About us
LIVE WILD
Offers unique opportunities for people from all walks of life and experience levels to engage with the joy of outdoor adventure. We are confident that you will find our experiences informative and enjoyable! If the sea and land provide (as they often do), you will also have the opportunity to engage in and enjoy a catch-and-cook on the spot! Whether you have fished your entire life or have never tied a fishing knot, we can cater to you and provide exceptional local outdoor experiences.
“Extraordinary Experiences”
Want to learn to forage for sea urchin, mussels and clams? Or maybe you would like to learn to accurately identify the wild edible mushrooms and plants that abound in our local forests and meadows? We’ve got you covered!
Whether you choose
to take it easy with a close group of friends on a private group foray, come along solo with your guide, or join a group of likeminded local aspiring foragers at one of our meet-and-greet forays, we’ve got you covered! Identification of wild edible mushrooms and plants, fishing, foraging, friction fire, stone tools, spearfishing, sea urchin, survival skills, Clamming, crabs and more.
Have you ever worried about what you might do if you got lost?
Foragers go off-trail by our very nature. But what happens if we get turned around? our survival skills workshops are geared to help you lean natural navigation methods, set up and use a Personal Survival Kit (PSK) and use it to successfully erect a shelter, make a controlled fire, purify water, use a survival fishing kit, carve snares and traps, and cook a meal (including some tasty wild table fare).
Traditional technologies
We also offer specialized courses such as bow and arrow making from locally harvested hardwoods and river cane. With an expertise in experimental archaeology, we are confident that you and your group will walk away with a unique skillset!
Our core Values
Classically trained in the archaeology of Indigenous peoples of the California coast, our deep appreciation for the long-term relationship between humans, the sea, the land, and the Old Ways guides our approach to educating the next generation of foragers and outdoors enthusiasts.
Safety
A fun and fruitful foray is very important to us, but your safety remains our first and foremost concern. Each outdoor adventure begins with a detailed safety briefing geared towards that day’s specific activity.
Sustainability
Hunter-gatherers have been foraging and fishing the California coast for at least 13,000 years (and likely more than 15,000 years). We guarantee that you will learn proper harvesting practices that will maintain the health and productivity of these resources for thousands of years to come! The wilds provide food that requires no fertilizer, exclusionary fencing, no pesticides, and no irrigation! In other words, the lowest carbon footprint and sustainable food sources on the planet!
Seasonality
What is better than asking your local vendor at the farmer’s market to tell you what is in season? Experiencing the wild harvest for yourself! Each season offers a new and unique bounty and experience exclusive to that time of year! Examples include Autumn wild nuts and crabbing, Winter shellfish and mushrooms, Spring greens, daytime low tides, and edible blossoms, and the bountiful berries and calm waters for spearfishing and kayak fishing in the Summer!
Equal opportunity and access
Your guide, Dr. Kev, has a PhD in anthropology (the study of culture and cultural diversity). He believes that all people deserve the right to be treated with equal respect and should have the same joyful experience reconnecting with the natural world and the bountiful resources it provides. Whether you spent your first forty years of your like in the “concrete jungle” or you were born and raised out “in the sticks,” our outdoor adventures will be geared towards your comfort level and goals.
Keeping the Old Ways Alive
The motto of our YouTube channel, Catch N Cook California is to “Keep the Old Ways alive!” The “Old Ways” is a term used by many of our local Native American peoples in reference to their ancestral technologies and foraging practices. While some of the equipment we use (for freedive-spearfishing for instance) may differ somewhat from that of the ancient past, the mentality of a local and sustainable harvest remains the same. We are dedicated to keeping the Old Ways alive!
YOUR GUIDE
Kevin (aka Dr. Kev) is a life-long forager. In addition to recently obtaining a PhD in archaeology which focused on maritime adaptations among California’s first Indigenous inhabitants, his interests and research have largely concentrated on human evolution and traditional hunter-gatherer interactions with coastal, riverine, and lacustrine environments.
Kevin’s earliest memory, at only a year and a half old, was joining his family to forage for clams (though admittedly he was not very good at it at this age and ended up soaking wet in a few minutes).
He learned to forage several wild greens and local berries by the time he was three and was successfully
Taking crabs and mussels in the rocky intertidal zone by age five. Around this time, he learned to cast a fishing line and shoot a bow and arrow. By age 11 he learned to freedive and spearfish, and by 12 years old he had completed his hunter’s safety course and began joining his brother and father on hunts in the mountains. At 17, he began leaning to tan hides, make stone tools and carve his own bows and hunting arrows from the materials that he could find growing in his northern California environment. This appreciation and connection with ancient technologies, local foods, and especially the intertidal and subtidal oceanic environments led to a deep interest in the anthropology and archaeology of local Indigenous peoples.
Some 15 years ago, Kevin nearly drowned in the ocean. In a moment that fundamentally altered the path of his life and career, Kevin made a pact with the sea. The pact was simple, if the sea would spare his life and allow him to make it safely back to shore, he would dedicate his life to teaching respect for the sea, the land, and the Old Ways. In 2016 Kevin and his colleague Martijn launched “Catch n Cook California,” a YouTube channel dedicated to sharing these passions. After so much viewer support, he has finally started this local Bay Area (and beyond) foraging and adventure platform where folks like you can join him in his “outdoor classroom” to learn firsthand!