Good Questions

Small-group guided foraging on the Mendonoma coast and forests — mushroom hunts in the wet season, an easy beginner Forage Walk on the Sea Ranch commons, a half-day Intermediate foray, and seasonal coastal and bay-clam outings. Every foray ends with a field tasting of what we find, and the option to add a chef-prepared Wild Feast at Elk Cove Inn.

None at all. Every experience is built around your level — total beginners are welcome, and the Forage Walk is designed as the gentle first taste. If you're already a forager, I'll happily go deeper.

It depends on the experience. The Forage Walk is easy walking on gentle trails for all fitness levels. The day forays are real off-trail travel — 2–3 miles through forest with slopes, deadfall and mud, or wet rock and tidal flats on the coast — and ask for moderate fitness and sure-footedness. If you're unsure which fits you, email me and describe your usual hiking; I'll give you a straight answer.

Six and over on the Forage Walk, twelve and over on everything else. The Forage Walk is easy walking on gentle trails, so children from 6 are welcome with an adult — one adult responsible for each child. Every other experience is 12 and over: those are real off-trail days around wet rock and tidal edges, and everyone has to look after their own footing. Tell me ahead of time and I'll help you pick the right outing.

Yes, and you buy them directly on this site — see the certificates on the booking page. There is one for each experience. They are emailed as a PDF within a day of purchase, admit one guest, never expire, and remain redeemable for their cash value.

The listing shows the general area; the exact meeting spot comes in your confirmation email a few days before. Like most foragers, I keep the best spots quiet to protect them from over-harvesting — part of foraging in a way that leaves the place better than we found it.

Layers you don't mind getting muddy, sturdy waterproof shoes (or boots that grip wet rock for coastal days), a water bottle, a picnic lunch, and curiosity. Baskets, knives, gloves and the field tasting are on me. For coastal and clam outings you'll need a California sport-fishing license — I'll send the link before your date.

If conditions are right — and I only run dates when they are — yes. Twenty years on this coast means I know where the chanterelles hide and which reef the tide opens. But this is hunting, not shopping: the wild writes the menu, and that's the point. No date has ever gone home empty-handed.

Absolutely — you take home your share of the haul, within legal limits, plus the recipes and skills to cook it. The field tasting along the way is a preview; the basket is yours.

Every foray includes a field tasting of the day's finds when weather and regulations allow. The full Wild Feast — a multi-course dinner built from the day's harvest, cooked by Chef Victor Passalacqua at Elk Cove Inn and served as The Unscripted Table — is an optional upgrade, six courses from $145 per guest before tax and gratuity, added to any mushroom foray. An Anderson Valley wine pairing is optional, $50 more. It is a fixed set menu that cannot be adapted for allergies or dietary restrictions — if that's a concern, book the foray on its own; the field tasting I can always work around.

Rain doesn't cancel — rain makes mushrooms — so come dressed for it. I only cancel for genuinely dangerous conditions (big surf, storms), and if I cancel, you get a full refund. Safety is always the first call.

Safety is the spine of the whole experience. You'll learn the rules I live by: every mushroom is identified to species, anything uncertain never reaches the basket, and I teach the dangerous lookalikes first. When in doubt, we throw it out — always.

On the foray, yes — at the Wild Feast dinner, no. Tell me at booking (privately is fine) and I'll work around it on the trail and in the field tasting, which I control myself. The Wild Feast at Elk Cove Inn is a fixed set menu and cannot be modified — the kitchen makes no substitutions, omissions or additions for any allergy or dietary restriction. If you have a food allergy or a restricted diet, please book the foray and skip the Wild Feast. For coastal and clam outings, anyone eating shellfish must have eaten shellfish before with no reaction; if you have any allergy, please carry your own medication (e.g., epinephrine auto-injector). Wild shellfish can also carry natural biotoxins you can't see, smell or cook away — we follow California's quarantine seasons and the state biotoxin hotline before any shellfish is eaten.

Two different things, and both are yours to arrange.

Coastal shellfish and clamming: California requires anyone 16+ to carry a sport-fishing license — quick to buy online, and I'll send the link before your date.

Mushrooms: some of the public forest we use is Jackson Demonstration State Forest, and CAL FIRE requires every person collecting mushrooms there to carry their own permit. It costs $20, and it runs to 30 June whichever month you buy it. It is mail only — you print the form, post it with a check or money order and a stamped self-addressed envelope, and CAL FIRE mails the permit back to you. Allow 10 to 14 days. Apply the day you book; Priority Mail can speed it up. The form is on CAL FIRE's Jackson State Forest page, under Mushroom Permit Information.

If it won't reach you in time, tell me. I'll put your foray on ground where we can legally pick. Don't quietly turn up without it — carrying the permit is the rule, and digging is not allowed anywhere on the forest.

The same ones that make it an adventure: off-trail terrain, ocean edges, weather, and wild food. I manage them with twenty years of judgment, small groups, conservative identification, and routes chosen for the day's conditions — but they can't be eliminated, and every guest signs an assumption-of-risk and release agreement at booking. I carry first aid, hold safety certifications.

Right now, through Airbnb — tap "Book on Airbnb" on the experience you want. Some seasonal coastal experiences are offered directly; email me for those.

Bookings made through Airbnb follow Airbnb's cancellation policy. Either way, if I cancel a date for weather or safety, you receive a full refund — your spot is never lost to conditions outside your control.

Yes — private bookings up to 10 guests, year-round, at the Sea Ranch commons or a venue of your choice, and corporate/celebration outings are welcome. Write me and we'll design it.