Mindful Foraging
and Wild Tea Making
Co Hosted with:
We'll begin the day wandering about the land to learn basic plant identification skills. Then we'll spend time learning the edible and medicinal values of some of the wild plants we encounter, as well as learning what plants to avoid. We'll respectfully harvest some plants for a wild tea blend before and after we break for lunch. Back at the Education Center, we'll process the plants we gathered for wild tea and end the day with a mindful tea ceremony where we savor the qualities of each plant and reflect on what we've learned.
IN THIS WORKSHOP:
Strengthen plant identification, harvesting, and foraging skills
Learn about medicinal and edible plants
Make tea out of wild plants we encounter and reflect on their flavors
Details:
Date: July 11, 2026, 10:30AM to 3:00PM
Meet at Jack Creek Preserve’s Outdoor Education Center (OEC)
Cost: $40 per person
Bring your own field guides, notebook, etc.
Bring your favorite non-travel tea mug (can be left at the education center while we wander)
This workshop will be mostly in the field
Bring your own lunch, water, snacks, and weather-appropriate gear.
We are capping the event at 20 people.
About the instructor: Ashley Martens
Ever since hand-feeding chickadees with her grandparents as a young child, Ashley has sought out intimate relationships with nature through both scientific inquiry and mindful nature-connection. After meandering her way through studying the life sciences in her young adulthood, she finally settled on a B.S. in Biology, an M.S. in Environmental Science, and certifications in teaching yoga, dance, and meditation. She has studied with leading researchers at various Universities and renowned teachers from the Wilderness Awareness School through the Art of Mentoring. Becoming a naturalist takes time and attention — from hunting for arrowheads in the gullys of high-desert Wyoming as a child, to surveying woodpeckers in the backwoods of north Idaho, to researching seabirds on a remote wildlife refuge island in the Straight of Juan de Fuca, to reintroducing Mountain Quail in eastern Washington, Ashley weaves all of her experiences into her work. She brings her values of lifelong-learning and community-building forward in her teaching and facilitation. Her approach is to empower your learning journey by guiding you to learn from nature, rather than simply about it.