals by using roadkill, and fish that I caught. Later, I learned how to make and use primitive traps from various sources, such as Paul Campbell and Larry Dean Olsen. So if you’re like me, and just want to know how to make these devices “just in case,” please come to the class.
We’ll meet in the Arroyo Seco to learn which woods are best for traps and triggers. Then’ we’ll work on carving a deadfall trigger, a trigger for a quail trap, and more.

You’re learn by doing. Bring your knife! (We have extras if you don’t have one)

We’ll see edible and medicinal plants. Bring your canteen.

To attend and for exact location, register HERE

Ethno-botany 101. Learn about how to study wild plants, how to identify families, how to keep records. This is your introduction to the art of Foraging, and Medicinal Plants.
Saturday, June 27, 10 a.m.
Saturday, June 27, 10 a.m. ETHNO-BOTANY
WILD FOOD & USEFUL PLANTS ( part of our certificate and certification program.)
This Session begins with a plant walkabout, getting to know some of the common local plants.
We’ll then cover some basic botany, so you have a sense of context of the types of plant groups, as well as their relationships in Families.
You will be instructed in the use of the plant press for your record-keeping, and how to make field records for your own use.
You can take just this session by itself, or sign up for all four. [IF you pay in advance for Four of the Ethno-botany classes, you can pay for 3 and attend 4!]
We will also try a wild food salad as part of this class.
Bring notebook. Pricing: $65 per class. ($45 senior/student)
Location sent upon registration. Books and products will be available for sale.