Fox Haven Foragers: Plant Friends and Foes

Join Holly Poole-Kavana and delve into the complexity of what it means for something to be edible or toxic – and the much bigger in-between! We’ll draw on Holly’s love of botany to identify plant families and begin to parse out  plants that are friends and plants that are foes. After lunch we’ll meet some wild nutritive plants that will be used to create nourishing vinegars.

Holly Poole-Kavana is a botanist and herbalist practicing in Washington, DC. She is a lifelong plant enthusiast and has a bachelor’s degree in botany. In 2005 she shifted her focus to herbal medicine and studied with a series of experienced herbalists in the classroom, clinic, and outdoors. Since 2010 she has operates Little Red Bird Botanicals, a small business that provides individual herbal consultations, an herbal CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), locally-grown herbal products, and education. Holly also works as a birth assistant and labor doula.

February 9th Lacey Walker and Taylor Roman of Fox Haven Tending the Wild March 9th Chris Ousse of Sundown Herbs Willow, Witch Hazel and Walnut April 13th Holly Poole-Kavana of Little Red Bird Botanicals Friends and Foes May 11th Katelyn Jarkowiec of Hey Thanks Herbal Co. Herbal First Aid June 8th Nick Spero, Wild Forager Cattails and Milkweed July 13th Lacey Walker and Taylor Roman of Fox Haven Botanical Brews August 10th Lincoln Smith of Forested Fruit at Forested * September 28th Lacey Walker and Taylor Roman of Fox Haven Paw Paw Haul October 12th Samantha Feld of The Mushroomworks Maitake Mountain * November 9th Lacey Walker and Taylor Roman of Fox Haven Propagation: Seeds and Divisions

*Classes will be held at a location outside of Fox Haven

Fermenting wild Wineberries, tincturing wild Yarrow, saucing Autumn Olive, plucking ripe Paw Paw, frying up Maitake, propagating and stewarding wild species and so much more will be explored this year!

Join us for the fourth year of Fox Haven Foragers. We’ll visit some of our old favorites like Milkweed, Paw Paw, Goldenrod, Cattail, Jewelweed and Motherwort and we’ll introduce some new species to our forage like Witch Hazel, Japanese Barberry, Sumac and Aronia.

Each Foragers class will include plant ID and foraging and processing the season’s bounty with local guides from diverse backgrounds and skill-sets. Class runs from 11am to 3 pm. For the first 2-3 hours class will be held in the field, gathering plants and learning botany skills. After a quick picnic lunch the last hour is spent processing and preparing the harvest into a tasty meal or a take-home medicinal.