Wild cooking returns to Herff Farm with the Cibolo on July 30!
Nature provides all sorts of exciting flavors unmatched by the tiny produce sections of grocery stores … if you know what you are doing. To help you expand your “natural” skills in the kitchen, join me for a class on the ancient art of cheese-making on Saturday, July 30.
This will be a rennet-free cheese that can be easily made from either cow or goat milk and a few common household ingredients … plus the addition of wild plants. The process is quick and easy but guaranteed to impress friends and family when you place a homemade cheese ball on the table in front of them. Since rennet isn’t used for this, the resulting cheese isn’t melty-gooey but more like ricotta.
The plants infused into this cheese will depend on what is available in the gardens at Herff Farm. The plants are added for flavor and color, not as a necessary part of the chemistry of making cheese. Many different plants can be used, both wild and domestic, so think of cheese as the delicious carrier for the plants. This allows using the cheese in all sorts of dishes. The limiting factor will not be nature!
I believe many modern health issues have developed because people no longer spend enough time in nature. My goal with these classes is to give people more reasons to go outside and interact with the wild.
We didn’t evolve getting food from a grocery store; we got it from the lands around us. The efforts involved in foraging – walking on the earth, bending, stretching and being exposed to sunlight, all have significant benefits for physical, mental and even spiritual health.
The hands-on class sizes are limited to 14 attendees each, allowing plenty of free-flowing discussions and exchanging of ideas. Humans are social creatures, especially when preparing and eating food. The most enjoyable way to do so is with a small cadre of people with at least one common interest. Starting from that point, any number of new connections will grow, creating, for the time of the class (and hopefully afterward), a tribe much as we lived in 100,000 years ago.
Two classes will be offered on July 30, with the first class starting at 10 a.m. and an afternoon class at 1:30 p.m. Both classes have limited seating, and attendees must bring their own aprons.
This class is best for children over 12 years old. Registration is required to attend each class. Learn more and register at www.cibolo.org.
Make sure you stop by and enjoy the Farmers Market at Herff Farm, where you’ll find plenty of items to enjoy with your fresh-made cheese! You can shop at the market every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Go wild, get healthy and eat well!
Editor’s note: Vorderbruggen is a nationally recognized foraging instructor, author and cook
Cibolo Happenings
July 27
• Art in Conservation: Drawing from Nature, 10 a.m.-noon. Join international artist Jeannette MacDougall and Rebecca Burritt. The Art of Drawing is simply a form of mark-making. With the practice of the basic skills of blind contour, proportion, value and detail, we learn to draw what we see through our interpretation. We develop a new awareness and appreciation of the natural beauty in the world around us. This class is hosted inside or outside the Herff House and is offered every Wednesday. Learn more at www.cibolo.org.
July 29
• Family Night Hikes – Explore the Cibolo at Night, 7-8:30 p.m. Join the Cibolo staff as they walk the trails learning about all the nocturnal animals that call the Cibolo home. This is a hike suitable for children. Attendees should bring comfortable shoes, a flashlight, and a water bottle. Register on www.cibolo.org.
July 30
• Farmers Market at Herff Farm, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Join us at the Farmers Market at Herff Farm and enjoy locally produced products and goods from small businesses and farms in the Texas Hill Country. Herff Farm offers trails and programming for children and adults. More information is available at www.cibolo.org.
• Art in Conservation: Watercolor, 10 a.m.-noon. Join international artist Jeannette MacDougall and Rebecca Burritt in a watercolor class where you learn to paint with the practice of the basic techniques: glazing, wet-in-wet, dry brush and more. This class is hosted inside or outside the Herff House and is offered every Saturday. Learn more at www.cibolo.org.
• Farmers Cheese Making Class, 10 a.m.-noon and 1:30-3:30 p.m. Attendees will use pre-harvested plants with Mark “Merriwether” Vorderbruggen, who will teach them how to identify them correctly. The class is a beginner-level cooking experience, but you’ll learn a great new, fun skill for anyone who’s never made cheese. This class is offered two times on the same day. You must only register for one class. Registration is required, and walk-ins are not allowed. This class occurs in the Gathering Hall at Herff Farm near the Nest Nature School campus. More information is available at www.cibolo.org.
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