educational course

Join wild food expert John Kallas to identify gather and eat many of the plants seen in the book: Edible Wild Plants: Wild Foods From Dirt to Plate, which John wrote. Visit an organic farm and make a delectable wild gourmet salad on the spot with other participants. We'll harvest traditional European edibles (growing as weeds) that the farmers would be pulling. Learn how to identify common, plentiful, nutritious, and flavorful wild vegetables in this adventure. Get real hands-on experience with plants you'll see on a farm and in your own garden. Take advantage of these readily available sources of nutrients, and dietary variety. Traditional wild Eruopean edibles (gourmet greens and vegetables) plant themselves, enjoy the rich moist growing environment of the garden, and provide many seasons of foods that can add meal options you never dreamed of before. Once your learn these wild foods you can change from a "weeding" to a "harvesting" mentality in your own garden, yard, and neighborhood. Watch a news short on "Edible Weeds" by Garden Time TV series here. For information or to register visit the Wild Food Adventures workshops page.  Enrollment Limited! - Advanced registration reserves you a place in the workshop.

Join wild food expert John Kallas to learn about trees, shrubs, and herbs of the Pacific Northwest that are found at Oxbow Regional Park, off the Sandy River Gorge. Find a diversity of edible wild plants including fiddlehead fern, elderberries, Solomon's seal, fairly bells, nettles, red huckleberries, salmonberry, and more. Explore one of the more beautiful habitats just east of Gresham. This workshop has about a 85% content overlap with the Forest Park workshop. For information or to register visit the Wild Food Adventures workshops page.  Enrollment Limited! - Advanced registration reserves you a place in the workshop.

Join wild food expert John Kallas to bushwhack through Portland's urban neighborhoods to find some of spring's best and diverse delectables. See and sample from plants you pass by everyday. You will later find most of this abundance in your own neighborhood. For information or to register visit the Wild Food Adventures workshops page.  Enrollment Limited! - Advanced registration reserves you a place in the workshop.

Join wild food expert John Kallas to explore several habitats on Sauvie Island.  See this spring's early green delectables. See and sample from plants you pass by everyday. The earlier you start in the spring, the more foods you can harvest in the year. It also pays to see plants at different stages of growth. Many plants will have emerged, others we will identify where they are going to grow.  For information or to register visit the Wild Food Adventures workshops page.  Enrollment Limited! - Advanced registration reserves you a place in the workshop.

Spring Plankhouse Opening Event April 13th,
12pm-4pm
Sewing seeds of the past and planting for the future; 
A camas planting and First Food presentation
 
Several species of camas, Camassia quamash andCamassia leichtlinii are key parts of the Gary Oak ecosystems that span the west side of the Cascade Range from British Columbia down to Northern California. Today widely regarded as a beautiful wildflower, camas plays a crucial part in the traditional lifeways and cultures of many Indigenous peoples in the Northwest. Before colonization by euro-American settlers, Chinookan Peoples, Nimi'ipuu (Nez Perce), Kalapuya, and many other Tribes  tended, dug, traded, and ate camas corms since time immemorial. Camas is still regarded as a special First Food for many Tribes in our and is still tended and dug with care. For our spring opening we will honor and celebrate this beautiful lily with  a special presentation about the cultural significances of camas, learn how to restore the camas prairies that have painted the hills and valleys of our region blue for generations, and begin a camas meadow restoration project next to the Cathlapotle Plankhouse.
12pm-4pm : Children's activities, Plankhouse tours, and Garry Oak Ecosystem restoration information.
1pm : Presentation on Cultural and Historical significance of Camassia  spp.
 
2pm :Camas Blessing and Restoration Work Party