Organizers of the Wild Edibles Festival are doing things a little different this year. In its third year, the Calvin W. Price Appalachian Enrichment Series program is giving attendees an opportunity to be hands-on.
“We’re offering different workshops to teach people how to cook with some things that are wild,” Pocahontas Nature Club member Mary Dawson said. “We’re going to have a desserts workshop. We’re going to be making spring tonic.”
Other workshops include garlic mustard pesto, candied wild ginger, wild herbs and teas, and birch soda.
The workshops will be accompanied by nature walks in and around Hillsboro.
“We’ll be on Lobelia Road, Locust Creek and the part of the River Trail at Beard,” Dawson said.
Vendors with nature themed crafts or goods will also be at the festival.
The event is sponsored by the Pocahontas Nature Club and Hillsboro Public Library. Both organizations decided to begin the festival to share information on plants and herbs that are available in the wilds of Pocahontas County.
“Our real objective is to educate people and teach them wild foods have a lot of nutrients and vitamins,” Dawson said. “People have been eating them forever. We want to show them how to prepare these foods and how to identify them.”
The event is scheduled for Saturday, April 19, at 9 a.m. at the Hillsboro Public Library and Hillsboro Elementary School cafeteria. Lunch will be provided by My Daughter’s Attic. All workshops are free to the public.
Registration is encouraged and easily done at www.pocahontascountywv.com/events/1451/2014/April/wildediblesfestival or by calling Dawson at 304-799-4766.
Suzanne Stewart may be contacted at sastewart@pocahontastimes.com