What you’ll learn:

• Botany basics — no scientific background necessary

• Identification skills — what to look for, and when and where, and how to describe it

• Ecological literacy — understanding how plants create & shape their environments

• Taxonomy & evolutionary theory — see how plants are related based on morphological and ecological clues

• Horticulture — how to participate in a plant’s life cycle to enable it to thrive

• The plants — more than a dozen of North America’s most common edible species and genera, found in nearly all climates across the seasons, including:

  • chickweed

  • dandelions & cousins

  • garlic mustard

  • elderberries

  • wild onions

  • mulberries

  • acorns

  • and more!

First we review the basics of the science of plants; then we move on to explore some of the more common plant families around the world; and last but not least, we devote the final half of the course to a deep-dive on a dozen common edible wild plants found all across North America.

My mission in creating this program is to promote ecological literacy alongside an ethos of “conservation through use” — the (surprisingly) radical notion that humans can, in fact, have a positive impact on the environments that we move through. 

Nothing makes me happier than introducing people to the edible wild plant allies who surround us at all times.

Food is everywhere — you just need to know how to look, and how to describe what you see! That’s where I come in.

I am so excited for you to dig into this course! I sincerely hope that it will encourage you to pursue a deeper and more meaningful connection with the land around you.

Meet Your Teacher, Sam Sycamore

Born and raised in the Ohio River Valley of Kentuckiana, these days I reside in the Santa Cruz Mountains of Northern coastal California. I live off-grid among the redwoods and spend my 9-5 hours as an eco-friendly gardener and landscaper.

I was formally trained in plant ecology and botany at the University of Louisville (B.S. Biology - Ecology & Evolution, 2012), and I have been working in various fields related to horticulture — farming, gardening, landscaping, restoration — for a decade now. I am also the author of a book, Introduction to Foraging, self-published in early 2018.

Much of the fresh produce that I eat throughout the year comes from my cultivated garden, my wild tended crops, and my seasonal foraging excursions. I would love to empower you to be able to do the same.

“Is this course a good fit for me?”

If you’re new to foraging and you’re not sure where to begin — yes! 

This program is primarily designed for individuals with little or no experience gathering wild foods, with the objective of building up your confidence and skill level to the point where you can confidently identify, harvest, process, cook, and preserve some of the most common and abundant wild foods on your local landscape.

More important than the actual species, though, is the foundational framework in botany that you will learn, which will allow you to place each new species you encounter in its proper ecological and taxonomical context. Beyond boosting your confidence in your identification skills, this framework will make it much easier for you to retain new info you pick up about wild plants.

How the Course is Structured

Every week for the next 12 weeks, you’ll have at least one but usually two PDF lessons to read through.

These are arranged in a sequence meant to gradually build up your understanding of botanical terms and ecological concepts along the way. All of these lessons are accompanied by quiz questions to help you test your knowledge, and occasionally I will also assign homework to encourage you to do some further research on your own.

The course also includes three video lectures, in which I check in to explain some big-picture concepts to keep in mind as you hone your practical knowledge and identification skills.

“How many plants will I learn about?”

Well, that largely depends on your perspective.

The course includes 12 plant profiles, but it would be incorrect to say that it covers 12 species, per se. In many cases we are actually more concerned with the genus than the species, and there could potentially be tens or hundreds of species within that genus that would fit the basic description. For example: is oak “a” plant, or is it actually 600+ unique species all tied together by many common traits?

Furthermore, each profile makes references to lots of other plants, both related and unrelated, that may be good to know, like potential lookalikes. So while the profile on Dandelions technically only covers one species, along the way you’ll learn all about the Cichorieae tribe in general, which includes many closely related species who all look remarkably similar and can be used in similar ways.

And through our study of plant families alone, you will learn about the common traits shared by literally thousands of plants found all around the world, so even if you aren’t able to identify any given species right away, there’s a good chance you’ll at least be able to narrow it down to a taxonomical family pretty quickly — which will vastly improve your ability to pin down a positive ID.

The Time Commitment

Expect to invest a few hours per week in studying over the next twelve weeks, and try to get outside identifying plants at least once a week if you can.

Because this is largely a self-directed course of study, it’s your call how much time and energy you want to invest in it. 

If you wanted to, you could theoretically read through all of the lessons in a day or two. But I would urge you to take it piece by piece, a little at a time, so you can really focus on retaining each new piece of the puzzle as it’s presented.

We can only really skim the surface of many topics that we will briefly review, such as basic botany and plant taxonomy, but if you wish to go deeper with any topic along the way, I can probably point you towards some great primary resources.

In any case, you’ll never learn plant identification if you just read books for a few months and listen to me ramble about plants — you have to get out outside and practice, as often as you possibly can! Consider once a week for a few hours to be the bare minimum if you hope to retain the information you’ll be studying.

Sample Chapters

• Autumn Olives / Autumnberries - one of North America’s most hated invasive species is also its most prolific and underutilized fruit crop

• Wild Onions - ubiquitous and plentiful, our various Allium species have much to teach us about ecology and sustainable stewardship

Please note: upon purchasing the course, you will receive an email with a download link that expires in 24 hours. I wish i could change this! Be sure to download the course as soon as possible after purchasing, and if you have any issues, please email me.