From HerbMentor.com, this is Herb Mentor Radio.
Well, hello, everybody. This is John Gallagher, and, this is our very first edition, the very premier edition of, Herb Mentor Radio. And we're not really on the radio, I realize, but, but, we can pretend we are. It's kind of cool.
So this is a show that we'll be doing monthly, and we'll be talking to all kinds of wonderful people who use plants in their lives. And we have, for the very first edition, I wanted, it was important for me because this is Herb Mentor, to have somebody who, was and is a Herb Mentor to me and somebody who made a big difference in my life and I wanted, as we get as we start the launch process here as we before we put Herb Mentor online, I want once you get an idea of, all the wonderful things that are possible out there. Because probably one of the most, amazing and creative verbal teachers I've ever come across is who I have with me on the line today, which is who is which is Karen Sherwood. And verbal teachers I've ever come across is who I have with me on the line today, which is who is, which is Karen Sherwood. And, Karen Sherwood, grew up, I should you know, to say you're not silent there, I should say, hi, Karen.
Hi, John. Thank you.
Karen grew up, studying the flora in Pacific Northwest And, she, early on, she developed and expanded the wild foods curriculum at Tom Brown's Tracker School in New Jersey and taught there with Herb and Frank who teaches survival skills, for over fifteen years. Right, Karen?
That's right. Yeah.
And then moved back to her native homeland of, west side of Washington west side of the Cascades, in Washington State, and Frank is from the east side of the mountains. And so they settled in now in outside of Seattle, on the east side of Seattle where they started Earthwalk Northwest.
And we'll talk about Earthwalk Northwest programs that will be kind of woven into the show, that we do here. But I would give you like a, you know, of Karen's contribution. She also teaches us the botany programs through other organizations like Department of Ecology, Washington Outdoor Women, King County Parks, and of course my biased personal favorite Wilderness Awareness School, right?
And of course she teaches around the world, And, like, such as Germany, you guys go to Germany every year. Right?
Oh, we have gone there. We haven't gone there for a couple of years now, but we've been, teaching over there several times and really enjoying our trips.
Wow. So I just wanna give you an idea of, just who we have with us today. So what a wonderful opportunity this is. And, of course, Karen is so incredibly humbled. She'd never tell you any of these things. But if you get to know her, she would.
But you can always look on our website, right?
So welcome, Karen.
Well, thank you, John. I appreciate that tremendous introduction there.
You're welcome.
It's, it has been an exciting adventure over the years, and, teaching and learning about plants, and, I think it's something that everyone can relate to. So I am excited about, talking a little bit about, how we can walk grants into our lives.
You and you, and that is one of the most wonderful things about you is that you are such an inspiration to me in teaching too. So if anyone wants to know out there where, you know, I kinda get that foundation and keeping it really simple, it's from Karen because you go to one of your, your programs and, you don't fill it. You actually don't fill a notebook full of information.
You you might write down a few notes, but, you know, you're you're hands on working the whole time. And learning from touching the plants and processing the plants and you leave your programs with, with with wonderful creations, whether it be an herbal first aid kit in your class or your wild foods class where you might rose hit honey or, or or your sea vegetable class with some, with some bullet pickles. Pickles. Yes. And and and and, I I was I was once once trying to find my notes from my sea vegetables class with you, and I I couldn't find I couldn't find them. And I realized, oh, yeah. I don't think I took any because I was having such a good time foraging.
And I'm kinda kayaking the Puget Sound. Right. Picking Dory off of the rocks.
Oh, there's there's not too many better days than one spend out on the water, is there?
No, no. Picking nori and even right off the rocks and bringing it back and making up a wonderful rice dish.
Well, you know what? I think that you hit on a really, good point too, John, is that we learn so much by hands on.
The more that we're able to get out there and experience rather than, you know, certainly there's some, point to learning text and learning about plants and identification, but, I think the real learning really comes from that experiential end of actually going out and doing. And that way that stays with us. You know, the plants that we prepare into our dinner meals or into lunch or use as a trail side nibble, those are ones that literally stay with us forever. They have become a part of us in many different ways on many different levels. And, I think that's really the fabulous way of learning is through that hands on.
And and and that's the thing that it it it brings the resources and books alive. Because if I remember being very interested in this and then, you know, I think when I first even signed up for one year classes and and, and I and I and I would look in the books and then all the information would slip right out of my head the next day. I tried to take notes or journal and all this, and anything I did, nothing could stick. And it wasn't until I was, out doing experiential classes with yourself and other wonderful, memorable mentors who were blessed with so many amazing teachers in the Northwest, like the Ravencroft and other places, Erin Grow and other folks. And and, it was, and and and that was the thing.
You could go out in one of your classes and you could learn, rose hips, for example, and then then go back to the book and you'd be like, oh, oh, yeah, yeah, oh, yeah.
I remember Karen said something about vitamin c and not to do this and Papeete can make honey and you can make, you know, petal honey. You can make rosehip honey. You can make all kinds of stuff. And then and then it's you see it done in the class, and then you you're brave enough to go and do it, and it breaks that barrier.
I think that that a lot of us have that, do have that, kind of that wall put up is that whether we were told as children, you know, don't go out to eat those because our parents didn't know if, plants were gonna be good for us or not, so they told us to stay away or, you know, whatever, that wall is that we have is that, you know, by going out and experiencing, the plants around us, you know, with a guide to help us along, it does make that transition, much less stressful. We have a great experience.
And by experiencing those plants through all of our senses, not just listening about them, but going out and seeing them, touching them, tasting them, truly, we can remember them that way because we have developed that relationship.
And I think that's one of the greatest things that comes out of going out and doing that harvesting and preparation is that, we've created a new friend, one that will nourish us, that has so many gifts to give. And, it's something that we'll never forget.
Yeah. And that's that's it. You know, I I it's like on on HerbMentor and learning herbs, we try to keep it simple and have simple lessons.
And there's a certain amount of people, there's a, you know, fair fair amount of people who will take the lessons and they're going to do and they try to show, you know, video and try to have the, you know, we're going I'm doing my best long distance over phone Internet Yeah.
To help with that. But, you know, you know, we show stuff and whatever, but, you know, there's just something that just, you know, can't replace someone standing there and just going, this is it. You know, especially in the beginning.
Right. Right. And and and that's why, like, I think that I think everyone listening should should go to earthwalknorthwest dot com and and look down the classes and see which one you can make it to and and, sign up.
My number one endorsement for for a live program right here.
Well, you know and and I think if there's one thing that that I can communicate with to people is that, all of us have the ability to learn them.
Sometimes we're a little little bit intimidated as to the vastness of the plant world.
However, you know all of us can go to the produce stand or the grocery store and go down that produce aisle and almost all of us can tell a tomato from an apple, a potato from an onion, and many of us even parsley from cilantro.
And if we can distinguish those differences, certainly we can learn the plants out that thrive around us. So it's not inaccessible. It's it's something that no matter what our level of education is or participation in nature, it's possible for us to learn about all these wonderful plants that grow around us.
So, you know, I'd like to pass that on to people that, don't be overwhelmed with things that, it just takes a bit of time sometimes, but, the more that we learn along the way, the easier it is to learn.
Yes, exactly. And also, that it's it's like, I get a lot of emails, Karen, on people like, do you have a certification program? Do you have and there are places where you can do that if you really wanna go and find something if you find you need a certain certificate for something.
Right.
But really, herbs herbs, the wild foods, it's our diet, it's our food. We learn from experience. It's not about a program. It's just about infusing the experiences one by one into your life.
And then you look back and then you suddenly see a few years later, wow, I do know a lot more about Wow plants. Because as you were looking as you saw something bloom or saw some berries come out, you looked it up and then quick looked up the recipe and made something and then had it for dinner that night and you did that once a week or once a month and then you were looking up stuff along the way and and then all of a sudden a couple years later, you're you're starting to tell your friends and people about this stuff and you they're like, wow, you know a lot. How did you learn this stuff?
You know, and then you find yourself that you're a bit of a teacher and then it's kind of like you don't even realize you're learning it. So it's you know, it's so much fun.
Well, and no matter what your walk of life too, there's a place to bring it in.
You know, oftentimes we'll teach about survival and it's about building confidence and, increasing our level of comfort in wilderness and certainly plants, wild plants that we learn have a place there. But, you know, if I'm at home preparing foods, for my family, absolutely I can bring wild foods in there.
You know, it's easy.
Maybe it's that we're trying to, you know, reduce our food budget.
Certainly, we can walk outdoors and find wonderful things that are free for the harvest.
But it also brings in that piece about nutrition too is that our wild foods are so nutritious and can really help maintain a good level of health.
And so even if we're for interested in nutrition, they have a piece there. So, you know, there's many, many reasons that we might approach them.
And no matter where people fit into, whatever their lifestyles are, I think that there's really good reason to get out there and and see how can we bring these great plants in.
Mhmm.
And and and even if you're just starting and it's wintertime, you can still do it, right? I mean, you can get dried dried nettle or something. Right?
You can get dried nettle. And even in the wintertime, you know, in the Pacific Northwest here, we have, you know, kinda three and a half seasons, that, oftentimes we don't get hit with winter, until pretty late. And there's things that we can harvest year round. And in fact Right. If we go out in the wintertime, you know, we're kind of approaching that, you know, fall time and things are, seem to be diminishing. But, you know, sometimes that's a really good time to to begin to explore because we're not overwhelmed with how abundant and wanting to learn everything that there is out there is that, you know, the selection kind of is made for us and we can take a few, basic plants and get to know them really well until things really start popping up in the spring.
So, thanks in for that.
So I guess I want to then go a little deeper in a couple of areas I know you've been teaching about recently, to kind of help folks, while you know, we're in that fall and winter since we're talking about things we can do in the winter, you know, and and different seasons.
You were telling me the other day that you were just doing a class on fermentation.
Right. So what did what were you teaching and, like, with what plants or what kind of what were you making, health benefits, you know, that kinda thing? What were you Right.
Well, we Health benefits. In our, plant apprenticeship program, we do a piece on fermentation and it actually covers many different facets of that. We started off with, fermented sodas or which is a lacto fermentation process where our students, actually made the culture in class, and then continued, over the course of the week to nurture that.
And they then took that and took a, an infusion of their choice, to flavor the sodas, whether it be a berry or you can do herbs, flowers, roots, anything that inspires you, really.
We had in class, just simple ginger soda, of course, is wonderful.
Yeah.
We had, you know, we can do, choke cherries, which we harvested a whole bunch of this year, and we made.
And that's just delicious. Yeah. And we had a Choke cherry soda? Choke cherry soda. And you get that balance of sweet and tart going on, and it's just fabulous.
So you can do some amount of creativity that you can so What's that what's that book?
There's a root root I think a sodas, root beer and soda.
There's a a wild fermentation a book called Wild Fermentation.
That's it. Yeah. Wonderful. Yes.
Let's see. Who is the I'm trying to remember who the author.
It's called Wild Fermentation.
If you Amazon that or Xander Katz, who I think is the author for that.
Anyway, wonderful book.
And, so it goes a talks a little bit about those things. But, so when you're brewing this up, you're actually going through that process of lacto fermentation.
And, then when you bottle them up, they begin to effervesce a little bit.
And, that's when you get kind of that fizziness going on.
One of the exciting things I think, really is not only is it really good for us, but it can't be duplicated and commercialized because these things won't stay on the supermarket shelves for ages. They're really limited.
But Yes. Like, you you kinda need once you have the yeast and then bottle it, you kinda need to just refrigerate it until you drink it. Right?
I mean You do. And It's a small bath kind of thing.
Right?
About three or four months.
Oh, really? Yeah. Okay.
Is what you have. And Without exploding?
Well, and that's where the refrigeration piece comes in is that Right.
We reduce, that whole process by refrigerating it.
And then ultimately the sugars in solution get used up too. So that might be the limiting factor as well. We kinda want them a little bit sweet in that, you know, end product, but, you know, not overly soft. But, so you get that right balance there, and, you get the carbonation well, it's not really it's a dissolved, air going on, and it gives it that fizziness.
Mhmm.
And, that's kinda gives you your little bit of bubbly going on with your sodas, so that's carbon dioxide, which is given off.
And You you know, once, well, you know Daniel and Becca, of course.
Yes. Of course. Yeah.
They they moved from the they moved down to Oregon a couple few years back. But, on their wedding, I went to the other side of the mountains, got some elder flowers. You know, it's right around this time, and I, made up kind of an elderflower champagne, which is kinda like a it's a nonalcoholic type of thing.
Nice.
And, and what was the the best was the effect at the wedding because then they pop the cork, you know? Yeah.
It worked really well. It's a good effect. You know, the carbonation just let it go enough for you. It had a good effect on popping.
Oh, and isn't elder flowers just one of the most phenomenal, smells in the entire world.
I could Yeah.
I think it's just heavenly, and I can imagine that that was just delicious.
Now picking the elderflowers, I remember having a drive by wild crafting mission with Karen once where we were on a class when we went down the road in Eastern Washington and it was in kinda dusk and we're out there and we we picked all our elder flowers off the tree, you know, no one can watch or see us right there, and we jumped back in the car with our elder flowers. And the next day, we dipped them in pancake batter, and we, put them up on the griddle, and that was our breakfast. Right?
It was. It's so delicious.
Yeah. It was so fun to do. You know, another thing that that we do with those too is that, we do this oatmeal dish with, where we pull off all the elderflowers, and we put them in our oatmeal to cook up. And, we actually do a baked oatmeal, and it is truly a piece of heaven there, to have those, elder flowers in there and giving us all kinds of wonderful flavors and the goodness of the oats. And, yeah. There's there's so many ways to, bring that creativity in, and I think that's one of the exciting pieces.
So, yeah, elderflower That's what you really bring to all this.
That that that was what you that was so inspiring. It was one creative and inspiring thing to do after another. And you and then, yeah, like I said, at the end of a a weekend class, you turn around and, like, oh, we're done already, or that was quick.
Or you know? It's like it's over already.
But, yeah, it's it's it's amazing. It's amazing how many creative things and and and and, that that you can oh, like, for example, I I just have I just have to read a couple of these things. Okay. Karen Karen does monthly at her at her house, wild feasts. Right? That would you call them now? Wild feasts?
Yeah. Wild feasts dinners. We have wild feasts that go on. Mhmm.
And if you live in the Seattle area, you gotta go over to earthwalk northwest dot com and check out the the the the, schedule for that. And, it's quite, here's here's some things that have been made out of this. Well, of course, stinging nettle soup, acorn muffins with elderberry jelly, dock seed crackers, burdock beer, cattail pollen crates, smoked salmon with chickweed pesto, you know, roasted camis bulbs, which are canvas bulbs for those not from the Northwest or the staple of the native peoples here and Cattail shoots salad. I mean, you know, this is not all the same because they're all over two different seasons, but to get the idea of that, I'm just trying to illustrate the creativity you can have here.
When you find a plan you wanna learn about and then find some wonderful recipe or make up a recipe.
Right. Well, you know, it's like this for, for instance, our native oak here, just to make something out of it, it doesn't have to be just take the acorns and boil them up for a super stew. So so certainly, we could do that, but we could take those acorns and, traditionally, they would beat into, like, a venison acorn stew, maybe with those camas bulbs. But then we can also leach out a lot of the bitter tannic acids just by boiling them, dry them out, and grind them into a meal for muffins or pancakes or whatever.
Our last wild foods dinner, we took that acorn flour or meal and used it as a crust for, a cheesecake that we served.
And then you can make, some more, traditional dishes too of, actually boiling it into kind of almost like a pudding, type consistency and serving it up as cakes.
Or even to take that same, acorn meal and roast it and make a wonderful brewed beverage out of it, kind of like the consistency of coffee.
And it has just a rich flavor to it, lots of minerals in it.
So, these plants really lend themselves to great diversity.
So imagination is what it takes, and a little bit of creativity there, and you can do almost anything.
Yeah. Your mind, I mean, do you just these these ideas just come to you in the middle of the night here.
Or you're in the kitchen cooking, oh, it would be good if we did this. And, like, like, how do you come up with these amazing ideas?
Actually, you know There's so many I mean, I've seen a lot of wild foods cookbooks and stuff, but one that you you teach in the class and one that I've seen at the I mean, I haven't seen these in other places.
You know what? A lot of times it's through my students' inspirations that, you know, things come to me. They'll think, oh man, you know, if only we had blah blah blah. And I think about what we have around us and what could go that direction.
And then sometimes the pieces just fit together, and then we'll experiment around.
Could remember well, Greg Summers, was in one of our programs, a friend to us both, and he wanted to do something with elderberries. And he wanted to make some kind of sauce, and we kind of brainstormed for a while. And he was doing this as a term project for one of his classes here.
And as we talked about it, what we kinda came up with was an elderberry chutney.
And, he didn't have much kitchen experience, but had kind of this vision. And and so we kinda worked through it and used the chutney recipe and put the elderberries in. And I tell you, if it wasn't the most fabulous, sauce that came he actually used it to serve it with a a fish dish that he prepared. Wow. But I can see many different applications with, wild game or, even to cook in with, you know, other fruits and things like that be just great.
That's a good point. You're saying that, like, you can take a one of your someone could take a favorite cookbook of theirs and replace things with wild foods.
Absolutely. You know, oh, one of my, favorite stinging nettle recipes is just, from taking a lasagna recipe, and it was a spinach lasagna and substituting lots of stinging nettle for the spinach in there. So you can go to, yes, your favorite cookbook.
Sometimes, you know, good old Betty Crocker offers some inspiration even. So, take it and create what you need from it, and you can see There you go.
That's the name of your cookbook or your, like, you know, your image.
You could be like the wild Betty Crocker.
What? Oh, that's so my mom's name is Betty. Did you know that?
I'd love to share that one with her.
Penny Crocker of the Wilderness.
So, yeah. So I think that that's just really, a great thing to to do is is to take a cookbook and see what smile that's growing around you that you might be able to work into it, into one of your recipes. And maybe it's just your favorite salad recipe and you put dandelion greens or you can get a little bit more elaborate from there.
You know, anything goes.
Yeah. And and and I found that, like, you at least having at least one or two wild food cookbooks kinda gives you the basic idea, and then that's easy to transit transition to any cookbook.
Mhmm. Mhmm.
And, and if anyone wants to know, your wild foods books, cookbooks, book, on learning herbs dot com. We have the wild foods pack, of course, and and, there's some information there.
And then there's other great books too.
And I know a favorite of both of ours in the northwest is the Discovering Wild Plants, Oh, okay.
Genesco field.
Fabulous book.
One the one you need if you live around us.
Yeah. Yeah.
All the way up to Alaska and down. It's it's a requirement.
Well, and an inspiration too, I think, is that, between the photographs and suggestions for use, and then the follow-up with a recipe. It really is inspiring and allows you to go from ID all the way through to actually creating something in your own home.
Exactly. And medicinal stuff too in their recipes and all, which is great.
And on the medicinal level that I think that is practical and to us all, which is know, our basic first aid, the bumps and bruises, colds and flus, and, basic basic stuff like that. The stuff we're gonna use every day.
Everyday stuff. Yeah.
And that's and that's, taking our health care back in Mhmm.
To our own hands too.
And then we start to realize along the way that, hey.
This food is our medicine. Right? Absolutely. Food is food. To say about you know, you yeah.
Well, I'd like to know what you have to say about that and because you're an ethnobotanist and the native diets and what you know about that as far as food and medicine.
What do you what wisdom can you add?
Well, you know, I think that's the greatest things that, that we learn is that, you know, these plants that share our environment, are the ones for us is that when we can eat locally and with this whole vision of, you know, local eating, I think wild foods just really fit well into that piece is that these plants share their environment with us. They're going through the same stresses, and are getting stronger for that. And these plants that live around us are the ones to bring into our diet.
We have learned over the years, we see it all the time, that we are provided with everything that we need in the right season.
And again, with wild foods, it's, allows us to really eat seasonally as well. And each season presents itself with the things that we need to be strong, to be healthy, and to, really thrive through what's coming up.
You know, in the spring of the year, oftentimes we haven't had a lot of really fresh things if we're, you know, going out and doing foraging.
But there before we know it are those young shoots that are coming up out of the ground that are so rich in nutrients.
Stinging nettle, of course, is one of our greatest. Dandelion, one that everybody knows.
Those are there to really land these wonderful, nutrients to our body, great mineral complement, and to really revitalize us in the spring of the year. You know, there's our spring tonic right there.
And then, you know, as we continue on through the seasons, more and more comes up, but we go through the summer and lots of berries, especially here in the northwest, they come up and emerge and we're just overwhelmed with the number, and variety of berries that are here.
And they're preparing us for the next season coming up with their, rich vitamin C compliments.
And then we go down harvesting our root crops in the fall of the year, helping to build us up for the winter as well and really strengthen us. And, you know, everything is in its right season. And when we eat the wild foods that are around us, those things come to us.
You know, this is a really important point everyone because I'm a as many of you know, I'm a five element acupuncturist And, and our when I'm working with someone, it's all about bringing that person's energy flow, their chi flow in harmony with the seasons that we're in.
And and bringing about health that way. Now, doing what Karen's talking about is not just healthy because we're taking in the vitality and the best vitamins and minerals you can get, Right? It's also extremely healthy because it's helping us be in tune with the seasons, and that brings good spiritual health to us all to to to be in touch with the natural world around us. There's I've seen it and I see it in people and and and the work that I do and and, it's like if you're going out and doing this stuff, it's it's a health care ritual, isn't it?
Absolutely.
In, on many levels that you're talking about is that it yeah. It's not just being nourished by the vitamins and nutrients in the plants, but just, the whole, ritual of going out and harvesting brings that sense of calm and intunement, if you will, with, you know, I I can remember many a times being, going out and being a little bit stressed, feeling I'm short on time and going out with my harvesting basket, and just lending myself over to the harvest.
And the gift that came back, not only in the basket, but came into my whole being was that gift of calm and relaxation, and that sense that, everything was just gonna work out fine.
So, you know, I think that, there's many many levels that we can be nourished on.
That's that's, that's very true. It's getting so into what you're saying. I totally forgot what I was gonna say.
I was like, that's beautiful.
So, John, one thing that I did wanna bring up is that, you know, when we've talked about the the fermentation process is that, you know, we were talking a little bit about sodas. But I wanted to, also bring in the piece, and it reminded me when you were talking about the versatility versatility of things is that, from there, we went into, doing a piece on fermentation with cabbages and making sauerkraut, which was, you know, has an ancient tradition behind it.
But from there, we thought, well, how can we bring, our wild foods into that process?
And we went out and we harvested dandelions, and we made a dandekraut.
And it was so Oh. To see that whole process going on where we can, instead of taking cabbages, we can take our dandelion and do the exact same thing. And with that, it just, with that whole fermentation, process, it kinda, you know, aids in the preservation, of course. But it makes our food so much more digestible.
It, you know, it allows our bodies to really make use of the nutrients.
And, we ended up serving that over rice with a little bit of we had some, zucchini relish that we put in with that too, and it was just a vibrant meal that we had.
That's incredible.
It was incredible.
And on fire.
So there's more, more things than just, sodas that we can go through this fermentation process that we can bring our again, the diversity of things comes through too.
And I know on HerbMentor too, I even wanna get into some real basic cheese making too at some point. We can do that with fermented milk and, you know, there's so much we can do.
Exactly. And it brings those same gifts too that, it's a natural preservation method. It makes, things much more digestible.
And people who have allergies or some food intolerances, oftentimes find that, through, this process of, natural fermentation or lacto fermentation that, suddenly there aren't the food issues that were there, that were there originally.
People forget this is how people were preserving their food before refrigerators.
Exactly.
They're cold sellers and fermentation and, you know, wines and beers and pickles and Mhmm. Drying things and great stuff.
Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. You know, and it and just saying you, you know, saying all all the stories you've gathered about plants and you talk about rituals and stuff before.
And that's what doing all this really does is it, it adds such a deep texture in your life. It goes it may start as a little interest or you might think it's a hobby you're getting into. And then before you know it, it's a lifestyle.
And then you find your family stories and your rituals, your things that you do as a family suddenly woven in with the plants and seasoned. And then then, you know, as far as I'm concerned, you're kinda like you know you're a plant person or an herbalist when you're when you're, you know, going out with your family and harvesting something or where you can't go anywhere and can't you can't go on a trip anywhere without coming back with something that you pick.
We have a kind of joke that we have in our programs here and that once we begin to learn plants, our students start to find that these plants begin to follow them everywhere. So even if they try to do something else, there those plants are that we've made a a connection with, and they will follow us around the world.
Hey, Joan. I even remember your you know, even your story you're saying is something that you do every year with your family as you go to the east side.
I think it was you say something you do in New Year's, you go to the east side and you take rose hips and Right.
We have some dear friends over near Spokane area.
And, when our girls and we have children that are the same age as children in their family. And Are they still children?
They're they're getting older now.
They're they're getting older. Yeah. They're they're they're, teenage girls now.
Teenage girls now. My gosh.
Yeah. Yeah. And, but we still go out every once in a while. We when when they were really little, we started the tradition of on, we we would spend New Year's Eve together.
And we both had little teeny babies all at the same time, so it was really just perfect.
And then when they got a little bit, oh, about a year or two old, I guess, we went out. We had, harvested rose hips. And then the next morning, we had, so that night we actually ended up taking the rose hips and making rose hip jelly and rose hip syrup, and that then came to our New Year's Day breakfast table.
And so we had our rosehip syrup or jelly, over our pancakes or muffins or, whatever we had prepared for that morning. And it was a tradition for many, many years that we did that, That that would start off our New Year's. And still to this day, no matter when we have it, or when we make our, jelly, we always have that rose hip, for that breakfast New Year's morning.
And it's all wood when it's, stories with the air just woven into your life.
It's It it is, and it's so much fun. And there they are, just brightening brightening our morning meal.
Right. And then and then the health is in and the health in it and seed, we get so focused in our society. I mean, even in the natural health, you know, the natural health people and people who, you know, talk about a lot of sleep, they they will say, you know, have, you know, this latest supplement or have eat this way or that or whatever, and And they rarely focus on that.
A big part of the nourishment of the food is like I said, not just those vitamins and minerals that you're getting, but also you've got the experience of that New Year's day in that rosehip jelly. Right. And that is a big part of it as well.
I can remember one New Year's Eve that we had gone out and, we cross country skied out to the patch, and the rose bushes were just covered with snow.
And they were so bright red in in contrast with the snow that was there. It was the biggest, crop, if you will, that we had, ever seen.
And to be able to harvest that, as we had skied out there, and I think we pulled the kids on sleds at that point because they were pretty little. And, we filled our baskets full.
But here in the middle of winter were these beautiful, beautiful rose hips, that came back with us.
And we had just this glorious day with this, incredible memories, to bring to And anyone listening to us here who lives around us in Western Washington, you kinda need to go to a slightly colder place like Eastern Washington to harvest that time of year.
Right. Right.
Because they get kinda mushy. Yeah.
Yeah.
It's a little bit damp.
They're they're starting to get a little bit mushy right now even a few of them. Although, there's quite a few that are still left, right now in the end of October here.
But herbs are something we can even pick now. Speaking of things we can pick now, the, our first herb of the month in Herb Mentor is burdock.
And tell us a wonderful thing you like to do with burdock.
Putting you on the spot?
No. Actually, oh my gosh.
So, I love to make gravy from burdock. It makes you know, grate it up and we can cook it and, make a really rich, gravy. Maybe add a little bit of miso to it right at the very end.
And, we eat, a lot of wild game in our house, and it's just fabulous over wild game. But we can put it over pasta as well. So burdock root gravy if you want something warm.
Of course, marinated, or kind of, cooked and and marinated burdock root is wonderful.
We, you know, simmer it up briefly with, maybe a little garlic and ginger there.
Put a little bit of tamari in with it and Mhmm. A little bit of your favorite vinegar.
We eat them right on the spot, but if you can let them sit for a few days, that is great.
But one of our one of my students, Paul, came up with this fabulous thing to do where he put he made pickled eggs.
He dropped them in the burdock brine, along with the burdock, and they turn out this shiny black color as they absorb all the minerals from that burdock brine, and they're just incredible.
In fact, just recently he just gifted me with a jar of them, and I consider it, truly a gift from the heart. And, you know, it's like my little jar of gold there.
Oh my gosh. Yeah.
I can't well, that's amazing.
Yeah. So if you haven't tried this, you know, I'm sure that you've made up your pickled burdock root before.
Go ahead and take some boiled eggs and put them in that brine in the like a quart Mason jar with them, and let them set for, a couple weeks or so, or longer. The longer, the better.
Mhmm. And the more they the longer they sit in there, the darker they get. And they just are beautiful. They taste fabulous, and you could eat them along with your your burdock root.
And and everyone, there is a burdock, pickling recipe on Bird Mentor and, Perfect.
Perfect.
And you could just drop your eggs. You do that and do add the eggs. Yep. I'm gonna do I'm gonna open up a jar of my burdock pickles right after we're done here and start eating it so I can drop a couple eggs on that one.
There you go. And even leave a few of the burdock in there, with the eggs too.
Mhmm.
I don't know.
Kimberly's gonna like that. Sometimes it's hard to stop eating those things. I know.
Yeah. Burdock Burdock's amazing. Okay? You can make pretty much make anything.
Burdock is amazing. Yeah. There's so many things that we can do with it.
And and, folks, if you wanna play around with Burdock and you don't, you know, not ID'd yet or it's not the no, you can actually, I was at PCC. That's our local co op market, our Whole Foods type of market. I don't know about the Whole Foods chain, but our local, co op market that we have here actually sells burdock root. Asian grocery will sell it as gobo root.
But you can I bought my I bought a pound or so of burdock root and, we and and, we've done this through we've been cooking with it in the last couple of weeks?
Very nice.
And, you know, interestingly enough, I've also seen the seeds for sale. We had them at the local Grange.
You can buy burdock seeds. So if you don't have any by you, you can put some out for planting.
Karen Karen and I live in a place that, in the wild, it's oddly it's challenging to find.
So you have to know your your local farms and your places. I have my patch I never reveal my patches of burdock.
Right? Smart move.
I'll tell I'll tell people something, but I won't tell people where our burdock is. You know? I actually told someone where my where I pick my elderberries, Karen. You know? They make my wine every year.
Uh-huh.
And, last year, and then the word kinda got out and come on, there's elder elderberries all over. But I, you know, got the right spot, you know, or I can take the kids with me and, you know, it's just imperfect for a little family spot where I can I go back to just wiped clean? I'm like, somebody's been here. And I found out that somebody that told somebody that told somebody picked, like, two hundred pounds of berries.
Wow.
Wow. I know.
And that kinda brings up actually an interesting point is that, you know, when when we're teaching here, we we cover a lot of ethnobotany and, traditional uses of plants that, indigenous peoples and how they utilize plants and kind of their philosophies.
And when we've taken care of a patch and nourished it and harvested it really ethically so that there's enough for the the other wildlife and make sure that we don't take it all there.
And we harvest in a way that will make sure that that plant will come back the next year. In native tradition, what we find is that, when we care take a patch, then others would respect that you were, making a place for that in your life and you were kind of the overseer or the gardener of that, and they would go out and harvest in other places.
And I think that that's really wonderful. It's that it's that respect, that they offer one another, and that understanding that here's a person who's taking care of of these plants, so they'll be there for generations to come.
Exactly, exactly. That's, we've talked a lot about wildcrafting and and our various things we've done in our, you know, newsletters and interviews and stuff, but that's a that's a point I had not heard.
Thank you so much for, you know, point of view for, that I hadn't heard, which is really wonderful. It's an it's, just to it says it all right there. You mean, say everything else, it says it all right there.
So that's that's wonderful.
So, this was maybe one more herb that one more plant out there that, that I found interesting that you told us about one time was, we see the flower we see the seed stocks, this time of year all over of the yellow dock.
Yeah. The yellow dock is a different plant than burdock. It's a different family. They both say dock, but dock just means large leaf. Right?
So we're in different families here, totally different plant. And, and so you see the big, the tall seed stalks with them, they're kind of reddish brown, all these little seeds and it's in a buckwheat family. Right?
It is a buckwheat. Yes. Right.
And so What what what's something you like to do with dock seeds?
Well, you know, dock seeds are an amazing thing. And when we're talking about great plants to know, certainly dock is really high on that list.
And as we're addressing, kind of survival conditions, it's really a great one to know for that because those seeds remain clinging to that plant throughout the wintertime.
So they're gonna be available for easy harvest.
So we can, in an emergency, one of the things that we really like to do is grind them into a meal or flour.
And, Doxid crackers oftentimes grace our table. They're so simple to make and, oftentimes, that flour will also make it into other dishes and muffins, in pie crust that we make, adding a little bit extra nutrition.
You know, they're really high in riboflavin and will help our bodies to assimilate vitamin c, more easily.
So I like to throw them into, my favorite batch of oatmeal cookies or, something, you know, a little bit, on the the I can more elaborate side, I guess you'd call it by, putting them into a pie crust.
Mhmm. And and you'll just have a a jar of these that you've picked. And when you want, you're making up a meal in the kitchen. You just open that jar and put a handful in.
I will. And I leave them whole, so that and because they grind up really well, you know, I use my blender a lot, probably for things that it wasn't meant to be used for.
Wait for one. Right.
So, you know, I'll just when I need them, I'll grind them up fresh. They they're not open to the air and having a chance to, you know, lose their nutrition.
But we'll just grind them up, throw them in the blender, grind them up into a meal or powder because they'll do that really easily, and then work them into, kinda as your favorite flour. So pancakes, muffins, crackers, you name it, they can be worked into that.
Wow. And, I should probably also mention with all this nutrition is that even in even in a lot of organic farms, the soils are being more and more stripped of their minerals.
And at least we can be assured that in our wild foods when you have vibrantly grown wild patch of something, that it's gonna it's gonna have all those vitamins, minerals, and for sure, you know?
Right. And if we combine that with a little bit of fermented foods that enable us enable our bodies to really make good use and, absorb all those nutrients, then, we have a double blessing there for certain.
Wow. You know, Carrie, we're definitely gonna have to have you back on the show.
There's so many things, aren't there?
It's exciting. There's so many things to talk about. It it's really endless.
It is endless, and that's why I like this because I just love the fact that I'm gonna be eighty years old, feel like I don't know anything and having fun with it.
You know what? I I feel the same way is that, every day is a learning experience. And sometimes, those things come from the most unexpected places.
I learned so much from my students that I have, and or they'll inspire me to think about going a different direction, and that's the greatest piece is that it is endless.
Always something new to explore.
And you definitely need to sign Kimberly and I up for that Solstice Wild Foods meal.
Oh, we would love to have you there.
That'll be We like to get that's kind of our one of our plant rituals, Kimberly and I, is to go to the Sherwood's house around Solstice to their wonderful gathering there.
And you can just look on the website there.
And speaking of the website speaking of the website, though Karen does and I should also mention, well, I will in a second.
But even though Karen does, there's a lot of day long experiences like elderberry wine, elderflower champagne, I'm on your website here, cheese making and a lot with see, Karen has a lot of baskets and various crafts, native crafts with cedar bark, cedar bark baskets and, it's it's amazing, the beautiful baskets that that she's made. And, and, those those day long those are even, like, herbal salves and lip balms, a lot of medicinal type stuff too, all the way to weekends where you fly in and I guess, what, you're flying on a Thursday.
Is it a Friday, Saturday, Sunday class? Or you're you're Usually, they're Friday, Saturday, Sunday so that Yeah.
People can, just kinda take a long weekend there.
And, yeah, our wild edibles kinda covers the weekend.
Although our seaweeds and coastal foraging is a little bit longer, and the tides really dictate what when it is we have that class. We do it around No.
I need to do that one again because you added the coastal foraging part. Right.
Yeah. We just they go hand in hand with the coastal foraging. We can't do one without the other.
So, we certainly do, enjoy all the gifts that the sea has to offer.
And and and I have to say, Karen, I have taken a lot of plant classes.
And the seaweed weekend on Lopez Island was, like, was the crown jewel of my favorite of all of them.
Well, you know what?
And I I think that that the gift of that those the islands bring to us really is the big piece of that too.
It's it's you go on island time and you go to the beautiful San Juan Islands and you harvest and you cook and get excited.
We eat a lot.
That's for certain.
And, and then, certainly try to folks try to make it out for a weekend sometime.
But also, but I suggest you just move here to the Northwest for a season or a few seasons and join up with the plant apprenticeship, program. And that goes from February to, like, fall or what?
February to October. We just finished.
In fact, last Wednesday, we finished our, our year with our students.
And, yeah, it's just really phenomenal how far that they get, in a year's time. We go seasonally. We start off in the spring and follow those plants from spring through summer and then into the fall of the year, watching them as they change and, you know, get to enjoy their many different faces.
And then we start off also with the tools of the gatherer in preparation for, our year of harvesting, and learning about the plants.
Lots of And I've been not mentioning that, and I've been meaning to hear that Earthwalk Northwest is, also about wilderness survival, skills.
And, Karen's husband Frank is just as Karen is an artisan and master expert in working with plants and and Frank is, the same when it comes to working on, primitive skills. And and whereas you teach, the basics, you know, your blow drill and shelter building and all, what you find at EarthLock, which I cannot find anywhere else is the real real fine tuning and artisan type of stuff when it comes to that, you know, from, the flint knapping to the tool making and, you know, the tanning and and once again, all hands on, from, I mean, who peep from a couple who has been living it for twenty five years. You know? I've been teaching and doing this for so long. So you that's why everybody's I gotta move out to the northwest.
You should. Right?
Come on Well, we we consider it pretty special out here, don't we?
Yeah. I I you know, and I'm from New Jersey. You lived in New Jersey. And you notice anyone listening here that none of us either of us are in New Jersey.
Kinda says it all, doesn't it?
That pretty much says it. It was a great place to grow up.
Oh, well, you know, I think the Northwest offers so many gifts for us, that, it's you know, we spend a lifetime exploring them.
Exactly.
And so, well, I just want to take this time to take this opportunity to thank you so much for spending this hour with us and sharing some of your amazing creative ideas and working with plants and wisdom on how to learn and and wild crafting and all that sort of thing. And I just hope this is the, beginning of more conversations. And maybe I'll get to bring my camera out to a day long class, and you can see Karen in action online, that would be fun.
No.
That would be There's all kinds of crazes.
My pleasure to do that.
Oh, well, thank you. And I I have had so much fun chatting with you, John. And, you know, I hope that, people who are listening today are inspired to go out and explore their own backyards, whatever size that may be. And, visit your website and get those recipes and really get some hands on experience with the plants, because truly, miracles are created.
And I know that everyone will experience that when, they end up bringing, the those wild foods into their daily lives.
Thank you. And before I'm gonna hit, the end recording here in a second and stay on the line.
Don't hang up. But I just want to again mention, you can find out about Earthwalk Northwest at earthwalknorthwest.com. And, in case you just got this MP3 recording randomly on the Internet somewhere and you find out about us at LearningHerbs.com as well as HerbMentor.com. So, thanks again, Karen, and, and thanks everyone for listening and for our first exciting edition of Herb Mentor Radio.
Okay. Have a good day, everyone.
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