As promised, today we have the Captain’s Report for the Forager Badge event which took place over the weekend. Before we get to that though, a couple of notes.

First our next event, Microscopic Wonders, is on May 3rd. Call to Adventure went out on Tuesday and we’re already over halfway full. If you want to attend, be sure to RSVP soon.

Second, over the last few months some of the Explorers Guild leadership crew have been working on an event for KQED and the Conservatory of Flowers. There’s one final playtest lined up for Friday, May 1st. If you’d like to join, we’d love to have you.

Third, the expeditionary group that is heading out to France in June met on Saturday. Our plans will keep moving forward but if you’re interested in joining we can share those details with you.

Forager Badge Captain’s Report

On Sunday, the Explorers Guild met to better know the plants around them. The last time this event was held was eight years ago, and much has changed since then. Our primary need was to find a new guide, and lucky for us, two of our Explorers (Skyraker and Binary) felt they had the knowledge and understanding to lead this expedition (yay!). Our secondary need was to find a place to hold the event. National, state, and regional parks don’t allow foraging, and especially as a large group, we were concerned about what that would mean for our outing. Once again, our new guides identified an alternate location in Napa. With the stage set, we were ready for our big day.

Sandwiched between two rainstorms, the weather was absolutely perfect, and our group came out in force. Twenty-six Explorers (including our two guides) were there to enjoy the day. Wandering through the Martha Walker Garden, we quickly noted that we were too large a group to navigate the space together. We broke into two groups and explored the floral landscape. From time to time, we would stop to admire a tree or plant, then taste the various parts, noting the bitterness, sweetness, or alpine-ness of the flavor.

A nearby set of woodpeckers got us to synchronize our calls to them: eh-er, eh-er, eh-er (does the accent come across in the report?). Only later was it mentioned that woodpeckers are solitary, and that a similar call would actually drive them away (doh!). Undeterred, we also found ourselves face to face with a number of caterpillars enjoying the garden. Chantae, a member of the Lepidoptera Society, gleefully watched as one caterpillar laid a number of eggs and declared herself the protector of this cluster.

Although the Fauna tempted us we were there for the plants. The garden offered an amazing range of native species, along with interpretive signs. The sign for soaproot stopped a number of us, noting that one of its effects is that it “stupefies fish.” As Lark considered how to include this in the Stellar Cartography, we asked Explorers to model what a stupefied fish looks like so that we could include it. Luckily, Explorers were not shy about making that happen, so Lark had plenty to draw from for her illustrations.

For our badge walkabout, the common plants we sought were not as abundant as we had hoped. We extended our walk to seek them out and found a few good samples (and a turtle on a log). We even found some good examples of poison oak. No worries about Explorers exposing themselves to it though; everyone was able to identify it and keep clear.

On our walk back, we had Explorers break into four groups, each tasked with identifying the plants we were seeking that day. When we returned to our starting point, we found that all Explorers present had met the requirements to earn the Forager badge. An excellent day out was capped by Hal and Sahrye offering the group some avocados from their tree at home, and Skyraker providing a small sample of floral champagne to send us off.

A big thanks needs to be sent to our guides, Skyraker and Binary, who led us (Thank you!). Thanks to Hal and Sahrye for the avocados, and for Barry who shared some photos. Also huge thanks to all of you who came out, it was so lovely to spend the day in your company.

I hope to see some of you for our Microscopy event and until the next time…

Semper Explorandum Explorers!