Testimonials
“I’ve been taking a course with Jess Starwood called the Wild Path and I am so grateful for her wisdom. She is really in touch with the wild foods of California. I am amazed at her culinary expertise, photography, confidence, and down to earth ness.
I really look up to her and what she is doing as an earth steward. Even tho 90% of the food in this video wasn’t wild foraged I am still deepening my awareness into the natural abundance that is all around!
I’m especially loving the abundance of spring and all the green and medicine there is to offer.”
—J.G.
2022 Wild Foods 1 Student
“I believe that when an experience is so penetrating, it does well to allow it to marinate in the soul for a while before sitting down and writing any reflections. In February, I began a 4 month long journey on “The Wild Path,” a partly zoom/ partly in person class with Jess Starwood- wild foods teacher, herbalist, forager, and chef extraordinaire. After the dark and lonely year that was 2020, this class was everything I had been yearning for.
Jess is humble to a flaw. She’s a wealth of knowledge, and teaches from her real world experience. She truly embodies everything she teaches which is the most beautiful part of it all. Every part of her feels like it fits perfectly in the mystical wilderness that she teaches about and takes you to explore. She has so much information to offer but does it in such an approachable way so that its not intimidating, even for beginners.
As someone who already had a basic knowledge of plants, this class filled in all the holes that I needed to fill, and gave me the courage to forage confidently. Its a magical experience to dine “forest to table” and to use wild ingredients to experiment in the kitchen. Pickles, preserves, infusions, salads, beverages, elixirs, etc.- Jess will teach you in detail how to make them and how to safely and ethically forage for your ingredients. Sidewalks, parks, nature trails, and hillsides will forever transform before your eyes and plants previously thought of as weeds will suddenly have a purpose. You will come to appreciate the abundance and wild flavors all around you. If you’re as lucky as me, you will also get to meet some of the most wonderful and extraordinary people who you will learn and grow with.
The celebratory wild foods potluck at the end of the class was a fun and delicious way to share our newly acquired culinary skills. I will forever be grateful for this class, for all of the lifelong skills and knowledge I will now carry with me, and for getting the opportunity to share it with such amazing people.
Thank you, Jess, for your patient instruction and for sharing so much of yourself with us. “
—J.H.
2021 Wild Foods Program Student
“The Wild Path has been an incredible experience. Jess Starwood curated not only a visually beautiful course (as expected), but an incredibly supportive, educational, fun, and delicious experience for all of us. This course would be appropriate for the complete novice or the experienced botanist, forager, chef, or herbalist. I’m so grateful for not only the knowledge I gained, but the friends I made, and the incredible inspiration to love, appreciate, & engage ethically with plants and the earth. I highly recommend this course as a wonderful investment in yourself, your family, and also the natural world.”
—E.H.
2021 Wild Foods Program Student
The Wild Path 