The Cascadia Bio Bar

A Members-Only, Season-Long Food Project

The Cascadia Bio Bar isn’t just a recipe—it’s a rhythm we follow together through the year. If TKH is successful in its mission, my hope is to create a commercial product with this recipe. What's beautiful about approaching it as a members project is how versatile this recipe can be. Outside of the main proteins and binders, the possibilities of making it our own grow all around us.

This exclusive members-only project is built around one simple idea: harvest slowly, preserve intentionally, and gather at season’s end to create something meaningful from the land we call home. Throughout the year, I’ll guide members through foraging key Cascadian ingredients as they come into season—showing when to harvest, how to do it responsibly, and how to preserve each component so it’s ready when we need it.

Think salal berries at peak ripeness, young nettles before they toughen, fir tips in early spring, late-summer berries, mushrooms, seeds, and coastal influences—all preserved through dehydration, powdering, or simple storage methods you can do at home. Each ingredient becomes a small act of attention, a way of tuning into the seasonal pulse of the bioregion.

As the year winds down, we’ll bring it all together.

Members will be invited to a live-streamed, end-of-season batch cook, where we combine our collective bounty into a full run of Cascadia Bio Bars—fuel designed for long days on trail, paddles into the backcountry, and cold mornings under fir and cedar. This isn’t about perfection or mass production. It’s about shared knowledge, shared timing, and honoring the land that feeds us.

Along the way, you’ll get:

• Seasonal foraging call-outs and reminders

• Ethical harvest guidance rooted in Cascadian ecosystems

• Simple preservation techniques anyone can follow

• Recipe evolution notes and test batches

• A seat at the table for the final, communal preparation
  

This project lives at the intersection of food, place, and community. It asks us to slow down. To notice what ripens. To preserve with intention. To carry something into winter that we gathered with our own hands.

The seasonal windows will shift year to year — elevation, rainfall, temperature — they all matter. Because of that, this project stays alive through shared observation. Members are encouraged to post updates, questions, and field notes inside the Foraging channel on our Discord forum, where we can track what’s coming into season in real time across the bioregion.

The land rarely follows a calendar perfectly. But together, we can follow it more closely.

It only works if we do it together.

Welcome to the long harvest.

Cascadia BioBar ~ A Monthly Field Calendar

(Western WA / Cascadian Bioregion baseline)
Elevation, rainfall, and microclimate will shift these windows. Members are encouraged to post real-time observations inside the Foraging channel on Discord so we can track seasonal movement across the bioregion together.

January ~ Watch for:

• Oyster mushrooms (mild winters)

• Shelf fungi (for powders, if properly identified)

• Storm-tossed bull kelp (coast)

Focus:
Inventory preserved ingredients. Rehydrate and test small batches. Winter is formulation season.

February ~ Watch for:

• Salmonberry shoots

• Early nettle emergence (low elevation)

• Alder catkins (pollen experiments, optional)

Focus:
Scout nettle patches. Note sunlight exposure and soil moisture.

March ~ Watch for:

• Young nettle tops

• Douglas fir tips

• Spruce tips

Preserve:
Blanch & dehydrate nettles → powder
Dehydrate tips or infuse & reduce

This is the mineral foundation month.

April ~ Watch for:

• Fir/spruce tips (short window)

• Early coastal salt harvest (where legal)

• Edible flowers (violet, chickweed)

Focus:
Citrus-resin brightness and mineral salinity.

May ~ Watch For:

• Salmonberries

• Wild rose petals

• Early greens at elevation

Preserve:
Berry leather experiments
Petal drying for subtle floral lift

June ~ Watch for:

Scout & Early Harvest

• Salal (watching closely)

• Early huckleberries (sunny slopes)

• Thimbleberries

Focus:
Monitor ripeness. Elevation now matters.

July ~ Watch for:

Prime Berry Month

• Salal berries

• Blueberries

• Huckleberries

Preserve:
Low, slow dehydration
Powder some for color + antioxidant boost

This is sugar and structure month.

August ~ Watch for:

• First chanterelles (after rains)

• Wild sunflower seeds

• Dock seeds

Preserve:
Slice & dehydrate mushrooms → powder
Dry & toast seeds

This is depth and texture month.

September ~ Watch for:

Prime Window:

• Chanterelles

• Rose hips beginning to redden

• Second berry flushes

Focus:
Final mushroom push before colder nights.

October ~ Watch for:

Prime Window:

• Rose hips (after light frost ideal)

• Madrone berries (selectively)

• Late mushrooms

Preserve:
Dry hips thoroughly → powder
Finalize ingredient inventory

November ~ Watch for:

Focus Month:

• Drying final batches

• Powdering

• Labeling

• Storage checks

Prepare for communal batch cook.

December ~ Creation:

Gathering Month

• Live-streamed BioBar batch

• Taste testing

• Adjust ratios for next year
  

Winter becomes reflection and refinement.

The Core Pantry (Non-Foraged Base Ingredients)

While the seasonal ingredients shift throughout the year, the Cascadia BioBar is built on a consistent, shelf-stable foundation. Members will want to keep the following core ingredients on hand, as they form the structural backbone of every batch:

• Hemp protein powder

• Pumpkin seed or complementary plant protein powder

• Sprouted oat flour (or finely ground rolled oats)

• Ground flaxseed

• Mixed nut or seed butter (hazelnut, almond, or similar)

• Brown rice syrup (primary binder)

• Coconut oil

• Sea salt

• Optional: mushroom powder, berry powder, or cacao nibs for depth.

These ingredients provide the protein density, binding strength, fat stability, and caloric durability that make the BioBar functional in the backcountry. The foraged elements are layered into this base — not relied upon for structure.