During the Wild Edible Program, participants will learn which wild plants can be eaten, when to eat them, and how to prepare them. Learn how to determine how much of a stand of plants can be sustainably harvested. Discover the benefits of naturalizing wild foods, some would say “weeds”, into our gardens and dooryards. Experience how wild edibles complement locally cultivated foods and enhance food security. And at the core, we will practice being who we are in the natural scheme of things - just one species among many on the Earth, honoring the source of our food and sustenance, taking only our fair share, deeply connecting with Nature, and offering gratitude.

Dates: Class meets for two terms, three Sundays each term, from 10 am to 4 pm. 

First Term - Spring/Summer: May 9, June 13 and July 11, 2010
Second Term - Summer/Fall: August 8, September 12 and October 3, 2010

Participants may take either or both terms. Entry into the program may be in May or August. Participants are highly encouraged to take both terms in order to experience the full range of wild edibles over the seasons. Since instruction is given in both terms for using Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide, accommodation for students attending both terms is provided for those who are ready to move beyond the introductory mode.

Tuition: Tuition is $300 for each term. A $50 non-refundable deposit for each term holds your place. Early registration discounted tuition of $575, a discount of $25, is available if you commit to both terms and tuition is fully paid by April 17, 2010, three weeks before the start date. A Payment Plan is available of $83.33 due at each class. VSAC non-degree grants are available, see below. Use our printable registration form to register.

Topics Covered:

• Rules for safe wild foraging.
• Plant identification using Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide.
• Principles and practices of sustainable wild harvesting.
• Preparing local wild edibles with cultivated foods.
• Proper preparation of potentially toxic edible plants.
• Naturalizing wild edibles, inviting them into our gardens, dooryards, towns and urban spaces.
• Drying wild edibles by for winter use.
• Communicating with plant beings, asking their permission to harvest and offering gratitude.

Picking and eating a wild plant has always intrigued the modern mind, touching, perhaps, a genetic memory of wild harvesting food that has been the way of life for most of the history of humanity. The end of the age of cheap oil and the reality of global warming require that we once again find our food locally

Required books: Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide by Lawrence Newcomb, Peterson’s Edible Wild Plants by Lee Allen Peterson and Forager’s Harvest by Samuel Thayer. A list of supplemental reading and resources will be supplied.

Grants: Qualifying Vermont residents may apply for Vermont Student Assistance Corporation (VSAC) non-degree grants. VSAC awards grants on a first-come-first-serve basis while funds last.

VSAC application forms may be obtained from Wisdom of the Herbs School, or call Vermont Student Assistance Corporation: 1-800-882-4166 or write P.O. Box 2000, Champlain Mill, Winooski, VT 05404-2601.

Students who apply for VSAC grants are asked to submit the $50 non-refundable deposit with the Registration Form. We will refund whatever amount of your deposit exceeds the tuition after the grant is issued to Wisdom of the Herbs School.

Registration Committment: Attending the Wild Edible Intensive requires a commitment to three meetings of at least one term. Submitting the Registration Form means commitment to full payment of the tuition, regardless of attendance and regardless of payment option.

Gear to Bring: Students are asked to come prepared with hiking boots or shoes, rain jacket and rain pants, backpack, trowel, hat and water bottle. A full list of items to bring will be supplied upon registration.

Scents: For the comfort of all, please do not wear any scents, natural or otherwise. Thank you for your consideration.

I find myself talking with people about the things I'm learning in the Wild Edible Intensive, and almost everybody perks up - I think there's an instinctive awareness building in our society that these skills will become essential sooner than we may know. So this work to me is amazingly fun, yummy, soul-satisfying, and deeply important. J. H.

Collecting, preparing and eating wild edibles- what greater joy is there!? K.L.