Foraging in Casper with Heirloom and Native Chef Leah Burback

In our latest episode of Report to Wyoming, Elliott Ramage and I sit down with chef Leah Burback to talk about her business Heirloom & Native as well as foraging for local foods.

The business just passed its one-year-anniversary on May 17.

Burback's business is all about seasonality and buying local. She believes in using what's truly available in Wyoming and building menus seasonally to reflect that.

The name of the business comes from Burback's love of  heirloom skills and native foods.

"We have forgotten as a society that these things don't just appear out of the jar, that they're actually being made somewhere and you can make some of these things by hand" says the chef.

We also get into foraging. In addition to preparing meals and catering, she offers educational workshops online to teach others about going out in nature and identifying plants -- both edible and poisonous.

Burback's foraging skills come from growing up with a mom in the forest service and learning about ranch-land management. She also participated in range-judging through the 4-H program and competed nationally.

"Our food is not just in the farm or in the grocery store, it's right outside. We walk by it all the time" says Burback.

Listen to the full conversation here or in Spotify below.

To see pictures of our foraging at Rotary at Park scroll down!