Bay Area & Beyond Foragers - Mushrooms, Mussels, Urchin Uni

Mussel Foraging near Bodega Bay

Sat, Feb 14 · 2:30 PM PST

Location not specified yet

**Register here, NOT on Meetup: https://www.forkinthepath.org/schedule**

Hello Wild Foodies! You're not going to want to miss this delicious mussel foraging and feast with ocean obsessed Ricardo and Ryn!

Two classes (not a series)

• February 14, 2026 2:30-5:30 PM
• February 15, 2026 2:30-5:30 PM

Sonoma coast Near Bodega Bay, CA
All registrations must be completed on our website here

Join Fork in the Path for a magical mussel foraging adventure on Sonoma Coast. You will learn how to sustainably forage, clean, and prepare our beautiful California coast mussels – as well an overview of the history, ecosystems, and what it means to be a good steward of our land and waters.
If you haven't experienced freshly foraged mussels, you will be in for a treat!
A post-foraging tasting on the bluff provides the perfect gathering spot to learn how to store your mussels, ask questions, and enjoy the sunset. Everyone will have an opportunity to sample the bounty of what we harvested from the sea and share your takeaways from the tide pools.
Each person can take home up to 10lb of fresh foraged mussels, handout with recipes and instructions, and a special gift to round out your experience.
Don't miss this magical experience – this will be the first foray for this mussel season!

Where
A beautiful beach near Bodega Bay, CA. Exact address is provided with registration.

Facilitators
Ricardo Romero Gianoli has been living, foraging, and cooking in Northern California since 2008. One of his passions and career focuses is kelp forest restoration. Ricardo is a certified restoration scuba diver and kelp forest monitor who has surveyed sites from the Salish Sea to Orange County but he focuses his restoration efforts on the Sonoma and Mendocino coasts. It is his greatest joy to connect people with the ocean through adventure, food, and education in the intertidal zone.

Ryn Sullivan has been teaching and connecting folks to nature through food and crafts for over 10 years. They are involved in many sea urchin projects and are excited to teach Fork in the Path's students how to find and eat urchin as part of their holistic restoration efforts. When not foraging, you might find them teaching wilderness first aid classes, free diving for purple urchins, or searching for nudibranchs in the intertidal zone.

Additional support staff includes Carrie Staller.

Ticket Options
A portion of your program fee goes to Native American Rights Fund.

• $125 Pay it Forward/adult
• $100 Standard Ticket/adult
• $75 Community Supported/adult
• $60 per child (12 and up recommended - but you know your child best)

Special Things to Bring

• REQUIRED a $20 fishing license. Get it here: https://wildlife.ca.gov/Licensing/Online-Sales
• non-slip shoes that can get wet: examples: waterproof sandals, running shoes, diving booties
• an ice chest and blocks to keep your mussels cool while you transport them home
• any bags will work, but mesh bags are great for draining water (less heavy for you!)
• a bucket
• heavy duty leather, rubber or gardening gloves
• a scissors or fiskars

More Important Details
These programs are very popular and fill up often very quickly. We encourage you to register right away if you'd like to attend! If you are reading this, the class is not full. Space is updated daily.

Accessibility

• You will need to walk up and down a steep hillside on uneven surfaces including rocky shoreline, up to 3 miles round trip

Park and Fish and Wildlife Rules and Regs
You are required to follow all park and fish and wildlife rules and regulations.
No other plants, mushrooms or other forms of life may be harvested during this program, per park regulations.
You must have your fishing license or risk steep fines.

About Fork In The Path
Fork In The Path offers transformational foraging experiences in California for the adventurous of all ages. You can check us out on Instagram here.

Mushroom Foraging on the Sonoma Coast

Sun, Feb 15 · 10:00 AM PST

Location not specified yet

**Register here, NOT on Meetup: https://www.forkinthepath.org/schedule**

We are excited to announce our 2025-2026 mushroom winter season classes! Our guided mushroom walks are on the Sonoma Coast about 2.5 hours north of San Francisco. All details you need including packing list, meet-up location, and more will be sent once your booking is confirmed. This is a wonderful weekend adventure to do alone or with friends and family.

Register here
When 10am-2/3pm (not a series)

• Feb 15th
• Feb 21st
• Feb 22nd

What You'll Learn
This experiential, hands-on half-day program begins at 10:00 am. Learning to forage is an ongoing life path. This program will teach you foundational skills to be able to go out foraging on your own. We will cover mushroom anatomy for identification, tree and plant identification, poisonous and edible mushrooms, and forest safety. This winter, it will be possible to find chanterelle, yellowfoot, black trumpet, hedgehog and more. The program also includes community building, mindful movement, a cooking demo, and a tasting at the end. We typically end between 2-3 pm.

Adult Ticket Options:

• $135 Pay it Forward
• $115 Standard Ticket
• $85 Community Supported

Child Ticket:

• $85 per teen (age 13-17, must be accompanied by an adult)
• $55 per child 12 and under

A portion of your ticket fee goes to the Native American Rights Fund.

Plants of the East Bay: A 4 Season Immersion

Sat, Feb 21 · 10:00 AM PST

Location not specified yet

**Register here, NOT on Meetup: https://www.forkinthepath.org/schedule**

Recommended for those who want to connect deeply to the ecosystems and seasons of their home, this plant-centered program invites us to witness the seasonal rhythms of the land by returning to the same trails four times throughout the year. Together we’ll walk the landscape as it changes, observing how native plants, animals, and ecological patterns shift through their cycles of emergence, growth, decay, and renewal. By learning to truly notice these changes over time, we begin to build relationships — not just with plants, but with place itself.

Throughout the year, we’ll explore native plant identification and medicinal uses while honoring the unique rhythm of our Bay Area climate: the bright emergence of spring, the fullness of summer, the release of autumn, and the return of green with the winter rains. Each gathering will also include guided reflection, journaling, and exercises for deepening relationship with the seasons while tapping into a more rooted sense of home. As we walk, we’ll ask: What does it mean to truly know a place? Through quiet attention, seasonal return, and curiosity, this program becomes more than a class — it becomes a practice of belonging.

Class Series: Sat Feb 21, Sat May 2, Sat July 18, Sun Oct 4, 10am-2pm

Instructor: botanist Lia Leibman

Cost:
$600 pay it forward adult ticket
$500 adult standard adult ticket
$400 adult community supported adult ticket
$300 child under 18 (recommended for age 10 and up, but you know your child best!)
A portion of your program fee goes to Sogorea Te' Land Trust

More Important Details
These programs are very popular and fill up often very quickly. We encourage you to register right away if you'd like to attend! If you are reading this, the class is not full. Space is updated daily.

About Fork In The Path
Fork In The Path offers transformational foraging experiences in California for the adventurous of all ages. You can check us out on Instagram here.

Foraging Wild Sea Urchin (Uni) to Restore Balance (Sonoma Coast)

Fri, Feb 27 · 12:45 PM PST

Location not specified yet

Hello Wild Foodies! We're thrilled to bring you to the ocean for sea urchin foraging on the gorgeous Sonoma Coast.

Register here, NOT on Meetup: https://www.forkinthepath.org/schedule
Three classes (not a series)
Feb 27th: 12:45pm - 3:45pm
March 1st: 1:45pm - 4:45pm

We forage at low tide!

What You'll Learn
Save Kelp, Eat Urchin!
Join us at sunset for a sea urchin foraging class where we will help remove some of the overgrown sea urchin population - so we can eat it! We will teach you how to open and enjoy this incredible delicacy. You may have heard it called “uni” in a sushi restaurant, but it’s SO much tastier when it’s fresh. Take home up to 35 urchin - if you can carry that much! Learn how humans can be a helping hand to restore balance to ecosystems impacted by climate change. Requires a CA fishing license.

Where
A beach in Northern Sonoma. Exact location provided with registration.

Instructors
Ricardo Romero Gianoli has been living, foraging, and cooking in Northern California since 2008. One of his passions and career focuses is kelp forest restoration. Ricardo is a certified restoration scuba diver and kelp forest monitor who has surveyed sites from the Salish Sea to Orange County, but he focuses his restoration efforts on the Sonoma and Mendocino coasts. It is his greatest joy to connect people with the ocean through adventure, food, and education in the intertidal zone.

Ryn Sullivan has been teaching and connecting folks to nature through food and crafts for over 10 years. They are involved in many sea urchin projects and are excited to teach Fork in the Path's students how to find and eat urchin as part of their holistic restoration efforts. When not foraging, you might find them teaching wilderness first aid classes, free diving for purple urchins, or crafting cordage from the irises in their backyard.

Additional support staff includes Fork in the Path founder Carrie Staller.