Fishing & Wild Food
Image via Flickr user pallavi_damera
(Most of this info originally posted on sister site Fresh-Picked Seattle.)
Of all the urban homesteading kinds of activities, foraging is probably tied with canning for most daunting to the cautious newbie. With canning, you have the threat of botulism; with foraging, it's the potential of bringing home some seriously hazardous produce.
So while one might feel like being a little loosey-goosey when attempting other new culinary adventures, with foraging, it's a good idea to put in some study time before heading into the wild.
Where to get started? Consider taking a class, checking out membership at a mycological society or reading the blogs of local foragers.
Update July 20: Are you a forager? Check out this post on a research project on urban foraging; the researchers would love to speak with you!
Fishing Schools
- Fishing for an Experience (Kids fishing school)
- All Rivers Guide Service
- Avid Anglers
- Emerald Water Anglers
- Patrick's Fly Shop
Further Reading
- Langdon Cook is the author of the Fat of the Land blog, and the book by the same name came out on August 30th.
- Here's an article from Seattle Weekly with some good tips and book suggestions.
- Chef Becky Selengut has occasional nettle foraging trips. Here's an account of one from spring 2009.
- Langdon Cook wrote about Jeremy Faber of Found and Foraged Edibles for Seattle Met.
- Faber is also now on Twitter.
- You can follow his co-founder Christina Choi on her Nettletown blog. She is offering her Wild Food Recipes Calendar again for 2010 and they are on sale now!
Mycological Societies & Mushroom Clubs
Many local mycological societies have helpful resources, including mushroom fairs, classes and foraging trips. Here are some area groups:
- Puget Sound Mycological Society
- Snohomish Mycological Society
- Kitsap Peninsula Mycological Society
- Olympic Peninsula Mycological Society
- South Sound Mushroom Club
- In the sidebar is a slideshow of a mushroom walk I took at Bridle Trails State Park on October 31, 2009. Click through to Flick for the details on mushroom names and other tidbits.
Ethnobotany Resources
- The Washington Native Plant Society isn’t only about edibles, but can help you learn more in general about our local plant life.
- I went on an ethnobotany float trip on the Skagit River through Pacific Northwest Float Trips. I had an excellent time and would recommend.
- The Burke Museum has an Ethnobotanical Garden, including some used for food and medicine and an online image guide to native plants.
Wilderness Schools & Class
Here are some schools that offer wilderness training, including classes on wild edibles. Some of their upcoming classes are pulled out in the events calendar, but also check their sites for more info and resources between their scheduled classes.
- Wild Food Adventures
- Alderleaf Wilderness School
- Earthwalk Northwest
- Wilderness Awareness School
- North Cascade Institute
- Chef Becky Selengut has offered nettle foraging trips in the past. Subscribe to her newsletter for the earliest scoop on her offerings.
- The mushroom walk I took in the fall of 2009 was offered through the Bridle Trails State Park Foundation.
- REI, while they might not always be food-focused, if you need to learn more about outdoorsy-type stuff in general, they do offer many free classes in backpacking, navigation, hiking, etc. Each store has their own events page: Downtown, Alderwood/Lynnwood, Redmond, Issaquah, Southcenter/Tukwila.