Autumn Wild Harvest for Food and Medicine

“Studying plants closely can be a grand passion, but tasting them moves that relationship beyond the platonic.  Through the medium of wild foods, the minerals of the places I love have been knit into my bones.”  ~Margaret Roos-Atkins, “The Flavors of Home"

Come move your relationship with wild plants beyond the platonic!

In these three days, you will study, harvest, prepare and eat the wild foods of Autumn with two enthusiastic teachers (see bios below).

The first day will be "A Celebration of Oaks!”, with KiOhmA  At this  hands on workshop, we will create food and art from the Oak. You’ll learn how to gather, dry and process acorns for flour and we will make acorn “pan cakes” together while sipping acorn stew and creating acorn “tea balls” all the while discussing lore, Oak as medicine,  and best growing, tending practices.

On the second day, " It’s the Berries!."  Donna will lead an exploration of Elder, Toyon and Manzanita. We’ll walk the beautiful Emandal land to meet these trees/bushes, and learn about their place in the ecosystem, how to harvest sustainably, how to prepare and use these berries as food and medicine. We will do taste testing with what we have made, and there will be samples for you to take home.

We will also talk about the Autumn Equinox and how we can connect with the energies of this season.

The  third day will be “A Celebration of Bay!”, with KiOhmA   This will be an immersive afternoon with more hands-on projects including a Bay Salve, Roasting and grinding Bay Nuts to make Bay Nut “truffles”, We will also snack on baked goods made with the leaves and the nuts while we sip a pot of hot Bay Leaf tea.

Donna d’Terra is a life long student of the plants. She is Founder and Director of Motherland Botanical Sanctuary and Herb School where classes have been offered since 1989, with a focus on local, sustainable, regenerative herbalism.   Donna is an herbal educator, medicine maker, and wild foods aficionado.  The minerals of Motherland have been knit into her bones.

KiOhmA is a consumate student of Plants and learning. As a Practical Herbalist, her specialty lies in the everyday and mundane opportunities that are oftentimes overlooked that will allow people to better  bring Herbal Wisdom into their everyday lives. Her method of teaching from the ground floor in a  relaxed and detailed manner is perfect for the budding and experienced herbalist  alike.  KiOhmA specializes in holding the space for others to discover and learn with simple, hands on instruction.  Her goal is to teach as many people as possible to learn how to better help themselves. 

 "...If you look at the trees now, In the summer, they are green and the grass is brown; but when you remember back in  the winter, the trees were brown and the grass was green. It's like the trees pull everything from the grass and ground - it's like they take turns and have an agreement or something..."

Nathan, age 8