Wild Treasures of the City: Summer Foraging in Tiergarten

The flowers are bursting, the fruit is ripening – the sun has been working its magic, and the summer is offering so many wonderful wild flavors to savor!

Let's take a leisurely foraging wander through Berlin's largest park, where we'll explore the extraordinary diversity of planty wonders growing right in the heart of the city. So many of these cheerful, weedy friends that surround us are just packed with nutrition and medicine, and extraordinary, unique flavors.

With a warm and informative approach, we'll focus on easy-to-identify herbs, flowers, and fruits abundant in urban Berlin, which you can use to pep up your summer salads, make exquisite jams, syrups and pestos, craft potent tinctures, and much more – like staghorn sumac (also known as vinegar tree, for good reason!), cornelian cherry (whose tart red fruits make both exquisite jam and oddly wonderful olives), creeping charlie (whose minty wildness lends the perfect kick to a forest dessert), and many, many others.

I'll share practical tips on plant identification, explain each species' culinary and medicinal uses, offer insights into their surrounding folklore, and share lots of relevant recipes. And of course I'll teach you how to keep yourself  – and the land and its other inhabitants – safe while foraging. 

Throughout the day, we'll pause often to harvest in safe and abundant spots, so that you can bring home a collection of delightful wild summer ingredients. You'll come away with a completely new perspective on the city's weedy & wild abundance, as well as loads of inspiration for how to incorporate it in the kitchen.

If you have a special interest in fermentation, tinctures, or any other culinary curiosities, do share it – we'll co-create the day's focus to match everyone's interests. Whether you're a complete foraging newbie or a seasoned explorer, you're warmly welcomed and there will be plenty to learn! 

When: Saturday August 2nd, 12.30 - 16:00
Where: Tiergarten (~ 3km walking in total)
Cost: 45€ / 35€

Attendance is limited to 15 people, so registration is required!

The meeting and ending point for the tour are accessible with public transportation. The exact meeting point, along with what to bring, will be sent via email after registration. Don't forget to read your confirmation email carefully!

Add a spring foraging guide:

Last year I created a foraging guide with an incredible illustrator, Juliette Patissier. The guide is made up of a set of 7 cards, each featuring identification pointers, harvesting tips, recipe ideas and more for delicious, common plants, many of which we'll meet during the tour. The set also includes general foraging advice and a killer recipe for wild pesto, plus a waterproof envelope to keep it all safe. 

The guide usually costs 15€, but if you buy one together with your ticket, you'll get a 2€ discount!

See here for more information about the guide.

A note on pricing & philosophy:

It's a deep value of mine that this learning – which radically connects us with ourselves, the land, and one another – should be accessible for everyone, which is why I'm keeping my tours as low-price as I possibly can. This year, I'm using a new system to uphold this financial accessibility while keeping it sustainable for myself. 

There are two ticket levels: Full price and Concession. Please choose the concession level only if you aren't able to afford the full price ticket. 

If the concession level is also not accessible for you, I really see you and I still want you to come foraging with me! I'll be offering a fully donation-based community tour once a month throughout the season. Please join my Telegram group or send me an email to get updates on future Community tours!

My intention with all of this is to earn a living wage while widening the reach of financial accessibility to more folks than I was able to with my previous sliding-scale model. Thanks for being with me in navigating through the challenges of capitalism with justice, honesty and compassion!

Registration and cancellation:

Once you register for the workshop, you'll receive an email with all details on the exact meeting location as well as what to bring.

The event will go ahead regardless of the weather. The plants don't mind if it's wet! Please make sure to wear the clothing you need to keep you warm, dry & comfortable.

If you can't make the event, you may cancel by email up to 48 hours in advance. This ensures another participant can take your place. Refunds for cancellations within 48 hours of the event are not possible. Within 48 hours, you may transfer your ticket to someone else, but please make sure to let me know by email.