Spring abundance is right around the corner! Join me for a 2 mile hike where we will be learning about some prevalent spring wild food and medicinals in the UP.
 
Our walk will be located within 30 miles of Manistique (you’ll receive an email with further details)
 
We'll discuss how to ID, sustainably harvest and some different preparations and uses. Then we'll finish up our hike with a fire and go over any questions you may still have. This class includes a take home packet with an overview of all the plants we discussed, as well as the harvesting methods and preparations.
Some wild food and medicinals we'll be working or discussing include:
 
Fir and Spruce tips
Fir Pitch
Wild Cherry Bark
Cramp Bark
Fiddle Heads
Pheasant Back
Morels
Birch leaves and bark
Ramps
Nettles
Cowslips
Peppermint
Horsetail
Dandelion
Goldenrod shoots
Cattail shoots
Violets
Wild Strawberry leaves
Wood Sorrel
Cleavers
Chickweed
Sweet Gale
Raspberry leaves
Blackberry leaves
Milkweed shoots
Trout Lily
Purple Dead Nettle
Lilac
 
Note, some of these plants are late spring plants and will not be up yet. However, I would still like to discuss them so you're prepared when they do come up!
 
Foraging is so near and dear to my heart. After 15 years of working with herbs in so many different modalities and environments, I've learned there is such a huge gap in the capacity to understand that gets missed when working with plants (and even some menstruums or herbal catalysts like tallow) when you arent involved in the process from start to finish.
 
Natural clues reveal so much about the synergy they provide us. How they work with our bodies and the type of constituents they have. From growth habitats, anatomy, distribution and using our senses to touch, smell, taste and so much more. This goes for everything- plants, fungi, lichen and so on.
 
I've learned first hand that ripping open a bag of herbs from some big box type company to find the dried plant material unrecognizable in most cases creates a lack of "clues" in understanding the plant and the human body.
 
It's amazing that we have the technology and the know how to access plants from across the globe, but understanding the plants that surround me (or that I can grow in this zone😆) has a special place in my heart and offers connectiveness like nothing else I've experienced on this journey and I'm so grateful to be able to call somewhere that is so rich in natural beauty and resources home.
 
I love doing foraging walks, because in my mind being able to forage is like learning a new language. I always describe it as learning to read. When you're a child (before you learn to read) you see signs and it's just jibberish. Until you learn to read, then without the conscious mind even realizing, you're reading every sign you see. Before you learn the language of plants, you look into the woods and see greenery (or a snow covered deserted baren lol). Once you learn all their names, you start to know their names and how they support the body, the information running through your mind without your conscious even realizing just based on sight.
 
Bring a basket for harvesting! Looking forward to meeting you all! The cost is $40 per person. Lo