Silverton, Oregon. This 21th Annual GingerRoot Rendezvous is an intensive on the role and use of edible wild plants in everyday life, recreational foraging, re-connecting with nature, self-reliance, and survival.
$415, See details for discounts.
A multi-day, hands-on wild food adventure and teach-in, learning natural wonders in the context of current realities. We have access to forest wilderness, woodlands, swamps, grasslands, farmland, fallow fields, rivers, lakes, and more. We travel to a variety of habitats learning about and gathering plants. Gain a realistic vision and practical experience on the roles that wild foods play in diet, recreational foraging, self-reliance, and survival. We’ll cover how wild foods can be incorporated into the everyday diet of those looking for a more simple, sustainable way of living and expanding their nutritive options. We’ll cover how the people from all over the world made a living off the land as well as the roles wild foods can play in modern life. Technical details are below. See a short video explaining the overall plan and what we are trying to accomplish here. Discounts for early registration below!
Foods gathered. Photo by Jeff Lawton.
John teaching about elderbow. Photo by Starr Wilson.
To help participants understand the roles that wild foods can play in recreation, adding foods to the everyday diet, self-reliance and survival; to provide hands on experience with some of the most important plants and processes that could be used in those situations; to provide the opportunity for participants to share and learn from each other regarding their cumulative experiences with wild foods; to promote a sustainable harvest mentality with a strong support of protecting and respecting green and wild places; to directly address the great mass of misinformation found in the popular literature and the internet; and to have fun, make friends, and connect with people who are interested in the same kinds of things.
We want this to be a fun and educational outdoor experience and adventure. We expect everyone to be friendly, respectful, encouraging of others, and open minded. Leave bad attitudes at home. You are welcome to be a lone wolf or be as social as you feel comfortable – as long as you are respectful to others and do your part to make the event successful. We will be together a lot of the time so take the opportunity to get to know people and make friends.
Everyone attending will share their knowledge, ideas, methods, and wisdom based on their own experiences. Participant skill levels will range from beginner to advanced. All input will be respected as personal experience to be learned from. The main instructor and moderator is Dr. John Kallas, Director of Wild Food Adventures. Dr. Kallas has a Ph.D. in nutrition and a Masters in education. He is a trained botanist, nature photographer, writer, researcher, and teacher. John has researched edible wild plants since 1970 and taught in colleges, universities, outdoor skill conferences, and to the general public since 1978. He has taught and trained thousands of people in wild foods from all over North America, and given hundreds of wild food presentations to a variety of groups. Dr. Kallas founded the Wild Food Adventures outdoor school in 1993, edited the Wild Food Adventurer newsletter from 1996 to 2006, and published Volumes 1 and 2 of the Wild Food Adventures Book Series; Edible Wild Plants: Wild Foods from Dirt to Plate in 2010, and Edible Wild plants: Wild Foods From Foraging to Feasting in 2023. Go here to learn more about John.
Our base camp is located in picturesque Silverton Oregon. The area is in the foothills of the Cascade mountain range and part of the fertile Willamette valley. Characterized by rolling hills, fertile soils and a diversity of habitats, this area is ideal for the GingerRoot. About an hours drive from both Portland and Corvallis, our location is very accessible, but tucked away from the outside world. We have access to forest wilderness, woodlands, swamps, grasslands, farmland, fallow fields, rivers, lakes, and more. We travel to a variety of habitats learning about and gathering plants. Participants stay in their own tents. At the core of our basecamp is the Silverton Grange which offers us a large professional kitchen, indoor meeting space, and modern bathroom facilities. Parking is separate but close to our encampment. There are no hook-ups for RVs or trailers. Wherever practical / sustainable, wild foods will be the basis of our common meals. Participants have the option of staying in a local bed and breakfast or hotel but you must provide your own transportation to and from GingerRoot. Silverton, our quaint historic host city comes complete with the normal amenities; a hospital, supermarkets, food purveyers, and tourist attractions. The downtown, is only a 10 minutes drive away. Salem is a 30 minute drive.
Unless you stay off site, you will be bringing your own tent and camping equipment. Food: We will provide simple breakfasts for Saturday and Sunday. Together, we will make wild food dinners for Saturday and Sunday, as well as Monday breakfast from the foods we gather during the Rendezvous. You will be responsible for providing your own food on Friday, sack lunches for Saturday and Sunday and all the snack food you want to eat for four days. Refrigeration may not be available, so plan accordingly. Bring a cooler if you know you’ll want one. Conventional food supplies will be available in Silverton. We will have access to a modern kitchen for Rendezvous meals as well as basic breakfast and lunch preparation.
If you have a special diet or food restrictions bring the foods you feel you need. Not only for your personal meals, but wild meals we make in common. Part of some of the dishes we make will include conventional flour, sugar, eggs, milk, etc. If you cannot eat these items for health or philosophical reasons, bring alternatives for yourself. You can choose to incorporate the wild foods we gather into your own dishes, in parallel with us, that satisfy a raw lifestyle, veganism, etc.
We will be in the same location for four days with access to modern kitchen and bathroom facilities. Beginning on Saturday, breakfasts and dinners will be provided through Monday morning. You are responsible for 2 sack lunches and snacks. Refrigeration for personal items will not be provided. Bring your favorite coffee mug and a water bottle you can carry with you. Conventional food supplies will be available in town. Wild foods will make up the bulk of our evening meals. During the event we will construct/improvise a potluck from the wild foods we gather. So come prepared thinking about plant-based, plant-rich potluck recipes, and bring (or shop in Silverton for) any specialty ingredients required as you will be preparing it to share family style with the group. Don’t worry, this is easier than you think, and you will receive plenty of guidance.
Outside of your typical camping gear if you are camping you should consider following: Prepare for temperatures usually ranging from 50°F to 94°F. Bring clothing for comfort around camp. For inland forests, bring rugged but layered hiking cloths and hiking boots. In some cases we may be wading through mud or ankle deep water so an old pair of tennis shoes you don’t care about might be useful. A checklist of what to bring can be downloaded here:
Optional: Bring wild foods that you’ve previously prepared that you would like to share with the rest of us. Wild flours, jams, syrups, canned foods, pickles, nuts, beans, fruit leathers, wild jerkys…
Drugs, alcohol, firearms, fireworks, fighting, or pets. Violators and troublemakers will be asked to leave. Anyone asked to leave has no right to a refund.
Arrive anytime after 4:00 p.m. on Friday June 21, 2024 – set up camp/meet other participants. GingerRoot and its first activities officially begin with a program at 7:00 p.m. Friday. The last GingerRoot activity will end by 12:00 p.m. Monday, June 24, 2024.
Enrollment Limited! – Advanced registration reserves you a place in the Rendezvous.
Full Registration: $415 (in US dollars) for the full 4 day event.
*These early registration discounts require that you pay in full (received in our office) by these cut off dates.
**Children through and including the age of 17 must be under the supervision and responsibility of a parent or guardian at all times. No more than 2 children per adult attendee. The GingerRoot Rendezvous, Dr. Kallas, Wild Food Adventures, and anyone associated with them are not, and cannot be responsible for children. There are no child care facilities. That being said, children will find a friendly and inclusive environment.
Previous GingerRoot Attendees get an additional $60 discount off any of the cut-off dates above. These adults (18+) get a $30 discount off any of the cut-off dates above: Full time college students, persons identifying as indigenous, adult family members that register together and the involuntarily unemployed. You cannot combine discounts.
There are no discounts for partial attendance. One or two day (Saturday + Sunday) attendees pay full price based on registration dates listed above. Due to the progressive/building nature of the planned learning process, it is recommended to attend the full Rendezvous if you possibly can.
Do not include this with your registration, bring $10.00 this to the event for a carpooling contribution. So in addition to the registration fee, you will be asked to contribute a car pooling fee (unless you are a driver). We will be traveling to a variety of habitats over the four days of the event. Since we do not have buses or vans, some participants who have space in their cars will volunteer their vehical for use in car pooling. The exact fee required will be determined when car pooling is organized.
Our base camp is located in picturesque Silverton, Oregon Grange and participants will be camping on location. If possible, we’d prefer that everyone be on-site. If staying off site, we recommend arriving by the time our breakfast begins so you will receive any last minute information and announcements prior to heading out for the day. If you arrive late and we have already left camp, you might miss a large portion of the day’s events. There are no discounts for staying off site.
Camping on the grounds or sleeping in your vehicle is included in your registration. If you stay on the grounds you have four options.
There is no charge if you cancel before we’ve had the time to process your registration. If that is the case, upon your approval, your check will be destroyed and you will have paid nothing. If your registration has been processed, the following schedule is done for an adult registration…
If there is a group registration, the above amounts apply to just one of the group’s registrants, adding $5 per additional registrant to process the withdrawls.
Registration
Download the REGISTRATION/WAIVER Forms. Print and fill out necessary forms and email to John Kallas or bring filled out forms to the event once you have paid for the event.
Note: Due to the nature of these workshops in natural habitats that are out of our control, we cannot accommodate certain special needs.