Fall Foraging Walk and Workshop: Boost Your Immune System! 

This fall foraging workshop is intended for beginning foragers ages 6 to adult or anyone interested in learning how to safely identify various wild edibles (including coniferous trees!) that may help boost your immune system as temperatures begin to drop.  

If you are curious about how curly dock seeds can be ground into nutrient-dense “flour” or how dandelion roots can be roasted and brewed into a mildly diuretic “coffee,” then this workshop is for you. Or, if you’ve ever looked up at majestic Eastern White Pines growing in the woods behind your house and thought about making a vitamin C-packed tea or how to impress your friends over the holidays by making pine cookies, then please join us. I’ll also explain how “pesky” weeds can be made into first aid salves that may help relieve bug bite and poison ivy symptoms and how ripe elderberries can be made into antioxidant-rich syrup.

Karen will discuss the nutritional and medicinal value of the wild edibles we find, explain various ways to prepare and preserve them, and share a few wild edible recipes she’s developed over the past few years. 

The workshop will be split into two parts: foraging and eating. The first half will be spent outside foraging around the east side of The Wayside Inn’s grounds, including sections of the Innkeeper’s Loop and Carding Mill Pond. The second half will be spent indoors, in the Ford Room, enjoying piping hot cups of pine needle tea*and tasty pine cookies. Each participant will be given a bag of pine needle tea to enjoy at home, handouts, and original recipes.

Because the weather in New England can be very unpredictable, please dress in layers and wear comfortable walking shoes or boots. Be sure to bring bug spray. To help you document what you’ve seen or learned, bring a camera, a notepad, and a paper or cloth bag to collect samples. 

Current COVID-19 protocols will be followed. Wearing masks indoors is optional but greatly appreciated. 

Karen will have blank, photograph greeting cards, pine needle tea, first aid salve, beach plum jelly, and elderberry syrup for sale at the end of the workshop. A portion of the proceeds will benefit The Wayside Inn Foundation. 

*Drinking pine needle tea is not recommended for participants who are pregnant or nursing. Consult your physician before consuming any new herbal supplements.

Registration is limited to 15 participants. Children ages 6-12 must be accompanied by and adult.

Karen B. Bento is a Library School Teacher, avid gardener, recipe developer, forager, and freelance writer and photographer whose work has been included in local Edible Communities publications (Edible Boston, Edible Worcester, and Edible Cape Cod). Her love of foraging and creating recipes incorporating the wild edibles she finds has helped elevate her home cooking experience and has made for some very lively discussions around the dinner table.  

She can be reached at karenskindredspirit@gmail.com, or you can follow her on Instagram @karenskindredspirit. 

Register Now!