There’s wild food all around us, and in these courses – we’ll open your eyes to the vast number of edible and useful plants in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Many plants to enjoy and many ways to learn!

You can join us for single day classes, stack them together or take all five in a row.

Seasonal Wild Edible Plant Classes

In just one day, you’ll learn to identify roughly three dozen wild plants. Learn which ones are good to eat, how they can be used, and which plants to avoid. This course is held at two different locations. Our Foraging course at Advanced Survival Training’s home location near Hartwood, Virginia is an easier pace, as we’ll find dozens of foraging species within the span of a few hundred yards. Our Sky Meadows class is more active and far roaming, as we’ll hike about 4 miles of the park during our full-day course. Learn to identify the edibles of each season - fruits, berries, leaves, roots and so much more. You’ll even receive a foraging booklet that we produce for each class, yours as a take-home reminder of all the plants you experienced in your course. And that’s just the one-day Seasonal Wild Edible Plant class - there’s more.

One day Edible Plant class - $127 (available in two different locations and four distinct seasons)

Medicinal Plant Classes

In development for years, our Medicinal Plant class will take you through the complex and fascinating world of wild plants and the herbal medicines they provide. This class is about history and science. In our unique, hands-on approach, we will travel the landscape identifying medicinal plants, harvesting plant materials and creating medicines the very same day. Join us as we make a poultice, one salve, and one tincture that have been employed for healing since ancient times. You'll go home with a newfound appreciation for plants that you have all around you, a very detailed wild plant medicine book that is only available through this class, and a wild medicine "first aid kit".

One day Medicinal Plant class - $127

Foraging Immersion 2-day

This new class format combines our Wild Edible Plant class and our Medicinal Plant class into a hands-on immersion into wildcrafting and foraging.

Students are encouraged to camp on site and we'll be providing a wild food dinner (with your help) on Saturday night (or Monday night, for the September date). This revamped format will take you through all the steps! Identify it, pick it, cook it, eat it (or turn it into medicine, as is appropriate)

This class combination will take you through the complex and fascinating world of wild plants and the herbal medicines they provide. Join us as we travel the landscape identifying edible and medicinal plants. We'll focus on edibles during Saturday's class. We'll also be collecting plants to help us prepare a wild food feast for dinner Saturday night. Sunday we'll be harvesting plant materials to create poultices, salves, tinctures and oils that have been employed for healing since ancient times. You'll go home with a newfound appreciation for plants that you have all around you, very detailed wild plant booklets, and a wild medicine "first aid kit".

Two day Foraging and Medicinal class - $267

Baskets and Brew

For 2024, this class will be available as a stand-alone item, but it's also the second day of our 2-day Makers Workshop class and the third day of our 5-day Foraging Week program.

This class combines basketry and home brewing skills, to give you an opportunity to work on both. Learn to brew beer, vint wine, weave wicker basketry - in just one day!

In this new hybrid class, we'll make a seasonal wine and beer, incorporating some wild ingredients that we will forage from the landscape. We'll also weave natural baskets in the downtime while the brews are cooling. Whether you are a hopeful homesteader, a brewing enthusiast or you just love nature - this special class will connect you to the landscape through brewing and weaving.

One day Baskets and Brew class - $127

Tree Identification

Learn to identify the trees, shrubs and vines of the Eastern woodlands (and discover many of their remarkable uses).

There are enough details on every woody plant (when you take the time to look) to determine plant family, genus and even species. Learn to identify woody plants by their leaves, bark, pith, buds, leaf scars and many smaller features that few people recognize. This class will delve deeply into leaf identification when held during the growing season, and focus on bud and leaf scar identification during the dormant season.

One day Tree Identification class - $127

Herbal Medicine Intensive

Since ancient times, our ancestors have combined natural ingredients collected from gardens and from the wild to create healing remedies - and you can do it to!

In this one-day plant medicine class, you'll spend the day outdoors, collecting wild ingredients and combining them with simple substances you probably already have at home - to create natural, healthy products that are handy on a regular basis.

This NEW CLASS is a very exciting expansion of our Wild Medicinal Plants class. How are they different? The Wild Medicinal Plants class will be roughly 80% plant identification and explanations of plant uses, with about 20% of the time spent actually making wild medicines. The Herbal Medicine Intensive will only spend about 20% of the time doing wild plant ID and the remaining time will be spent on medicine production.

Learn how to:

• make a salve to help dry, itchy skin

• brew tannic acid skin wash from oak bark

• create an immune boosting syrup

• craft flavorful teas that are loaded with Vitamin C

• make tinctures, a medicated oil, and much more!

You'll make and go home with 10 natural remedies and even receive a detailed wild medicine manual - only available in this class.

One day Herbal Medicine making class - $127

Foraging Week

Looking for the ultimate foraging class?

We've combined five of our most popular plant classes into a 5-day experience that will give you the tools, skills and knowledge to forage for wild plant foods, medicines and supplies in the Eastern Woodlands.

Day One - Establish a strong foundation in plant identification and wild foods with our Seasonal Wild Edible Plant class.

Day Two - Continue your plant identification training with our Medicinal Plant class.

Day Three - Time for some practical plant fun, turn local plants into several styles of baskets and two different types of alcoholic beverage with our Baskets and Brew class.

Day Four - Expand your knowledge of forest and field with our Tree Identification class.

Day Five - Complete the week by creating 10 wild medicines in Herbal Medicine Intensive class.

This 5 day program will give you an experience that simply cannot be replicated by watching videos and reading books. Simply put, you'll never look at the plant kingdom the same way again.

For those who cannot make it to the whole week, there is the option to take days individually or smaller groupings (like taking the first to days as our Foraging Immersion Weekend).

Each member of this class will receive a copy of Advanced Survival Training's manuals on plant use and identification. Camping and one evening lecture/project are also included in the 5-day package. Course tuition is $697.