Mr. MacWelch offers classes to share his knowledge of how to find wild plants that can be eaten. Some classes have attracted more than twenty students. But on this day, there are just two, Bob and Tamae Heilen.

BOB HEILEN: "I'd like to be able to know that if there were an emergency and I couldn't get food in the store that I would be able to find food on my own, but also my wife and I, we like to learn new things."

TAMAE HEILEN: "Recently I started cooking wild plants like dandelions in our yard. And it tasted really good, and I decided, I want to study."

On Earth Connection's four-hectare property, the Heilens are learning about dandelions and other edible plants. Among them is yarrow, which looks a little like a fern.

TIM MacWELCH: "But ferns will not smell like this. Crush this and smell it. It's going to be like a culinary herb."

TAMAE HEILEN: "Smells really good."

Wild carrots are also on the tasting menu for the Heilens, but Mr. MacWelch warns that these can be difficult to identify. Wild carrots should look and smell like smaller, white versions of carrots sold in the market. Not only that, they should have tiny hairs on the stems.

TIM MACWELCH: "If there are no hairs on this and it smells bad, you're looking at a poison hemlock or a fool's parsley, both of which are deadly."

Tim MacWelch offers several different wilderness survival classes throughout the year. He also writes a blog on survival skills for the online magazine Outdoor Life.