Author. Poet. Teacher. Naturalist. Forager. Jennifer Hahn packs an impressive resume after more than 25 years as a wildlife adventurer whose travels span hiking the Pacific Crest Trail from Northern California to Canada and kayaking solo from Ketchikan, Alaska to Bellingham, Washington where she now resides. Along the way she’s also led tours throughout the Pacific Northwest, Baja, Mexico and the Galapagos Islands.
In person, Jennifer is petite, vivacious and down to earth – literally. Her passion for sustainable foraging fills her conversations and writings.
After publishing her first book, Spirited Waters: Soloing South Through the Inside Passage, Jennifer began a second book about the foods in the wild that had kept her alive on her kayaking adventure. But as a steward of the environment, she felt morally responsible to include only those foods that wouldn’t be decimated by greater consumption, resulting in her book, Pacific Feast: A Cook’s Guide to West Coast Foraging and Cuisine, and companion laminated guide, Pacific Coast Foraging Guide: 40 Wild Foods from Beach, Field and Forest. Included are her harvesting guidelines like the 1-in-20 rule when it comes to sustainable foraging. If there are more than 20 plants, you can dig one up and leave the rest for reproduction. If not, take none.
With Jennifer in the lead, we’re off for a day of our own foraging adventure to discover the diversity of tasty edibles found in our own backyards.
Hiking with Jennifer through the six acres surrounding the home she shares with husband, sculptor Chris Moench, is a walk on the wild side. She cautions us to watch out for stinging nettles before describing their diverse uses in cooking, fiber production and medicine. Nearby we discover wood sorrel, a shamrock-shaped plant with a lemony flavor that grows in moist, shady places.
Further along Jennifer points out huckleberries, purslane, a plant high in omega 3 with a crisp, lemony bite that’s perfect in stews, and the licorice “many-footed” fern root, good for soothing sore throats. A self-described spiritual eater first, she demonstrates how to harvest mindfully and says “Thank you” to the plant for giving its life after breaking off a piece for closer inspection.
Our picnic lunch at nearby Lake Padden begins with Jennifer’s recitation of Rumi’s poem that starts, “Lord, the air smells good today . . . ” Newly inspired and satiated, we continue our day of foraging fun with an afternoon hike, gathering native trailing blackberries, salal berries and strips of madrona bark we find on the ground along the way.
But our day of sustainable food discoveries is not quite finished yet. Still to come is dinner at Ciao Thyme, a popular Bellingham kitchen restaurant, where restaurant owners Jessica and Mataio Gillis will show us how to create cooking magic with the fruits of our labors. I can hardly wait . . .
What about you, Wanderboomers? What’s your favorite recipe using locally sourced foraged food?
Thanks for this post! This is up in my neck of the woods, so I”m interested in learning more about Jennifer and her work.
Since we’re new to the area, I don’t trust my foraging skills yet. I’m signed up for classes both in fall and spring to forage for mushrooms, and I am keeping my eyes open for classes on wildcrafting herbs.
Ah! I am jealous! I have wanted to meet/study with Jennifer for some time now. Her book and cooking class on foraging were featured at Adopt-A-Stream Foundation but I was not able to attend and the info sounds so great! Let me know when you go again and I will join you! I also am quite fond of her husband Chris’s prayer wheels.
Hi, Nadine ~ FYI, Jennifer is an adjunct professor at Western Washington University’s Fairhaven College in Bellingham where she teaches classes on wild food in the Northwest. If you ever get the chance to sign up for one of her courses, do it. She’s such a gifted teacher . . .
Hi, Lynne ~ See my comment to Nadine about Jennifer’s courses. Her knowledge of and enthusiasm for foraging in the Northwest are an unbeatable combination for her students. Hope you have the chance to sign up for one of her classes soon!
Hi Foraging Sisters,
Raining hard up here in Bellingham, recently, but I like to say it is “chanterelling.”
The accompanying winds left us a hillside of wind-fall apples. This morning, Chris washed, chopped and tossed them into the crock pot with ginger, cinnamon and clove. Apple butter on the horizon! We are waiting for the first hard frost to sweeten the rose hips for rose hip butter–even better! Say, I’m in a writing retreat and must get back, but I do want to thank you, Nancy, for a the wonderful memories your words turned upward. I’ll be posting foraging classes/talks on http://www.pacificfeast.com in the new year. For now…back to writing and creative isolation. With enormous gratitude…for this time and the power of stories, Jennifer
You’re the best , Jennifer! Writing and creative isolation . . . kindred spirits are we . . .
Oh, you did it again, Nancy – a post that makes me smile in recognition, getting to better know someone I’ve already heard great things about! While I was in AK this summer, a friend told me about Jennifer’s work, raved about what a great teacher/speaker she is. A pleasure to learn more over here. Thanks for being such a great PNW connection!
Happy to be a conduit for your PNW connections, Tele! I’m reading Jennifer’s book, Spirited Waters now. If you haven’t read it yet, pick up a copy. Jennifer’s a writer’s writer, just like you . . .
Nice! Just discovered you were in Bellingham! Loved that area!!!
Just did a post, you may recognize some places…http://voyage-vixens.com/2012/10/29/with-love-from-bellingham/
Hi, Lanee! Sounds we have a lovefest for Bellingham, WA going on :-). Look for more posts on my Fall trip to the area coming soon. Thanks for stopping by ~