William B. Cole Jr. (affectionately known among his friends and family as "Wild Bill") is something of an original. Growing up, and then raising a family here in the Pacific Northwest, Bill has spent a lifetime learning and sharing about the simple pleasures of the wonderful foods available from our local wild, farmed and foraged food economies. His passion for wild mushrooms, berries, and edible plant foods is honest and contagious.
Along with supplying a number of restaurants in the Vancouver, WA and Portland, OR area, Bill has been selling his wild-crafted foods at farmers markets, festivals and specialty shows for over fifteen years.
His wife and business partner, Laura, is the official "steward of sanity." She is the graphic designer, label maker, customer service department, bookkeeper, database manager, inventory taker, website builder, newsletter & blog editor, and errand runner. Most everything else is Bill's responsibility!
Of their seven grown children, most were sorely taken advantage of in their youth during long evenings and weekends of mushroom and berry hunts under the guise of "family fun" where they most often handed over the lion's share of their catch. (Hey, what were they going to do with it anyway!) Efforts by these terrific kids through the years have also included getting up in the wee hours of the morning to help Dad work farmers markets, setting up and managing Ebay accounts, cleaning and packaging product, and being testers for those 'questionable' mushrooms and herbs.
Nieces and nephews have contributed much the same, sometimes paid in money, most often in food rations and hugs.
The new generation of grandchildren are soon to be preened and will join the business once their little hands are large enough to fit into rubber gloves (so that the stinging nettles aren't toobothersome, and their parents can't accuse us of abuse).
All joking aside . . . what could be more wonderful than a small family business that moves through the generations and leaves embellished stories to be told, by each in their own way.
What We Believe . . .
We believe In family, community, and good honest work. In natural seasons, opportunities and pleasures. In our human capacity to experience joy, sorrow and change. In traditional methods as well as modern knowledge and understanding. In social, environmental and ecological responsibility.