Request Catalog Contact Us

Calendar Photos

Wild Edible Plants and Medicinal Plants Courses

"I never realized how truly simple it can be to introduce healing herbs into my life in an every day way."
-Kat K.

 

 

What are all of those wild green plants growing around you? Did you know that many of them can provide you with nutrition or healing medicines? Plant identification and safety are only the beginning. You will develop a relationship with plants as you make tinctures and salves and entire wild edible plant meals with these green friends.

Wilderness Awareness School offers classes that will introduce you to the most common and useful wild plants of the Pacific Northwest, as well as in-depth courses that will teach you how to delve deeper into the plants of your area.

Here are just a few of the topics you can learn: Taxonomy and identification of plants; researching native use of plants in crafts and as food and medicine; prediction of plant species location based on knowledge of ecology; interplay of extremes and bird's eye viewing of land features; conservation ecology; the history of the land and the native people's staple resources.

Bring an open mind and an empty stomach to our Wild Edible Plants courses...

Our Wild Edible Plants Courses

Monthly Nature Talks at REI: Seattle
Many of the region's finest naturalists share their wisdom at REI in downtown Seattle. Check out the following upcoming related talks:

• Northwest Wild Edible and Medicinal Plants with John Gallagher
  Monday, February 11, 2008. 7-9 p.m. FREE

Plants for Food and Medicine - May 9-11, 2008
Bring wild foods into your life on a daily basis! Identify and harvest herbs for consumption and healing in this popular three-day course. Come away with a head full of knowledge, stomach full of wild edible plants, and hands full of herbal remedies that you made for your home.

NatureSkills Weeklong - July 13-19, 2008
Jumpstart your skills exploring the natural world with Wilderness Awareness School’s most experienced instructors as we learn fundamental tools for connecting with and studying nature. During the week-long course, your classroom instruction will be paired with mentored dirt time in the field where we take theory into practice; studying wild edible plants, medicinal plants, wilderness survival skills, tracking wildlife, birding, and exploring the natural world.

Kamana Naturalist Training Program - At your own pace
The Kamana Naturalist Training Program is a comprehensive independent study course that covers the naturalist background needed to engage in the wilderness arts, including tracking, bird language, survival and primitive living skills, traditional herbalism, and naturalist mentoring.

Begin with Kamana One: Exploring Natural Mystery. During this short course you will experience two weeks of awareness exercises and six areas of ecological study using a field guide and audio series narrated by Jon Young. Begin to see the world through "native eyes."

Outdoor Instructor Course - The Earth Mentor Program - June 26-Aug. 7, 2008
This six-week outdoor instructor course offers foundational tools for becoming a meaningful mentor in the lives of children. You will receive training in Wilderness Awareness School's unique educational method, gain experience teaching children as an Assistant Instructor at our summer nature camps, hone your wilderness skills and learn new ones, and even go on an expedition! College credit is now available as an option to students in this course.

Year-long Wilderness Course - Residential Program - Sept. 2008-June 2009
Our core intensive course is nine months of thorough grounding in every aspect of our curriculum, spent as part of a supportive community of fellow learners. At the Residential Program, you will develop the eyes, the ears, and the awareness with which to help our culture move forward into the future in a healthy and sustainable way.

Some articles of interest from our NatureSkills.com site:
Deadly Plant: Water Hemlock - by Walter Muma
White Pine: Great Tree of Peace - by Susun S. Weed
Plant Quiz 1: Are Your Paying Close Attention? - by Eileen VanBronkhorst

Registration Information
Calendar
Scholarship Information