Hi,
I'm Katy, you may hear me called Katherine, if I'm doing something offical or important, or Brushfire, in relation to my artwork.
I'm a nature freak, you know, one of those weird people who doesnt just spend time outside but lives it. When I'm not running around in the woods I'm usually reading about it, researching it, or fighting to protect it.
I took a diploma in environmental technology with the intention of getting a degree that would help me save the planet. When I finished I had the terrible realization that this direction in life would have me sitting behind a computer, either in my house or worse, an office. I might as well be an animal in a cage.
So I took off traveling, working jobs in between that would allow me to be outside. I worked as a ranch trail guide, carriage driver and tour guide, Garry Oak recovery technician (fancy name for a wild weed puller) and finally as a gardener. During this time I picked up everything I could about the flora and fauna that surrounds me; I learned how to turn rose hips into delicious syrup for pancakes, weeds into fancy nutritious salads, toad stools into gourmet soups and even invasive frogs into exquisite french cuisine.
Last autumn it finally hit me; where this has all been leading. I am going to create an adventure tourism business, something different then your normal trekking company. I plan to take people out into the woods, teach them about the forest, its inhabitants, its threats, its cycles and its natural bounty. All while striving for minimal impact.
Some trips will be relaxed one day nature walks pointing out some especially useful or tasty species, there will be some comfortable 3-4 day camping trips learning to live well with what we can gather in the immediate area, and finally there will be intense backpacking trips into the wildest regions with the bare essentials.
I plan to use this blog to showcase the species I gather, how I process them, and of course how to enjoy them. At this point my strengths are with wild plants and mushrooms, but I plan to further my knowledge of fishing, and hunting as well. I would like to live 100% off of things I gather, hunt or grow. Pretty soon I plan to be able to run off in the woods with little more then a knife, and a warm sweater to live comfortably for as long as I'd like.
In the meantime I'll be posting my adventures here, as well as information for workshops, nature walks or camping trips I'll be teaching at.
Until then!
Cheers
- Katy
I'm Katy, you may hear me called Katherine, if I'm doing something offical or important, or Brushfire, in relation to my artwork.
I'm a nature freak, you know, one of those weird people who doesnt just spend time outside but lives it. When I'm not running around in the woods I'm usually reading about it, researching it, or fighting to protect it.
I took a diploma in environmental technology with the intention of getting a degree that would help me save the planet. When I finished I had the terrible realization that this direction in life would have me sitting behind a computer, either in my house or worse, an office. I might as well be an animal in a cage.
So I took off traveling, working jobs in between that would allow me to be outside. I worked as a ranch trail guide, carriage driver and tour guide, Garry Oak recovery technician (fancy name for a wild weed puller) and finally as a gardener. During this time I picked up everything I could about the flora and fauna that surrounds me; I learned how to turn rose hips into delicious syrup for pancakes, weeds into fancy nutritious salads, toad stools into gourmet soups and even invasive frogs into exquisite french cuisine.
Last autumn it finally hit me; where this has all been leading. I am going to create an adventure tourism business, something different then your normal trekking company. I plan to take people out into the woods, teach them about the forest, its inhabitants, its threats, its cycles and its natural bounty. All while striving for minimal impact.
Some trips will be relaxed one day nature walks pointing out some especially useful or tasty species, there will be some comfortable 3-4 day camping trips learning to live well with what we can gather in the immediate area, and finally there will be intense backpacking trips into the wildest regions with the bare essentials.
I plan to use this blog to showcase the species I gather, how I process them, and of course how to enjoy them. At this point my strengths are with wild plants and mushrooms, but I plan to further my knowledge of fishing, and hunting as well. I would like to live 100% off of things I gather, hunt or grow. Pretty soon I plan to be able to run off in the woods with little more then a knife, and a warm sweater to live comfortably for as long as I'd like.
In the meantime I'll be posting my adventures here, as well as information for workshops, nature walks or camping trips I'll be teaching at.
Until then!
Cheers
- Katy
