Boston Flora

Tag: foraging

  • Thursday, March 27, 3:00 pm – 4:15 pm Eastern – Into the Weeds: How to Garden Like a Forager, Online

    Many a gardener, flower lover, or backyard farmer hates that most dreaded of garden chores: getting rid of weeds. Tama Matsuoka Wong offers a new approach to many plants deemed undesirable: manage them, turn them into delicious food, teas, structures….in other words reap their abundance. A self-described “failed” gardener turned garden contrarian, she looks to cues as to what plants grow wild naturally in situ and, besides that, sells many pounds of invasive weeds to markets and chefs. On a more personal level, she will share with you the “why” of her latest book Into the Weeds: How to Garden Like a Forager (Hardie Grant North America 2024): why weeds sit at the juncture of our food, environment and health, and how to use the most common weeds that grow around you. This New Directions in the American Landscape webinar will take place March 27 at 3 pm. $42. Register at www.ndal.org

  • Sunday, September 1, 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Plant Foraging at the Arnold Arboretum

    Did you know you can eat staghorn sumac berries? What about stinging nettle? Join local foraging expert Tyler Akabane at the Centre Street Gate of the Arnold Arboretum on Sunday, September 1 at 2 pm for a plant foraging walk to look for wild edibles in the Arboretum landscape, and learn how to identify and safely prepare a wide variety of wild edible plants. Register at https://arboretum.harvard.edu/events/

  • Saturdays, August 3 and August 10, 11:00 am – 1:00 pm Eastern – Make Ink, A Forager’s Guide, Online

    Gather plants and urban detritus (like rust!) from the surrounding landscape to make beautiful dyes-bright magenta pokeweed, dark black walnut, and rich purple wild grape. In the first online session, artist and founder of the Toronto Ink Company Jason Logan will teach you which organic and non-organic materials work best and where to look for them. In the second session, you’ll mix, test, and transform what you’ve foraged into rich, vibrant inks using simple household ingredients. Jason S. Logan is a Toronto-based creative director and strategic graphic designer. Recent projects include branding, identity and creative direction for Horses Atelier, a smell map for the The New York Times and Creative Direction for Rogers Publishing. Logan is also the author of several books and the founder of the Toronto Ink Company. In 2014 he led the CDTO campaign an initiative to build an Office of Creative Direction for the City of Toronto.

    Please note, this course requires the purchase of materials. Please refer to the Materials List linked on the registration page for more information. New York Botanic Garden members $90, nonmembers $100 for the two sessions, August 3 & 10 from 11 – 1.

  • Thursday, March 25, 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Decorative Bird’s Nest Workshop, Online

    Just in time for Spring, learn how to create a compostable, all foraged, decorative bird’s nest. You can then fill the nest with found objects such as abandoned Robin’s eggs and bird ephemera. This Wright-Locke Farm Zoom seminar will take place March 25 from 7 – 8.


    Ferriss provides kits to be picked up at the farm prior to the Zoom class. The kits contain all the materials necessary to learn how to weave your own nest just, like a bird would, with foraged sticks, straw, moss and little flowers. These nests are fun to make to show how foraging is enjoyable and all of the materials are compostable so they won’t end up in a landfill! Cost is $40 per person and includes kit with all necessary materials. Register at http://www.wlfarm.org/adult-education-programs/

  • Monday, August 5, 11:30 am – Lunch ‘n Learn: Forage to Table

    Foraging is a great way to incorporate nutrition-packed foods into your diet, a fun way to get outdoors with friends and family, and sustainable foraging has a positive impact on native plants. On Monday, August 5 at The Cape Cod Museum of Natural History in Brewster learn the basics of foraging while getting to touch taste and smell common wild edibles you can find in your own hometown. Learn about how wild herbs and edibles can help sustain your overall health.

    Following the presentation, Rachel Goclawski will take participants for a walk around the grounds of the Museum to search for wild foods!

    Rachel Goclawski is a Massachusetts Certified Educator, Programming Partner with the Sudbury Valley Trustees, Girl Scouts of Eastern MA and is the Resident Naturalist at Waters Farm Preservation in Sutton. Rachel is a Contributing Writer for Cook’s Magazine and for her “day job,” she is an IT Specialist for the Dept. of Defense. Visit Rachel’s Facebook page for Forage to Table tips and videos: www.facebook.com/cookingwithmrsg. 

    Admission: Non-Member $25 / Member $15 / Includes Program, Box Lunch & Museum. Lecture only: $5 at the door (Does not include Lunch or Museum Admission) Advance Tickets Recommended: 508-896-3867, ext. 133. Sandwich choices include Roast Beef, Turkey Club or Tomato Basil

    For more information please call: 508-896-3867, ext. 133

  • Wednesday, May 29 or Tuesday, June 18, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Foraging Walks with Russ Cohen

    The Greater Boston area is home to over 150 species of edible wild plants, many of which are more nutritious and/or flavorful than their cultivated counterparts.  Join Russ Cohen, expert forager and author of Wild Plants I Have Known…and Eaten, on a two hour ramble through Allandale Farm, 259 Allandale Road in Brookline, to learn about at least two dozen species of edible wild plants.  Pending favorable weather conditions, several edible mushroom species may be encountered as well. Keys to the identification of each species will be provided, along with information on edible portion(s), season(s) of availability and preparation methods. General guidelines for safe and environmentally responsible foraging will also be discussed. $20 per ticket, and two dates are offered: May 29 and June 18.
    Space is limited so click here to purchase tickets.

  • Wednesday, February 13, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Wild Edibles: What To Grow, What To Forage, and What To Do With It

    New England is chock-full of unique and tasty plants, but knowing which ones to eat, where to get them, and how to prepare them can leave one guessing. Join Dan Jaffe at Garden in the Woods on February 13 from 1 – 3 for a crash course on edibles. Discussion includes sustainable foraging techniques, species worth growing at home, flavors, and recipes. NEWFS and NOFA members $26, nonmembers $32. Register online at http://www.newenglandwild.org/learn/our-programs/wild-edibles-what-to-grow-what-to-forage-and-what-to-do-with-it

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  • Saturday, June 23, 10:00 am – 2:00 pm – Foraging & Feasting: Plant Walk, Cooking Demo & Tasting

    On Saturday, June 23 from 10 – 2, explore the culinary treasures hidden in local wild foods. Learn to identify, harvest, and prepare these ancient foods so you can easily incorporate them into your daily meals. Using basic sensory skills, we will survey the wild plants and herbs of the Berkshire Botanical Garden. Inside we will prep and taste a few of the delicious, nutrient-dense recipes from the instructor’s book Foraging & Feasting: A Field Guide and Wild Food Cookbook. Signed copies of Foraging & Feasting will be available at this presentation.

    Dina Falconi is a clinical herbalist with a strong focus on food activism and nutritional healing. An avid gardener, wildcrafter, and permaculturist, Dina has been teaching classes about the use of herbs for food, medicine, and personal care, including wild food foraging and cooking, for more than twenty years. She created Falcon Formulations natural body care products and Earthly Extracts medicinal tinctures. She is a founding member of the Northeast Herbal Association, a chapter leader of the Weston A. Price Foundation, and an organizer of Slow Food-Hudson Valley. She is the author of Earthly Bodies & Heavenly Hair: Natural and Healthy Personal Care for Everybody and Foraging & Feasting: A Field Guide and Wild Food Cookbook (available at: http://www.botanicalartspress.com). BBG members $155, nonmembers $175. Register at https://www.berkshirebotanical.org/events/foraging-feasting-plant-walk-cooking-demo-tasting

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  • Wednesday, June 6, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Foraging Walk at The Lyman Estate

    Join foraging expert Russ Cohen on Wednesday, June 6, from 6 – 8, on a walk through the Lyman Estate landscape, including farmland leased by Waltham Fields Community Farm, to collect wild edibles.

    Cosponsored by Historic New England and the Waltham Fields Community Farm. $12. Register at http://shop.historicnewengland.org/LYM-PROGRAM-MTX-1-10136/

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  • Friday, August 25, 7:00 pm – The Wildcrafted Cocktail

    Meet the natural lovechild of the popular local-foods movement and craft cocktail scene. It’s here to show you just how easy it is to make delicious, one-of-a-kind mixed drinks with common flowers, berries, roots, and leaves that you can find along roadsides or in your backyard. Foraging expert Ellen Zachos gets the party started with recipes for more than 50 garnishes, syrups, infusions, juices, and bitters, including Quick Pickled Daylily Buds, Rose Hip Syrup, and Chanterelle-infused Rum. You’ll then incorporate your handcrafted components into 45 surprising and delightful cocktails, such as Stinger in the Rye, Don’t Sass Me, and Tree-tini. This lecture and book signing will take place at 7 pm on Friday, August 25 at Porter Square Books, 25 White Street in Cambridge. For more information visit http://www.portersquarebooks.com/event/ellen-zachos-wildcrafted-cocktail