We are dedicated foragers wanting to share our knowledge and learn from each other. Putting faces to names, and names to faces, helps you see what you’re getting into when you join us for a day celebrating wild food.
Nicki Schneider has been actively foraging, eating and using wild plants for over a decade. Having a B.S. in Biology, she began her career as an Interpretive Naturalist with the MetroParks Serving Summit County, went on to manage a health food store and now teaches about wild food, herbalism and other esoteric topics with her business partner under the name of Earth Wisdom Wellness. Their herb shop and classroom closed its doors in late 2020, however in the Spring of 2024 they will be reopening an education space in Lakewood, Ohio called the Galactic Oasis. Nicki will be presenting “Primal Extravagance at the Wild Table – Preparing and Cooking Foraged Edible Wild Plants”, a wild food foraging-to-table demonstration focusing on easy to identify and readily abundant spring plants.
John Wright is fundamentally an organic farmer at his farm, Red Beet Row. This is where he and his partner Stephanie grow new and interesting crops for our region while saving seed and selling interesting hard-to-get nursery plants. Some of their long-term projects include: mushroom log cultivation, ecological forest management, prairie restoration, plant breeding, beekeeping, animal husbandry and natural building. Because his work is interdisciplinary he has taught a variety of classes including: homesteading, wild foods, plant identification, soil fertility, market gardening and sustainable design. His life’s work is devoted to community resiliency in our region.
Leah Wolfe is the archetypal herbalist. You know the one, living at the edge of town with all the weird plants. A childhood in a village sandwiched between two national forests led to a lifetime study of the wild. Leah travels all over the U.S. to forage and learn about healing plants. In 2013, Leah started the Trillium Center in NE Ohio, an educational project for natural arts offering hands-on and online experiences in herbalism, foraging, homesteading, folk arts, and disaster preparedness. Leah’s background is in literary and health research, public health, and disaster response. Her obsession with herbs, art, and culture compels her to explore and cultivate folk art and folklore. Leah offers herbal assessments, forays, workshops, private classes and online education. At OWFF, Leah will present an introduction to herbal wilderness first aid.
Don King, also known as The Mushroom Hunter, can often be found hiking the forests of Ohio and neighboring states in search of wild mushrooms and other delicious and healthy edibles, which he considers to be the pinnacle of sustainable, local foods. Don loves to share his knowledge of wild foods, and how to prepare them, through private and group identification workshops and wild edible hunts, as well as video tutorials and other appearances. He has been featured on NPR’s Good Eats with Vivian Goodman, and has made over a dozen appearances on Fox 8’s New Day Cleveland. Don has been foraging for two decades, and has been teaching mushroom identification for 15 years. He runs foraging classes through his website, as well as through organizations such as Cleveland Metroparks, Holden Arboretum, and The Wilderness Center. For the Ohio Wild Food Fest, Don will be leading a workshop called “Edible and Medicinal Mushroom Identification.”
Cristiana Vespucci is a culinary enthusiast and herbal storyteller whose journey weaves through vibrant vegan culinary adventures to the serene landscapes of Washington’s mountains. As the creative force behind CC Tea and Apothecary, Cristiana crafts elixirs that seamlessly blend wellness with indulgence. Cristiana believes profoundly in the power of plant-based medicine and sees food as a vital aspect of overall well-being. For her, learning the art of foraging is a transformative experience, shaping the brain to perceive nature in a profoundly different light. Join her at the Ohio Wild Food Fest, where the exploration of herbal magic takes center stage. Beyond the kitchen, Cristiana has ventured into the world of storytelling, infusing each blend with tales of ancient botanical wisdom. Take a sip, let the whispers of the forest dance on palates, and immerse in the uncharted beauty of Ohio’s wild wonders.This is more than a culinary experience; it’s a journey into the heart of nature’s bounty.
A lifelong camper and nature lover, Susan Majercak graduated from Hiram College with a BA in Environmental Studies. She spent her internship performing a forest survey at the Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic site in Hyde Park, NY along the bank of the beautiful Hudson river. Her interest in foraging began with joining a mushroom hunt, and then during covid when everything was shut down she headed outside! She downloaded the iNaturalist app on her phone and proceeded to identify many of the plants and “weeds” within a half mile of her apartment. From field research on invasive earthworms to kitchen experiments with tincture making and adventures in foraging, Susan is creating a life that allows her to explore and live within the cycles of nature. She will be presenting a workshop on the invaluable practice of keeping a foraging journal.
Raymond Morris
Ray is a mushroom and native plant enthusiast. His passion for wild edibles stems from a desire to be connected not only to what we consume, but to the earth as well. This has lead him to learn the edible and medicinal mushrooms of our Ohio forests. Ray operates a native tree and shrub nursery called West Branch Forest Treasures. There, he grows fruit and nut trees from seed from local and high quality sources. He also operates a small farm where he is creating a food forest of native plants.
JB Douglas
JB Douglas is a forager and food maker based in Cleveland, OH. His recipes and food photography featuring foraged ingredients have been published across a wide variety of digital and print publications, including VegNews, Edible Magazines, and the New York Times. He directed culinary content production at Foraged Market after working with food access programs and farm retail operations in New England for several years. He’s passionate about leading demonstrations and creating educational materials to teach people about the value of wild foods in their diet. Currently, JB is earning his Master’s in Sustainable Food Systems from the Culinary Institute of America, with a focus on how foraged ingredients could play a bigger role in the future of food. In his free time, he creates a wide variety of crafts from foraged materials, including baskets, utensils, paper, pigments, brushes, and brooms.