The Cascadia Ethnobotany Study Group
2008
The Cascadia ethnobotany club provides a
place where people of all skill levels can come together to
practice and share our knowledge of the uses of the plants
within the Cascadia bioregion.
Our meetings consist of field trips to various locations around
and in the Portland area. We will be drawing from the various
disciplines of botany, ecology, native american lore, and
wilderness survival to pursue the following objectives:
- to increase our knowledge of the edibility and other uses
of plants in the Cascadia bioregion
- to explore various locations and habitats to see what
the plants are in each that might sustain us, and to learn
which areas might sustain us the easiest
- to explore how to harvest plants efficiently and how best
to process and cook them
- to increase the health of the communities we visit
We will be harvesting food as we wander along, and (hopefully)
at the end of the day we will be able to take what we’ve
found and cook up a tasty dinner.
In order to provide a space where everybody
can both learn and share their own knowledge, outings will
be in the style of a club, not a class. People of all skill
levels are welcome, but come expecting to take charge of your
own learning.
No registration is necessary; just show up
when you want to come.
Field Trip Schedule
We will be meeting twice a month, on the second Saturday
and on the fourth Friday of each month. Saturday gatherings
will be day-long trips, meeting at 9:00 to carpool from the
Cascadia Wild office at 3945 SE Hawthorne. Friday gatherings
will be in the evenings beginning at 5:00 and be somewhere
within the Portland area.
The schedule is still somewhat of a work in progress, and
there are no gurantees that we will find what we are looking
for. The fun is in the exploring!
April 25th: Oaks Bottom. In addition to
identifying and collecting wild spring greens, we will also
spend some time talking about what it means to harvest sustainably,
and will also finalize our schedule for the summer. Meeting
place is at the Oaks Bottom parking lot on the 5000 block
of SE Milwaukie, on the west side of the street. It's a smallish
parking lot, but is clearly marked.
May 10: Salmon River (near ZigZag). Explore
what plants would be available to eat if we needed to survive
in a low elevation Douglas-fir habitat like this one. There
should be spring greens such as oxalis, miners lettuce, and
fiddleheads available now; and maybe Devils club and Oregon
grape for medicine.
May 23: Alleyways and open spaces in Portland,
location TBA. In addition to identifying and collecting spring
greens, we will also spend some time talking about how to
be stewards of these areas.
June 14: Sauvie’s Island. Scouting
for wapato for fall, collecting cattail pollen, and exploring
the area for whatever else we see.
June 27: Alleyways and open spaces in Portland,
location TBA. Tentative focus - grass seed.
July 12: Berries: thimbleberries, blackberries,
blackcap raspberries, currants, etc.; Estacada Ranger District.
We’re not sure yet where the clearcuts are, so unless
someone can tell us a good spot, we’re heading to Estacada
and driving down the logging roads until we find something.
July 25: Alleyways and open spaces in Portland,
location TBA. Tentative focus - figs?? Himalaya blackberries??
Aug 9: Grasshoppers; location TBA. We’ve
read that you build a fire and let it burn down to coals,
and then have everyone form a large ring around it and chase
the grasshoppers in.
Aug 22: Alleyways and open spaces in Portland.
Old apple orchard at the Children’s arboretum
Sept 13: Timberline Road for huckleberries.
Sept 26: Acorn processing. Bring what you’ve
collected and we’ll share methods and stories.
Oct 11: Mushrooms. Location TBA.
Oct 24: Alleyways and open spaces in Portland,
location TBA. Topic - mushrooms.
Nov 8: Wapato at Sauvies Island. Yes, we
will be wading barefoot in the swamps in Nov.
Nov 28: Meat preservation discussion and
show and tell.
Contact:
For more info, please contact Cascadia Wild.
(503) 235-9533
info@cascadiawild.org
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