Spring Foraging and Cooking Wild Edibles

With Ansley Roberts of Rainwalk Rewild

Our Spring Foraging and Cooking Wild Edibles workshop will take participants on a foraging trip into the forest to find delicious wild foods for an afternoon snack. We might find enough spring greens for a salad, chickweed pesto, or nettle chips. Perhaps we’ll get lucky and gather some oyster mushrooms for a sauteed dish on the fire! Fresh made sourdough bread and a jar of forest-powered sourdough starter are known to tag along just in case we get snacky on the hike.

What to Expect:

Participants do not need any prior knowledge of botany nor local plants – just curiosity and excitement to learn. Our plant walks go slow and may include slowly “hiking” (walking on an unpaved, uneven trail) for 3-4 hours with minimal elevation gain in most locations. There is about 1 hour total of break time lasting 15-30 minutes, while the other 2-3 hours of the course are either seated instructional time while teaching about botany, cooking, or eating.

Participants will leave the workshop knowing how to:

• Identify native plants, trees, and other wild edibles
• Honorably harvest wild foods
• Create some basic recipes for wild foods
• Properly care for sourdough bread starter
• Start and cook over a fire
• Find additional resources to continue learning about PNW plants and wild edibles.

What to Bring to Class:

• bring your pleasant personality and sense of humor
• snacks, a lunch and a re-useable water bottle
• rain gear just in case Mother Nature feels like delivering a little liquid sunshine

We promise a day filled with good vibes, positivity, and a strong sense of community.

About Our Instructors:

Rainwalk Rewild has over 25 years of combined experience leading expeditions and workshops related to wilderness survival, permaculture, and nature connection. The Kula Academy is thrilled to introduce their co-founders as instructors for the Women’s Outdoor Survival Skills class. If you would like to learn more about them, visit the Rainwalk Rewild website.

Ansley Roberts (She/her) has been backpacking for 14 years and guiding professionally the last five years. Her background in forest and environmental science led her all over the Southwestern United States working for the National Park Service and various nonprofit organizations before she moved to the Pacific Northwest in 2021. As a prior river guide and rock climbing instructor, she blends her love for outdoor adventure and land stewardship into her passions for herbal medicine, wilderness leadership, and nature connection. Ansley is just as likely to gush over a rad custom motorcycle build as she would a tiny wildflower or towering tree. She’d be happy to trade you a story for a look at an interesting feather or animal bone and eagerly discusses ancestors, dreams, rites of passage, and poetry with strangers.

Matthew Hale (He/him) grew up exploring the mountains and forests of Washington’s Sky Valley. Since childhood, he dedicated his time to deeply knowing and understanding the flora, fauna, and fungi of the Pacific Northwest. He graduated from Alderleaf Wilderness College in 2015 where he earned a Permaculture Design Certificate in association with the Bullocks Permaculture Center, as well as a Cybertracker Track & Sign Level II certification. Matt is a talented outdoor educator with a passion for human psychology, wilderness emergency medicine, natural building, and sustainable farming. When he’s not foraging for wild edibles or identifying mushrooms in the forest, you can find Matt dropping into half pipes on his skateboard, or crafting in the wood shop.