Classes
In-person Wild Blessings classes will start Saturday, May 27 and are scheduled each weekend through October 28. Check below for the type of classes that are offered each week and click on a link provided to sign up. RSVP and payment is required at least 3 days prior to each event. Patreon members are offered a discount.
• Teaching Tuesdays
• Plant Walks
• Befriending Plants
• Forage to Feast
• Special Events
(Click on calendar to enlarge)
Teaching Tuesdays
A free video class provided each week online following nature’s wave. At 8pm EST Holly presents a class often focusing on one in-season plant and an update on what is available in God’s grocery stores this week.
When: Every Tuesday, free online, 8 PM (EST)
Where: Facebook: Wild Blessings w/ Holly Drake (a private group, request to join) or Wild Blessings YouTube channel.
Classes May & June
May 23 – Knowing Poison Ivy
May 30 – Befriending Plants
June 6 – Lambsquarter
June 13 – Elder
June 20 – Edible Flowers part two
June 27 – Poisonous Plant Ponderings
Foraging Adventures
Foraging for wild edible plants is always a surprise of discovery, delight and abundance. We’ll learn about whatever is on nature’s shelves and cook up a few wild dishes to enjoy. Recipes and handouts provided. Learn by doing! Foraging scratches the shopping itch to get ‘deals’!
Cost: $50/person – $25 for Wild Blessings Patreon members
Who: People who want to hone their skills in foraging
What: You will learn the rules of sustainable foraging, tips on gathering, garbling, preserving and preparing the wild harvest in each season.
On the Calendar
• Saturday, April 29, 9 AM – SIGN UP
• Saturday, May 27
• Saturday, June
• Saturday, July
Where: Details will be provided on the event sign up page.
Plant Walks
With food prices soaring, it is time to Forage! Ever wonder what wild riches lie all around you waiting to be discovered and valued as they have been for centuries past? I can help you! Join me for a plant walk to discover what is in God’s grocery stores. Knowing plants in all their life cycles, learning which parts to gather and how to prepare them for food and medicine is a skill that you can cultivate. Learn to SEE what is waiting to be a wild blessing to you!
I will be featuring many wild edible plants that likely grow near you or in your yard. You will learn to recognize them by careful observation, and fun introduction methods to help you remember each plant and learn how to harvest and use each of them for food and healing. We will enjoy a wild tea and snack together.
Wild Blessings Plant Walks will be held twice a month on Thursday evenings throughout the Summer at various locations.
Classes fill quickly. Sign up now to reserve your spot. Reservations are required and class sizes are limited. Pay in advance through PayPal, Venmo, or direct arrangement by contacting Holly Drake at 828-406-8241.
On the Calendar (click on the date below for more info)
When:
• Thursday, June 29
Where: Details will be provided on the event sign up page. Click on the date shown for event information
Befriending Plants Intensive
Plant Intensives are held on the last Saturday morning of each month from 9-Noon.
Where: At Holly’s house – 279 Deer Crossing, Todd, NC 28684
What: This is an in-person gathering where we celebrate one plant (some of my green allies) to get to know it utilizing all of our senses. Experiencing each plant through observation, learning, writing, drawing, story telling, poetry writing and then herbing around with it to make a fitting herbal preparation and a few wild recipes featuring our star plant.
We will spend the first hour foraging for our featured plant, the next hour herbing around with it and the 3rd hour learning about it’s multifaceted gifts.
Who: People who really want to make the green world their grocery store and medicine chest. This is an investment to take your herbal learning to a whole new depth.
Cost: $50 general admission $25 Patreon members (please pay via PayPal, Venmo in advance, at hollydrake56@gmail.com)
Handouts with recipes and preparations for the featured plant will be provided. By the end of a season of this in person herbal intensive you will have learned the basic herbal preparations, lots of wild cooking tips and started to build your own herbal monographs, and personal apothecary.
On the Calendar
When:
• Saturday, May 27 – Intro class (free)
• Saturday, June 3 – Befriending Comfrey
• Saturday, July 1 – Befriending Red Clover
• Saturday, August 5 – TBA
Where: Meet at the parking lot of the Mercantile in Todd, NC, followed by additional driving to local sites.
Foraging and Feasting
I am a wild foods chef and have offered many wild food feasts where the guests come to learn, forage for wild edibles, and cook a meal together. The cuisine is sometimes Asian, Greek, Italian, Mexican and Indian or just seasonal. All non-wild ingredients are organic, farm fresh and increasingly gluten free. Meats are grass finished, happy animals from local farms or local game. Here is a blog showing what Wild Blessings Forage to Feasts have looked like over the many years of hosting them.
Cost: $85/person – $125/person (depending on location) – $45 for Wild Blessings Patreon members
Who: Class size is limited to 10 people. A waiting list will be kept to fill any cancellations.
What: A forage to dining experience. Foraging, Cooking and Eating together
Sign up now to reserve your spot minimum of 3 days before event. Reservations are required and class sizes are limited. Pay in advance through PayPal, Venmo, or direct arrangement by contacting Holly Drake at 828-406-8241.
On the Calendar
When: to be announced
Where: Patterson School Foundation, Lenoir, NC
