maple celebration & open House
Maple celebration & open house
Saturday, March 23 11-2pm
Location: 507 ch. Shouldice, Wakefield, QC
The tapping of the maple trees is a special time of year that marks the beginning of the foraging year. After a short work bee to get the sap collected and boiling, a ceremonial firelighting with a bowdrill, Join us for a delicious brunch of acorn pancakes, farm fresh eggs, organic bacon, coffee, chaga tea or chai, and more. Followed by a fireside celebration of Maple through song, stories, and gratitude. Check out our dirt cheap sugaring set-up, and learn about how to get down to maple sugar. Some people use it as their only sugar all year long, and this was the main objective of Algonquin sugaring, as it is easier to store than syrup.
Take some half-syrup home to finish on your stove, or stay a bit longer and help us inoculate our mushroom logs for shitakis and crack some acorns for the next batch of acorn flour.
Suggested donation: $25 adults, $15 children
We will have brochures available and we will be fielding questions about our upcoming programs and events such as:
Register by Thursday, March 21, 2024
wild foods, drinks, and more
Can I eat this? The answer may be yes, and it might be delicious and incredibly healthy! It might also make a wonderful drink, or funky fermentation. or great flavouring.
Eating and drinking is such a fundamental part of being human, and realizing that food is all around us is a wonderful connection to nature.
Our foraging courses range from every day staples to the gourmet and the surprising! Currently, we are offering a spring series of classes and a fall series of classes, as well as 6hr intensives throughout spring and fall.
In addition to courses, we are pleased to offer a taste of what we are experimenting and cooking with at our sister business,
Ixim Cafe + Bistro @ 727 ch Riverside, Wakefield, QC.
Each week, we host a Wildharvest Dinner, and we have delicious Wildcrafted Sodas, Cocktails and Mocktails!
We look forward to eating with you!
see Upcoming Courses
Fall foraging
Describe your image
Sunday Sept. 29, Sunday Oct. 13. 2024
Time: 1-4PM
Location: 507 Ch Shouldice, Wakefield, QC
$60 for individual classes
(Course fee includes all course materials and take home projects)
Details:
Late summer and fall in our area offers some unique and delicious wild fruits, nuts and roots. (There are a certain amount of greens still available too!) Many of them need a certain amount of processing, time, and work to understanding of what their gifts are. The results, however, are exceptional and definitely worth the effort! Processing food in community touches our ancestral longings, and traditionally, all food processing, from bison to acorns, was done together.
Sunday Sept. 29: Black Walnuts, Butternuts, and Acorns
When I think of wild foods that are completely unique, and far outshine their grocery store counterparts, Black walnuts and butternuts come to mind. They burst with flavour and have so many culinary uses. It is some work to extract, (unless you’re a squirrel), but once you know, you can’t turn back. The rest of the class we'll be collecting and processing acorns. This is a rich food source, but it takes some processing. We'll look at the absolutely easiest ways to do this, and you can take some home to finish into delicious and nutritious acorn flour or grits.
Sunday Oct 6: Apples, berries, roots
Time to dig out the berries and wild plums from the freezer, the wild apples from the fridge, and see what else is still out there on the land. We'll do a bit of wandering foraging, but this class will mostly be about processing We'll make apple cider, apple jelly, elderberry and chokecherry syrups, and look at other possibilities such as drying, more savoury products, such as umami plum sauce, and finally dig out a few roots that are good at this time of the year. We'll look at a few tools to help process wild foods, from very simple and cheap to more elaborate. You'l go home with jars of delicious products, and lots of inspiration for next year's harvest.
Register Now
wild herbal and mushroom medicine
These fields, hills, and forests are full of powerful medicines and health enhancers. This is great news! For while I am very grateful to live in a country with public health care, it is stretched to its limit, and has many blindspots in the care of the human being.
Enter plant and mushroom medicine. It is freely given to all in a generous way. The Haudenausenee, (Iroquois) idea is that plants are still following their "original instructions" to help and serve all other beings. (from the Haudenausenee thanksgiving address). Another idea that I love is that we are somehow trained to believe that the best herbal medicines are from far away, like the Amazon or India. Meanwhile, Anishnaabe herbalist Joe Pitawanakwat claims that the plant medicines of the Great Lakes basin are some of the most powerful and safest in the world, and that Anishnaabe medicine people were sought for their medicines and wisdom across the ancient North American world.
There is more! Rivers and Roots programming prioritizes connection to nature and to place. This is particularly poignant with foraged medicines. First, there is the walk outside to go gather medicines. This is good medicine. When the plant or mushroom is found, there is joy, reverence and gratitude. This is good medicine. Perhaps a little prayer or offering is given for the harvest. This is good medicine. At home, the plant or mushroom is mindfully processed and time and intention is spent in its preparation. This is good medicine. The resulting tea, tincture or other extract is so much more than the herbal remedies from Walmart or even the local health food store!
We look forward to helping empower you in your health strategy through a strong relationship with nature!
nature skills series
Duration 2-3 hrs
Location: TBA
Cost: $40 or PWYC
Description:
This monthly series is designed for any outdoor nature enthusiast, but especially for those that have others in their care, such as outdoor educators, forest pre-school teachers, guides, and even friends and family in wilderness situations. The topics are informed by decades of nature education work, and seeing what works really well, and also what people tend to struggle with. For example, fire tending and starting when it is cold and wet is a challenge, but that is just when you and those in your care need it most! Here is the list so far, and if you don't see the topic that you're interested in, shoot us an email or phone call! We may be able to hook you up!
Carving and Knife Care 1: (Sat. Apr. 15, 1-3:30PM) Join us to learn some basic carving techniques and safety, some basic knife care and sharpening technique, and work on carving a cedar spoon with a coal burned bowl, (or other project of your choice)
Future topics and workshops on demand
-Tracking 101: Join us for our introductory tracking class, including an indoor slide show and walk in the woods, focusing on how to hone your tracking skills, use the best resources in print and online, and follow your curiosity and deepen your relationship with nature.
-Art of Fire 1: Join us for a primer on fire making and tending when it is wet and cold. We will look at building and maintaining fire for a group at a campfire setting with stacked firewood and an axe. We will then take a jaunt in the woods and look at making fire in a more wilderness setting, with the scenario of having a folding saw, and the scenario of not having one.
- Art of Fire 2: Prometheus and Coyote: the creation of fire: For the fire-spirit-connected, an introduction to coaxing a flame directly from the Earth Mother. Bowdrill, handrill, and flint and steel (or iron).
- Knots, ropes and tarps: Four or five basic knots will do just about everything you will ever need to do in the wild. Learn also about quick tarp shelters and set-up, so when the thunderstorm threatens, you know exactly what to do!
- Nature Stories and Songs for working with children:
- Nature fibres and bendy sticks: Many cool options for nature fibres and wythies (bendy sticks) for simple projects. Learn basic string and rope making, or "cordage". (advanced techniques available for the more experienced)
- Fishing 101
Classes available on demand at your location!
Request a topic! We can probably accommodate
gifts of the land:
Full day workshops
Foraging, Medicines & Bushcraft
Jump to detailed course descriptions by month:
Description: These weekend workshops are designed for both the casual learner and our dedicated apprentices. We will be immersing ourselves in the abundant gifts of nature, from the cornucopia of wild flavours of plants and mushrooms to the generous and effective wild medicines all around us. We go way beyond "survival" into both gourmet and everyday cooking and preparation, fermented foods and drinks, and various herbal medicine techniques and strategies.
Our deep dive into the gifts of the land also include a taste of the arts, crafts, and tool-making that are integral to all earth-based cultures. We loosely use the term "bushcraft" for such endeavours as basket-making, birchbark canoe building, plant dyeing and plant fibre processing, friction fire kits, wood bows, etc. that further our understanding and appreciation of the land.
In general, the weekends will concentrate more on wildfoods on the Saturday, and more on bushcraft on the Sundays, with wild medicines featured on both days.
Flexible Format: Full Weekend, Saturday or Sunday
Workshops take place at our homestead on the fourth weekend of the month, beginning October 22, 2022.
Choose what option you desire and fits into your schedule!
Full Weekend:
For a full nature immersion experience and rewilding, spend a full weekend with us! Come Friday night or Saturday morning and stay overnight tenting or rent our cabin or basement apt. if available. ($25/night and apprentice program participants get first dibs on the indoor sleeping spaces).
Cost: $180/weekend or sign up for all of them for $1400. Consider signing up for the Year Long Apprenticeship, which includes all these weekends, plus a canoe trip, summer courses, wild harvest dinners, personal mentoring and land assessment, and much more!
Saturday Only: 10am-5pm, with the option of staying for a potluck dinner, outdoor fire, and music, storytelling, and further activities. Some weekends may coincide with our Wild Harvest Dinners (additional cost and registration required) and include special guest speakers and/or musicians.
Cost: $100/ Saturday, $750 for all 8 Saturdays
Sunday Only: 10am-4pm
Cost: $85/Sunday, $650 for all 8
GIFTS OF THE LAND WORKSHOPS 2022-2023
Nature's Palette
sunday, octobre 29
a celebration of trees
saturday, january 21
Black walnuts processing, cooking with acorns, herbal bitters, wild wonderful cocktails and mocktails, storytelling and winter stars,
storytelling and crafts
sunday, January 22
Cedar medicine, "arthritis salve" part 2, mini birchbark canoe and birchbark canoe preparation, snowshoeing, herbalism, stories
symbiosis: birch and chaga
saturday, feb 25, 2023
Tree and fungus medicine, snowshoeing, tracking animals, focus on finding and processing chaga, birchbark canoe building
birchbark canoe build
sunday, feb 26, 2023
birchbark canoe building, birchbark baskets, Algonquin culture and teachings, (guest teacher if possible)
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maple syrup/ basketry
saturday, march 25, 2023
a celebration of maple: syrup, sugar, lore and history, simple birch sap collection baskets (makaks), mushroom cultivation,
maple syrup cookout
sunday, march 26, 2023
Maple cookout continued, carving project around the fire, herbal medicine,
early spring foraging
saturday, april 22, 2023
Early spring wild edibles, birch sap, coltsfoot medicine, balsam poplar medicine, celebration of spring
willow shoot baskets & more
sunday, april 23, 2023
Wiilow crafting and medicine, preparing the land for wild "gardening" and mushroom propogation, exploring wild
spring fever: forage and feast
saturday, may 27, 2023
Wild Spring foods of May, with wild salads, drinks, desserts, and dandelion wine.
spring medicine and crafts
sunday, may 28, 2023
Medicines: plantain, dandelion, yarrow and tree barks for skin care baths, fibres, and baskets, spring mushrooms
solstice: forage and feast
saturday, june 24, 2023
Height of Spring! Many wild foods, rose petal medicine, solstice, celebration
solstice: medicines & crafts
sunday, june 25, 2023
Herbal medicines of June, summer mushrooms, bark basket and basswood fibres, plant folklore, magic and spirit
honouring the harvest: Acorns and more & Weaving, Natural Dyes, and Human Alchemy
Sat. Oct. 29, 10-4:30PM, optional evening)
Sun. Oct. 30, 10-4PM
Location: 507 Ch. Shouldice, Wakefield, QC
Cost: Full Weekend: $180, Saturday only: $90, Sunday only: $90 (Subsidies and worktrade available: please inquire. No one is turned away for lack of funds)
Honouring the Harvest (Saturday 29): As we contemplate healthy, calorie dense and delicious foods to keep us through winter, our attention turns to the incredible potential of the humble acorn as a potential staple food. We’ll also dig into my stash of wild plums to make an amazing jelly/sauce. Our nature walk will include a last chance to collect balsam and spruce sap, and who knows what else? We'll finish the day with a bit of acorn baked goods, some pork filet and wild plum sauce, and some 2021 Elderberry wine. Bonuses: take home some acorn flour and wild plum sauce! (If there is time and interest, we may touch on fall and winter mushrooms to look out for, and simple wild vinegar making in your kitchen)
Weaving, Natural Dyes, and Human Alchemy (Sunday 30): Alchemy, Weaving, and Transformation! The changing leaves reminds us of nature’s incredible palette of colours, and we will look at the huge world of natural dyes from plants, mushrooms, and lichens as well as hemlock bark natural woodstain. Our nature walk will also emphasize some of the fire making potential of the land, and some of the fibres that the land offers at this time. We will aim to use the dyes to start a unique choose-your-own-project, such as a knitted scarf, hand woven belt, or simply a naturally dyed cotton t-shirt. Other craft projects may include simple woven baskets.
Winter's Apothecary/nature gifts
Sat. Nov.26, 10-4PM,
Sun. Nov. 27, 10-4PM
Location: 507 Ch. Shouldice, Wakefield, QC
Cost: Full Weekend: $170, Saturday only: $90 Sunday only: $90
Details:
The land turns to melancholy shades and the first snows transform the landscape. Our attention turns to the coming months. Medicines are made to stay healthy, and to cure illness in case we or our loved ones do get sick. We also look to the coming month of December and get ready for gatherings with family and friends with wild food recipes and nature-based gifts such as homemade moisturizing creams and cattail angels!
Saturday 26: Winter's Apothecary: Forest Wizards and Witches guide to Winter health and well-being. Never get sick! (and if you do, get better quickly!) Our local forests and fields are full of the Earth's billion year biochemistry extravaganza, ready to help you and your family in ways that the pharmaceutical industry doesn't want you to know about! Join us for a wonderful day of learning and crafting and bring home powerful medicines and knowledge to keep you healthy throughout the winter and beyond:
-
make delicious and effective elderberry syrup, proven to cut the average viral flu length in half!
-
learn about and begin to make Anishnaabe arthritis salve, (as taught by Joe Pitawanakwat, good for arthritis, aches and pains, sores, etc, etc.)
-
learn to bask in the protection of evergreen trees, including saps and salves, smoke medicine, steam inhalations, and make the Rivers and Roots "Winterdreams" tea to take home.
-
Mushroom Medicine! The world of mushrooms has all sort of magic that is distinct from the plant world. For example, mushrooms tend to have an immune system modulating effect, meaning that they stimulate and strengthen the immune system, unless it is overactive (eg: inflammation), in which case they have the intelligence to dampen the overactive immune response. Amazing! Make a dual extracted mushroom immunity medicine, and take a walk in the woods to see most of these incredible medicines at home in our local woods!
(Option to just come for the afternoon for the medicinal mushroom workshop)
Sunday 27: Nature's Gifts: The best gifts are hand-made AND from nature! As the season of harvest more or less draws to a close, we turn our attention to each other for celebration and gift-giving and transform the bounty of the year's harvest into gifts of beauty, self care, and celebration.
Spend the day with us making a gift basket with delightful gifts of nature, directly from our fields, forests, and wetlands. End the day with a seasonal basket of spruce/pine lipbalm, a luscious natural hand/facecream, a bag of Rivers and Roots delicious and healing Winterdreams tea, the incredible cattail angel, and perhaps a few knicknacks such as smudge sticks, and birchbark Christmas ornaments. As always, we will take a nature walk, and do a minor harvest while reconnecting to the Earth and ourselves.
Winter's Apothecary/nature gifts
Sat. Nov.26, 10-4PM,
Sun. Nov. 27, 10-4PM
Location: 507 Ch. Shouldice, Wakefield, QC
Cost: Full Weekend: $170, Saturday only: $90 Sunday only: $90
Details:
The land turns to melancholy shades and the first snows transform the landscape. Our attention turns to the coming months. Medicines are made to stay healthy, and to cure illness in case we or our loved ones do get sick. We also look to the coming month of December and get ready for gatherings with family and friends with wild food recipes and nature-based gifts such as homemade moisturizing creams and cattail angels!
Saturday 26: Winter's Apothecary: Forest Wizards and Witches guide to Winter health and well-being. Never get sick! (and if you do, get better quickly!) Our local forests and fields are full of the Earth's billion year biochemistry extravaganza, ready to help you and your family in ways that the pharmaceutical industry doesn't want you to know about! Join us for a wonderful day of learning and crafting and bring home powerful medicines and knowledge to keep you healthy throughout the winter and beyond:
-
make delicious and effective elderberry syrup, proven to cut the average viral flu length in half!
-
learn about and begin to make Anishnaabe arthritis salve, (as taught by Joe Pitawanakwat, good for arthritis, aches and pains, sores, etc, etc.)
-
learn to bask in the protection of evergreen trees, including saps and salves, smoke medicine, steam inhalations, and make the Rivers and Roots "Winterdreams" tea to take home.
-
Mushroom Medicine! The world of mushrooms has all sort of magic that is distinct from the plant world. For example, mushrooms tend to have an immune system modulating effect, meaning that they stimulate and strengthen the immune system, unless it is overactive (eg: inflammation), in which case they have the intelligence to dampen the overactive immune response. Amazing! Make a dual extracted mushroom immunity medicine, and take a walk in the woods to see most of these incredible medicines at home in our local woods!
(Option to just come for the afternoon for the medicinal mushroom workshop)
Sunday 27: Nature's Gifts: The best gifts are hand-made AND from nature! As the season of harvest more or less draws to a close, we turn our attention to each other for celebration and gift-giving and transform the bounty of the year's harvest into gifts of beauty, self care, and celebration.
Spend the day with us making a gift basket with delightful gifts of nature, directly from our fields, forests, and wetlands. End the day with a seasonal basket of spruce/pine lipbalm, a luscious natural hand/facecream, a bag of Rivers and Roots delicious and healing Winterdreams tea, the incredible cattail angel, and perhaps a few knicknacks such as smudge sticks, and birchbark Christmas ornaments. As always, we will take a nature walk, and do a minor harvest while reconnecting to the Earth and ourselves.