Welcoming the Wild into Your Garden (Rain or Shine, Maximum of 15 attendees) SOLD OUT!!!
Patty will guide the group to see, smell, taste, and appreciate the non-food plants at Verde Valley School Farm. The walk will focus on non-native edibles, pollinator plants, and underappreciated wild foods, teas, and habitat plants. This will be a show and tell of how VVS Farm fosters healthy food, thriving wild habitats, and deep education. Immerse yourself in the niches and gardens of the VVS Farm while learning a variety of ways to allow nature to help your own garden.
Patty West has been foraging since she could walk. In recent years she started a wild food cooperative and spearheaded a series of public wild food feasts based at Northern Arizona University. She has contributed to several books and many workshops and plant walks including leading wild food and native plant walks at the Verde Valley Birding and Nature Festival for the past 10 years. The most recent book that includes several recipes and a story she was asked to document is “Eat Mesquite and More: a cookbook for Sonoran Desert Foods and Living,” the herculean effort of Desert Harvesters. The last three years she has spent with a team at Verde Valley School (VVS) incorporating native plants and volunteer non-native plants into the fabric of the Verde Valley School Farm. She has helped identify useful and beneficial species and has secured funding for pollinator gardens that also provide teas and herbs for the school dining hall, farmers markets, and value-added products.