Wild Foods Workshop

Our adventurer in residence Colleen will walk you through a complete guide to harvesting shellfish sustainably: indigenous history of the region, environmental concerns, how to prepare, transport and store your haul. There’s an oyster shucking mini session, and we’ll forage in the forest as well. We’ll prepare lunch on the beach with what we find.

We will provide an estimated location the Wednesday before the event and a final location the Friday before. Shellfish foraging depends on a lot of variables that are hard to predict in advance: the tide, water quality conditions, weather. We want to provide you with a good experience and have you not get skunked, so we will have to be location flexible. You may have to walk/hike up to a mile into the beach. We suggest packing what you think would make you comfortable on a PNW beach in variable conditions: a warm drink in a thermos, layers, maybe a lightweight camp chair. 

We do provide a carpool meetup at Gearhouse at 9am if you don't drive. 

We meet at the beach at 11am. Colleen will have a Gearhouse hat and/or a sandwich board. We will begin the lesson around 11:30: indigenous history of the region, clam and oyster ecology, technique, interpreting signs and tracks on the beach. After the harvest, we will cook the clams, and shuck the oysters. 

Lunch is included, but there's several important things to keep in mind. We cook our finds, so it's entirely dependent on what's there. We cook our bread in a dutch oven over the fire, so it might get scorched! If this is too stressful for you, consider packing your own lunch, or at least some heavy snacks. 

An unexpected essential for beach foraging is WATER. We will be on a beach for several hours, and it's a very dehydrating environment. Pack water as if you were going for a long hike.

Foraging means being responsive to the environment, and it's hard to set a hard and fast schedule. It's likely we will go foraging in the forest at some point. We may do animal tracking. There may be wildlife that we observe and whose behavior we interpret. Plan for spontaneity. Wear shoes you don't mind getting dirty.

Bring: net bag (large enough to carry several pounds of shellfish), shellfish permit, waterproof shoes that go above your ankle, a small rake (like from a gardening store), shucking knife, towel. You will also want to bring something like a cooler to bring home anything you decide to bring home.  This place will get you set up right:  https://www.seamar.com/products

Shoot hello@joingearhouse.com an email if you have any questions