Description
In this class you will learn:
- Tips for ethical and legal foraging/harvesting
- Where to find different edible seaweed species
- How to easily identify at least a dozen favorite sea vegetables
- Why some kelp beds are disappearing and why this matters
- Techniques for preserving your harvest
This class includes* a full color “Sea Vegetables of the Pacific Coast” identification card (laminated and ready for a dip in the ocean!). Downloadable class notes and extensive resources are provided as well to support your tide pool explorations.
*We’d like to avoid charging shipping to those who do not want a tangible ID card mailed to them. After your purchase, check your email for a link to the Class Page where you’ll find the class notes and resources. You will also find simple instructions for having your laminated ID Card mailed to you for just the cost of shipping.
10% from each class purchased will be donated to Reef Check California’s Kelp Forest Program. This program trains citizen scientists to monitor kelp forest health. It also establishes restoration sites to serve as refuges and “seed” banks with the hope that kelp beds can reestablish themselves in Northern California where they have been lost from 100’s of miles of coast.
FIELD TRIP: Sat. June 12 | 7:00-9:30am | Trinidad, CA
An additional (in-person!!) Tide Pool Adventure is available to those taking this class. You will meet favorite sea vegetables, harvest and process samples to try, and enjoy a surprise seaweed treat! Group size is limited to 15 people. Cost: $30 REGISTER HERE
Want more? Check out: Cooking with Sea Vegetables
About your teacher:
Allison Poklemba is a botanist, environmental educator, co-owner of Backcountry Press, and (most importantly!) a seaweed enthusiast. She has been teaching about the joys of foraging for and cooking with sea vegetables for almost 20 years. Each summer she guides classes through the tide pools of Northern California on seaweed harvest adventures.
Please feel free to be in touch with questions: allison@backcountrypress.com
Mary (verified owner) –
Loved it! I only wish it were longer. Really thankful that it will be recorded so I can access this info again and again. Loved how passionate you are about the sea vegetables, your love for them really shines through 🙂
Katrina Wright (verified owner) –
Thank you, Allison. You gave a really informative and engaging presentation. I am looking forward to harvesting some seaweed next time I go tide-pooling. I really appreciated your inclusion of how to bring some into the bath – I know my kids will love the feather boa.
Andy (verified owner) –
Looking forward to part 2, great work Allison!
Emily (verified owner) –
This was a fantastic class for an introduction to sea vegetables. It was a great mix of ID tips, uses, interesting tips and tricks, notes on regulations, and more! I can’t wait to take Allison’s next calss
Nate H. (verified owner) –
I didn’t grow up near a coast. So after moving here, learning the ocean has been a slow process. After this class, I feel confident wading into tide pools and harvesting seaweeds for the kitchen!
Janel Catalano (verified owner) –
Just attended the most engaging, informative, and fun seminar, “North Coast Sea Vegetables”, and I am excited about having learned how to identify and harvest our coast’s varieties of sea veggies! Nori, Sea Lettuce, Bladderwrack, and so many MORE! Thanks so much for the wealth of information. Can’t wait to join the next one!
Deanna Bernard (verified owner) –
Thank you for this thorough overview of seaweed. I cannot wait to explore tidepools now and harvest responsibly our own nutrient dense food! I am looking forward to Part 2 so we can learn how to prepare this wonderful superfood that we have now learned how to identify and harvest. Thank you!
Sydney (verified owner) –
Allison is an amazing teacher, so well rounded, funny, and explains things in such an easy way to understand. Learn about all kinds of edible seaweeds, which one not to eat and what happens if you do, al the tips for sustainable seaweed harvesting, and a few tips and tricks for drying and using. Looking forward to part II and learning all of the delicious recipes and medicinal uses.
My family is planning our next coast trip around looking at these amazing algae!
Ilene Harris (verified owner) –
Thanks for doing an online class, Allison. As usual, your wealth of knowledge plus openness to questions is so refreshing. I really like that there is a group Facebook and hope that continues. Looking forward to Part 2…
Olivia (verified owner) –
I learned a lot! I feel like I can go out and get started from just this one class. It would be even better in person, of course – photos aren’t the same as feeling the squishy/slimy/bumpy textures live and actually harvesting alongside a teacher. Still, I learned a lot and it was a great place to start!
Ben (verified owner) –
Learned a lot, looking forward to the next one. Thanks!
Mae (verified owner) –
Great class. I learned a ton and took several pages of notes. Excited to take part 2! I would love to learn more in depth about life cycles and biology related facts about these fascinating organisms.
Luan Roberts (verified owner) –
Very enjoyable class! I didn’t know much about sea vegetable foraging but this class got me all excited to try things while I’m out tide pooling. Looking forward to more like this!
Brieanne Mirjah (verified owner) –
What an exciting class! I can’t wait to tune into the next one.
Faith (verified owner) –
Loved the class! Gave me great information for being online and I wish it were longer.
Shelly Smith (verified owner) –
Thank you for a very informative and entertaining tour of the sea vegetables in the Pacific Northwest Coast. Allison is a great presenter, really good and easy to follow explanations, photos, videos and a wonderful communicator. I really enjoy your energetic and bubbly personality. I learned alot about sea vegetables in just 90 minutes.
Virginia Bareis (verified owner) –
I think Allison’s presentation was just right–upbeat, informative–the photos were very good, showing the different species in situ–important info on how to cut the seaweed off rocks-description of the texture of the seaweed was especially interesting and informative. Looking forward to the cooking class, and others!
Kale Land (verified owner) –
Very informative and fun class! I feel confident I will be able to identify several types a seaweed on my next tide pooling adventure! Thank you Allison, I look forward to the next one.
Murielle –
Being far away my interest for the West coast has only been enlivened! Thanks so much for the clear and concise information, can’t wait to stroll on the shores of the PNW soon !
Anna Bressers (verified owner) –
I loved this class! I didn’t realize we would get to access the recording after so I took notes crazy fast while you were talking. I am so grateful for the wealth of information you gave us! I will definitely be recommending this class to my friends. Wish I could have experienced it with you in person, it has been on my bucket list. But this format was lovely. Thank you!!
Larissa (verified owner) –
Thank you for an amazing class! Super excited to learn about what feels like an entire new world to explore and forage sustainably!
Deborah (verified owner) –
I have been eating seaweed for decades now, but it was great to see where & how it’s actually harvested! It’s like learning about how land vegetables come from farms & gardens lol, not just the grocery store! 😀
I thought it was the perfect length, any longer, and I can’t absorb anymore info! I love that this will be the first in a series and can’t wait for more! Also, having the surveys live during the class helped make it more interactive, not just watching, but actually participating! Looking forward to the next one!
Heather (verified owner) –
Really enjoyed the class. Easy to understand, entertaining, and informative. Also, I found the recording very helpful for being able to go back through and clarify the information presented. Looking forward to getting out and foraging and also to Part 2 on cooking with sea vegetables.
monique sonoquie (verified owner) –
Haku,
I think it went great.
great photos. especially of you hanging to dry.
I learned lots of new stuff.
Timing was great.
Thanks for using the Pomo language. Have you worked with any of the tribes? I did a seaweed gathering video with Coyote Valley Elders in 1999!
Were you thinking about making the powerpoint available?
Exceited about part 2. I just eat it plain.
My friend has a business Ama Sea Beauty, of all seaweed/kelps facial products. its all i use on my faces daily now. check her out on facebook, youll love the stuff!
One more thing, how do we get the discount for part 2?
Wohklow
Monique Sonoquie
Sarah Futterman-Devies (verified owner) –
This was an awesome class especially for a novice like me, and I look forward to collecting some sea vegetables soon. Looking forward to reviewing the presentation a few more times! And also looking forward to Part 2!
Susan (verified owner) –
Great program! I love touching things, but didn’t think of that as a primary identification tool for sea vegetables, and your descriptions were fun. I thought the pace was good, the sound was clear, and the visuals perfect. I’m looking forward to the cooking class!
Ara Pachmayer (verified owner) –
Great class! The next day I could confidently identify the seaweed from the class. Can’t wait for the cooking class!
Barb (verified owner) –
Fantastic webinar. Great photos and super knowledgeable host informing us w/ humor, lay and scientific terminology. Lots of good advice leaving us hungering for the next class w/ recipes for our harvests.
Jackson Pritt (verified owner) –
Such a fun class! Allison is engaging and great at explaining things in easily wonderfully accessible ways that make the content easy to understand even for those who have very little experience tidepooling or foraging.
I wish I could have taken an in-person class with her but this really was the next best thing. I feel much more confident in my ability to identify and properly harvest seaweed and other sea vegetables and can’t wait to get out on the beach and practice what I learned.
GINEVRA RYMAN (verified owner) –
Great intro! This class got me really excited and taught me enough to identify and harvest some. My toddler and I have been enjoying feather boa baths now, so fun! Can’t wait for the next class.
Deedee Soto (verified owner) –
Great class, I wholeheartedly recommend it!! Allison is a great educator and made all of the material fun to learn. Also her tactile description of the different kinds of sea vegetables were easily translated to a mental picture.
peter Slattery (verified owner) –
I want to emphasize how excellent Allison’s class is – she is so engaging, and makes many concepts easy to understand as well as very interesting. She is great for everyone!
Miki Takada (verified owner) –
Loved this class and loved Allison! She’s great! Very knowledgeable and made the Zoom class so enjoyable and interesting! She’s a wonderful science educator. Highly recommend this class.
Yvonne (verified owner) –
Great Course! Thankyou for being so open and animated! Learned so much for being a Seaweed Newbie! Great that you leave the course up for review for 3 months! I finally got to finish The second class in August after my WestCoast Kayak trips! With great low tides so I could see for myself…dry some on the rocks…and taste test!
Robin Paschall (verified owner) –
This was such a fun and informative class! I walked away with enough knowledge to feel safe and able to harvest a wide variety of sea veg for so many purposes!! I highly recommend any class from Backcountry Press, Allison is such an engaging and informed teacher.