On January 27th over 10 brave souls earned their Hard Core Wild Food Foraging badges. Half the class had cancelled due to the torrential rain we were getting, but these folks braved it all. Shuttling back and forth with a friends 4-wheel drive, we got all the cars out of the muddy one mile driveway….except mine! We shared a fire, talked about wild food plants of the Santa Monica Mountains, and processed California buckwheat and toyon berries. Then we enjoyed a delicious feast of wild nettle/dandelion/spinach spanakopita, wild amaranth pesto, local meats, California buckwheat pancakes with raw buttermilk and butter we made ourselves, flaxseed crackers, toyon fruit leather, toyon magic balls, macademia nuts, acorn cookies, teas and juices.

Over 75% of this meal was made using locally grown or gathered ingredients. The California buckwheat pancake recipe can be found under the ‘Buckwheat Buzz’ post below. Please check back to see the remaining recipes posted.