Samuel Thayer
Author of The Forager's Harvest (2006), Nature's Garden (2010), and Incredible Wild Edibles (2017). Sam is one of the leading experts in the US about wild edible plants and continues to set the mark as a foraging authority. He has been an instructor for us every year since the festival started.
Sam began foraging as a child and has been teaching and writing about wild edibles for over 20 years. Not only is his writing impeccable, he is a very engaging and knowledgeable instructor. In addition to wild food foraging, Sam is an all-around naturalist with particular interest in reptiles, amphibians, bird watching, botany, and mammals. His passion for wild food extends to studying the origin of cultivated plants and the socio-economic history of the human diet. Other favorite activities include running, bicycling, archery, fishing, cliff diving, swimming, photography, cooking, growing fruit trees, using scythes and other old hand tools, hunting, and anything with the family. www.foragersharvest.com
Author of The Forager's Harvest (2006), Nature's Garden (2010), and Incredible Wild Edibles (2017). Sam is one of the leading experts in the US about wild edible plants and continues to set the mark as a foraging authority. He has been an instructor for us every year since the festival started.
Sam began foraging as a child and has been teaching and writing about wild edibles for over 20 years. Not only is his writing impeccable, he is a very engaging and knowledgeable instructor. In addition to wild food foraging, Sam is an all-around naturalist with particular interest in reptiles, amphibians, bird watching, botany, and mammals. His passion for wild food extends to studying the origin of cultivated plants and the socio-economic history of the human diet. Other favorite activities include running, bicycling, archery, fishing, cliff diving, swimming, photography, cooking, growing fruit trees, using scythes and other old hand tools, hunting, and anything with the family. www.foragersharvest.com
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Leda Meredith
Leda Meredith is a lifelong forager (it’s her great-grandmother’s fault). She is an instructor at the New York Botanical Garden and the Brooklyn Botanic garden, specializing in edible and medicinal plants, and teaches internationally as well. Leda is the author of several books, including Northeast Foraging, The Forager’s Feast, and the 2018 release Pickling Everything. You can try out her wild food recipes, sign up for one of her foraging tours or subscribe to her newsletter at www.ledameredith.com |
Ellen Zachos
Ellen Zachos is the author of seven books including The Wildcrafted Cocktail and Backyard Foraging: 65 Familiar Plants You Didn’t Know You Could Eat. She wrote the foraging website for About.com, and shares seasonal wild recipes at www.backyardforager.com. Ellen is a regular contributor to several of the Edible magazines, and a Senior Advisor at Garden Compass, a plant identification app. She also works with RemyUSA, teaching foraging mixology workshops across the US. A former Broadway performer (cast of Les Miz), Ellen is a Harvard graduate and earned multiple certificates in horticulture and ethnobotany at the New York Botanic Garden. She taught at the NYBG for many years, and also worked there as Coordinator of the Gardening Department in Continuing Ed, before moving to Santa Fe, NM in the summer of 2014. Foraging is tougher in the desert southwest than it was in the northeast, but it's fun exploring new territory and getting to know new edible plants and mushrooms.
Ellen Zachos is the author of seven books including The Wildcrafted Cocktail and Backyard Foraging: 65 Familiar Plants You Didn’t Know You Could Eat. She wrote the foraging website for About.com, and shares seasonal wild recipes at www.backyardforager.com. Ellen is a regular contributor to several of the Edible magazines, and a Senior Advisor at Garden Compass, a plant identification app. She also works with RemyUSA, teaching foraging mixology workshops across the US. A former Broadway performer (cast of Les Miz), Ellen is a Harvard graduate and earned multiple certificates in horticulture and ethnobotany at the New York Botanic Garden. She taught at the NYBG for many years, and also worked there as Coordinator of the Gardening Department in Continuing Ed, before moving to Santa Fe, NM in the summer of 2014. Foraging is tougher in the desert southwest than it was in the northeast, but it's fun exploring new territory and getting to know new edible plants and mushrooms.
Nicholas WazeeGale
Nicholas WazeeGale began his career as a nature enthusiast as “the bug kid” and while still loving insects moved into fascination with all aspects of the Natural Realm. Time spent as a young adult in wilderness skills programs and experiences brought him into more personal and meaningful relationship with this world, particularly with the plants that provided him food and medicine. Foraging has been an integral part of his life since then, nourishing not only his physical self and family, but his connection with the Earth and his need to share the natural world with the human world. He has run outdoor programming in foraging and other wilderness skills for over 10 years at the Kickapoo Valley Reserve, Driftless Folk School, and independently. He lives with his wife and family in the wooded Kickapoo Valley of Wisconsin and spends his days as a craftsperson, hunting, gathering (and processing) wild food, running outdoor programs for children and adults, and enjoying all aspects of country life.
Nicholas WazeeGale began his career as a nature enthusiast as “the bug kid” and while still loving insects moved into fascination with all aspects of the Natural Realm. Time spent as a young adult in wilderness skills programs and experiences brought him into more personal and meaningful relationship with this world, particularly with the plants that provided him food and medicine. Foraging has been an integral part of his life since then, nourishing not only his physical self and family, but his connection with the Earth and his need to share the natural world with the human world. He has run outdoor programming in foraging and other wilderness skills for over 10 years at the Kickapoo Valley Reserve, Driftless Folk School, and independently. He lives with his wife and family in the wooded Kickapoo Valley of Wisconsin and spends his days as a craftsperson, hunting, gathering (and processing) wild food, running outdoor programs for children and adults, and enjoying all aspects of country life.
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Erica M. Davis
Erica Marciniec Davis, aka Wild Food Girl, is an experienced forager and teacher of wild food plants in the diverse elevation zones of the Rocky Mountain region. Recently married, she loves to experiment on her husband with wild food cookery, and shares her research and stories about wild food adventures at her blog, www.wildfoodgirl.com. Previously, she published a well-loved monthly magazine of edible plant accounts, short stories, and recipes called Wild Edible Notebook. Erica teaches a course on edible, medicinal, and toolcraft plants at Colorado Mountain College, and conducts plant walks and foraging expeditions around the state. She holds a BA in archaeology and an MA in education, and also works as a freelance writer and snowboard coach. |
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Orion Aon
Orion Aon is an avid outdoorsman with a passion for all things wild food! He was born and raised in Santa Fe, NM where he gained an interest in fishing and mushroom hunting at a young age. He moved to Fort Collins, CO in 2008 to study Natural Resource Management and Fisheries Biology at Colorado State University; choices shaped by his passion for the outdoors. In 2015 Orion started Forage Colorado where he shares his passion for edible wild plants and mushrooms, writes educational content, and offers private foraging classes. He also works as the Field Production Manager for the Colorado State Forest Service Nursery where he grows seedling trees for conservation, restoration, and reforestation efforts in Colorado and the surrounding states. You can find him online at foragecolorado.com!
Orion Aon is an avid outdoorsman with a passion for all things wild food! He was born and raised in Santa Fe, NM where he gained an interest in fishing and mushroom hunting at a young age. He moved to Fort Collins, CO in 2008 to study Natural Resource Management and Fisheries Biology at Colorado State University; choices shaped by his passion for the outdoors. In 2015 Orion started Forage Colorado where he shares his passion for edible wild plants and mushrooms, writes educational content, and offers private foraging classes. He also works as the Field Production Manager for the Colorado State Forest Service Nursery where he grows seedling trees for conservation, restoration, and reforestation efforts in Colorado and the surrounding states. You can find him online at foragecolorado.com!
Chris Gavin is a naturalist and outdoor enthusiast born and raised in Wisconsin. After a stint in the Marine Corps where he traveled the country and the world, he returned to Wisconsin and earned a degree in Wildlife Ecology. He spends his time raising a family, hunting and gathering, and teaching outdoor skills like foraging through his business, Eagle Outdoor Skills eagleoutdoorskills.com
Chelsea Ewen Rowcliffe is a naturalist by both passion and profession, working and teaching for Mitchell County Conservation Board in Iowa for over 12 years. She shares her enthusiasm for the outdoors with the public through environmental education programming, and hosts several specific Wild Edible classes each year. Chelsea’s personal interests includes all things foraging, hunting, fishing, gardening, cooking, music, and exploring the wonders of nature with family and friends; especially her husband Bill, daughter Wren, fur-babies Sable & Ursa, and a menagerie of domestic and wild critters on their homestead in northern Iowa.
Robert Shimek lives on the White Earth reservation and is a citizen of the Red Lake Nation. He speaks on a variety of topics and this year will talk with us about native traditions of wild rice harvesting. Bob owed and operated a wild rice processing facility for many years and is excited to talk with us about wild rice.