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This blended class meets online for some sessions and on NYBG grounds for others. Registered students will receive login instructions and a syllabus with specifics. Plants surround us in a profusion of forms. But in naturally occurring landscapes, these combinations are far from random, and are often dictated by complex factors, which limit or encourage...

Central Park provides a great window into the world of wild foods of mid-spring. It's the peak of the season for wild salad greens, and we'll be finding great quantities of renewable ingredients: Spicy mustard greens, such as garlicky garlic mustard, hot hedge mustard, and even hotter poor man's pepper, will abound on lawns or under trees anywhere,...

Bonsai is the ancient Japanese art form of miniature trees in containers.  It is an art form that helps connect us to nature. Through this process, it strengthens our spirit. This is why Bonsai can be a figurative mirror image of the grower. With an open heart and mind, students can start their own journey of personal growth through the art of...

A great abundance of edible and medicinal wild plants and mushrooms makes this park a great place for edible and medicinal plants and mushrooms in late summer. Burdock, an expensive detoxifying herb sold in health food stores, abounds in cultivated areas throughout the park. You can also use this invasive species as a superb root vegetable, or even...

Here in NYC, fall is the best time to hunt for edible fungi, including honey, oyster, and hen-of-the woods mushrooms. Paul Sadowski, 25-year veteran of the New York Mycological Society, will show you how to identify many species and their look-alikes, where to find them, and how to cook or preserve them.  We'll embark on mushroom hunts together...

With a lakeside, cultivated areas, picnic grounds, and woods, Belmont Lake State Park is a great place for wild foods in late winter, and everything the group will be finding is renewable. The plants repeatedly get trimmed down by lawn mowers, but they’re adapted to defend themselves by regeneration. Many of the foreign plants here are also invasive. ...

Nature's apothecary is right outside growing in our meadows, woodlands and even our City parks. Summer is one of the most abundant seasons to forage, and discover creative ways to use our native and invasive wild weeds for food and medicine. Join herbalist, Dawn Petter as we discover what wonders are growing beneath our feet. Please dress for the...

Class will take place outside on NYBG grounds and follow current safety procedures. Registered students will be sent information regarding meeting location and log-in information. Many important designers have shaped NYBG grounds throughout the years, including Calvert Vaux, Beatrix Farrand, Piet Oudolf, and Lynden B. Miller. Stroll the grounds with...

The sunny borders between woodlands and the parking lot provide prime habitat for various wild herbs and greens. We'll look for sheep sorrel and wood sorrel, with their wonderful lemony flavors, plus goutweed, which tastes like parsley, carrots, and celery. Poor man's pepper, a common, delicious wild mustard, also appears in great abundance in sunny...

The 17-year-old foraging expert had been co-leading tours with her dad, "Wildman" Steve Brill, since she was 9. "I'm glad to be rid of her," exclaimed her grumpy father. "She finds all the plants and mushrooms faster than I do, she bosses me around, and she steals all my jokes!" Sheldrake Lake is great for early spring foraging. Right out of the...

Central Park provides a great window into the world of wild foods in  early spring. Making a meal with these plants is simple at this time of the year. For an appetizer, try simmering field garlic bulbs in diluted vinegar with Italian seasonings, to make an outstanding pickle. It's the peak of the season for wild salad greens, and we'll be finding...

Get a solid grounding in the basic plant body, from the cell to the roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and fruits. After an overview of microscope use and fundamental science in the first session, you'll use both dissecting and compound light microscopes to observe plant anatomy. Moving on, we'll introduce the base-level chemistry required for understanding...

With a lakeside, cultivated areas, picnic grounds, and woods, Belmont Lake State Park is a great place for wild foods in late winter, and everything the group will be finding is renewable. The plants repeatedly get trimmed down by lawn mowers, but they’re adapted to defend themselves by regeneration. Many of the foreign plants here are also invasive. ...

Soil is a dynamic, living organism and the very foundation of sustainable horticulture and agriculture. This course focuses on the texture, structure, density, and color of different soils and the dynamic relationship that exists among soil, water, and plants. Learn irrigation and drainage techniques and explore how soil, organic matter, and microbiology...

The 17-year-old foraging expert had been co-leading tours with her dad, "Wildman" Steve Brill, since she was 9. "I'm glad to be rid of her," exclaimed her grumpy father. "She finds all the plants and mushrooms faster than I do, she bosses me around, and she steals all my jokes!" Sheldrake Lake is great for early spring foraging. Right out of the...