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 know how to forage locally.

During the Wild Edible Intensive, participants will learn which wild plants can be eaten, when to harvest 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.

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 three Sundays each term, from 10 am to 4 pm. Class is held rain or shine.

Spring/Summer 2012: May 27, June 24 and July 22, 2012
Summer/Fall 2012: August 19, September 16 and October 14, 2012

Participants may take either or both terms. Entry into the program may be in May or August. Participants are 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, students attending a second term who are ready to move beyond the introductory mode will be accommodated.  

Tuition: 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 one month 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 and how to key-out a plant with Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide.
  
• Principles and practices of sustainable wild harvesting.
  
• The role of wild foraging in the transition-times and the post-oil era.  
  
• Proper preparation of potentially toxic edible plants.
  
• Naturalizing wild edibles, inviting them into our gardens and dooryards.
  
• Putting up wild edibles for winter use.
  
• Communicating with plant beings, asking their permission to harvest and offering gratitude.

Books:

Lawrence Newcomb. Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide. Newcomb's is critical for plant identification, and it has no information on edible or medicinal properties. We will practice using Newcomb’s at each class.

Samuel Thayer. Forager’s Harvest.  There will be optional homework assignments from this excellent book.  Samuel Thayer's second book, Nature's Garden, is suggested for people taking a second term of Wild Edibles. Both are highly recommended.

Lee Allen Peterson. Edible Wild Plants.  Once you identify a plant with Newcomb’s, look in this book to see if it’s edible. Recommended, but optional for the program.

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. You may apply for a VSAC non-degree grant on line; google VSAC non-degree grants.  Application forms may also be obtained from Wisdom of the Herbs School, Vermont Student Assistance Corporation, 1-800-882-4166, or write P.O. Box 2000, Champlain Mill, Winooski, VT 05404-2601.

Students who receive a VSAC grant 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 after you attend the first class.

Registration commitment: Submitting the Registration Form means commitment to the three meetings of at least one term, and full payment of the tuition, regardless of attendance and regardless of payment option.

Making up class time: If you miss a class, you can make up one class per term in a following year of the program in the same month that you missed, as long as there is space in the class. Please let us know you if you want to make up a class.

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 hat with a brim, a head net and/or herbal bug repellent are suggested for the Spring/Summer Term. Lunch will be a potluck and we eat our wild fare at the end of the day. You will receive a hand lens on the first day of class - bring it to each class. Bring Newcomb’s Guide to the Wildflowers to each class. 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.

It is one thing to find a plant and identify it, but it is on a whole different level when you use the plant as food. M.S.

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.