Foraging 101- Identifying and Harvesting Wild Plants for Food (and Medicine)

The aim of this course is to equip you to confidently identify plants and safely use them for food. You will also learn many other uses of the plants around you. Wild plants are also used for medicine, clothing, shelter, bedding, heating, basketry, eating utensils, soaps, rope, dyes, adhesives, weapons, hygiene, insect repellants, and much more! This course will be very hands-on, and requires active participation in the field. Each student will be required to actually harvest and consume wild plants. But before we get to that, each student will be thoroughly familiar with plant identification botany, foraging safety considerations, and the basic steps for identifying a plant with 100% certainty. Students will be encouraged to maintain constant communication with the instructor so that they can quickly identify the edible plants in their area. Regardless of what region of the U.S. you are in, this course will be applicable to you, and you will be given study resources specific to your area. While the primary focus of this course is food plants, there will also be a brief introduction to herbal medicine, and brief medicinal information on wild plants will be scattered throughout the course when applicable. Every student of this course will walk away with the knowledge necessary to permanently integrate wild food plants into their diet and lifestyle.

Course Objectives:

1. Students will be able identify at least 100 wild plants growing in their area.
2. Students will have harvested and consumed at least 20 plants growing in their area(with guidance and supervision from the instructor.)
3. Every student will be equipped to harvest new plants independently after the course is finished.

Texts:

• The Forager’s Harvest by Samuel Thayer
• Edible Wild Plants by John Kallas, PhD
• Botany in a Day(Sixth Edition 2013) by Thomas J. Elpel

Optional:

• National Wildlife Federation Field Guide to Wildflowers of North America by David M. Brandenburg
• National Wildlife Federation Field Guide to Trees of North America by Bruce Kershner