Botany & Herbalism: Introduction to Wildcrafting!

Completed by 370 learners

Ages 8-12

Live Group Class

Wildcrafting is the practice of identifying, ethically harvesting and using wild plants for food and wellness. Gifts of food and healing are all around us. Now let’s get outside and start learning! 🌼

Heather Nerheim

Average rating:

4.8

Number of reviews:

(114 reviews)

Live video meetings

1x per week, 5 weeks

3-9 learners per class

60 min

About Learning Overview Teacher Reviews

What's included

5 live meetings

5 in-class hours

Assignments

1-2 hours per week. There are 4 plant challenges throughout the course that encourage students to get outside and experience working with the plants first hand. These projects are optional, but encouraged! :)

Projects

This course comes with a beautiful, full-color PDF course book! The course-book includes ALL the information covered in class as well as many more plant monographs and recipes for you to explore, a total of 207 pages of content!

Certificate of Completion

Certificate of Achievement - each Budding Herbalist will receive a printable certificate for completing the course.

Class Experience

US Grade 3 - 6

Beginner Level

Welcome to Wildcrafting! My name is Heather, I am an herbalist and I will be your guide on this learning journey! 

In this class we will learn how to identify plants, when and how to harvest them ethically and safely, and how people have used plants for food, health, and wellness! Along the way, you’ll have the chance to learn how to make fun recipes and crafts! Nature is full of wonderful gifts.  Gifts of food and healing that are all around us.  Now let’s get outside and start learning!

📚 OUTLINE & COURSE BOOK
This course comes with a beautiful, full-color PDF course book! The course-book includes ALL the information covered in class as well as many more plant monographs and recipes for you to explore, a total of 207 pages of content!

COURSE OUTLINE

Week 1:
🌿What are wild plants?
🌿What is wildcrafting?
🌿How to harvest wild plants sustainably
🌿Be safe!
🌿Botany: The steps to plant identification
🌿Using a dichotomous key
🌿 Week 1 Plant ID Challenge!

Week 2:
🌸Review the Week 1 Plant Identification Challenge
🌸Ways wild plants have been used for food and  wellness: Food, Teas & Decoctions, Tinctures & Glycerites, Infused Oils, Infused Vinegars, Syrups & Oxymels, Salves, Poultices
🌸Supplies for foraging and wildcrafting

Week 3:
🌱Plant Morphology: Parts of a Leaf
🌱Leaf Shapes, Margins, Arrangements & Compound leaves
🌱Plant Study: Chickweed 
🌱Recipes
🌱Week 3 Plant Challenge!

Week 4: 
🌼Plant Morphology: Parts of a Flower
🌼Pollination & Pollinators
🌼What is a composite flower?
🌼Plant study: Violet 
🌼Recipes 
🌼Week 4 Plant Challenge!

Week 5:
🥕Plant Morphology: Parts of a Root
🥕Mycorrhizal Fungi and Plant Roots
🥕Plant Study: Dandelion
🥕Recipes
🥕Week 5 Plant Challenge and wrap up!


OUTSIDE OF CLASS BONUS MATERIALS:

🌿Additional plant monographs and recipes (leaf, flower, and root allies) are provided in the course book to give students additional plants to search for in case they are unable to find the plant we cover in depth in that week's class and to allow them to continue learning through the seasons!
🌿The course book also includes printable Plant Morphology cut and paste exercises and word searches to help solidify concepts
🌿Certificate of Achievement - each Budding Herbalist will receive a printable certificate for completing the course

*Note: The plants covered in this course may change depending on seasonal availability!

**ATTENTION PARENTS!  The information in this class is for educational purposes only. The instructor of this course disclaims any liability in connection with the use of this information.  While all of the plants we are covering in this course are considered mild and safe for children, touching and ingesting wild plants is inherently risky. Plants can easily be mistaken and every individual will vary in their physiological response to a plant that is touched or consumed. Please do not attempt self-treatment of a medical problem without consulting a qualified health practitioner.

***SAFETY INFO: An important part of this class is learning how to safely identify wild plants. We will be working with common, safe, easy-to-identify species, such as common dandelion and chickweed. We will discuss toxic look-a-likes where relevant. We will focus on learning to identify with our own eyes and senses, which includes understanding plant morphology and how to use tools like field guides and dichotomous keys. We will also talk about some of the new plant identification apps, their use and their drawbacks.  Safety is a top priority and students are instructed to always have a parent's permission before touching/picking or wildcrafting with wild plants. There will be resources for websites and field guides on plant identification.

Learning Goals

Students will learn how to safely identify common wild plants, the 6 steps to plant identification, and how to use plant ID resources such as dichotomous keys

Students will learn plant morphology and use it to visually identify plant species

Other Details

Parental Guidance

**ATTENTION PARENTS! The information in this class is for educational purposes only. The instructor of this course disclaims any liability in connection with the use of this information. While all of the plants we are covering in this course are considered mild and safe for children, ingesting wild plants is inherently risky. Plants can easily be mistaken and every individual will vary in their physiological response to a plant that is touched or consumed. Please do not attempt self-treatment of a medical problem without consulting a qualified health practitioner.**

Supply List

-------- Recommended Supplies  --------

These supplies will make it easier to harvest and process plants when you are adventuring outside of class.  Most of this list will be easy to find around the house! We will go over supplies during week 2 and students will have time to gather items before week 3. 
  
3-ring binder and hole punch for course materials & Plant ID sheets
Glue stick (for cut and paste activities)
Crayons or colored pencils (for coloring pages)
Backpack or basket for harvesting plants outside of class
Gardening gloves
Scissors 
Trowel
A field guide for your region (I will provide some resources in class!)
Tea strainer for loose tea
Storage bottles, jars, or containers (for storing dried herbs, tincturing, and infusing plant material into oil or vinegar)
Cotton string or twine (for tying and drying plant material)

1 file available upon enrollment

External Resources

Learners will not need to use any apps or websites beyond the standard Outschool tools.

Meet the teacher

Heather Nerheim

Joined April, 2019

4.8

114reviews

Profile

Teacher expertise and credentials

My education in botany and herbalism has been a combination of two decades of self-study, various courses with other incredible herbalists, and, in 2021 I completed a 2-year program in advanced clinical herbalism through the School of Evolutionary Herbalism. My most recent adventure is going back to school to pursue a graduate degree in Nutrition & Integrative Health and Herbal Medicine through Maryland University of Integrative Health. 

However, I always tell my students that my greatest teachers of all have been the plants themselves!  There is no substitute for getting outside and spending time with the plants, tuning into each of their unique energies, and having real experiences using and working with them! 

I have been teaching courses on wildcrafting and herbalism for the past 7 years and have had the pleasure of introducing over a thousand children to the wonders of wildcrafting through my courses and my course book. I am also a homeschooling mom of 4 (ages 11, 13, 17, and 18). I look forward to meeting and working with your learner!