Foraging Walks, Workshops, Presentations, and Courses

The Farm and Forage Fellowship Program is a comprehensive, multi-season immersion into foraging and small to medium scale diversified farming and gardening! This program is perfect for people who want to greatly enhance their farming and foraging skills, become healthier and more resilient, start a new farm or garden project, or develop a deeper connection to the land around them. The skills and techniques we cover will be focused on our bioregion but will also be applicable in many types of ecosystems around the world.

Cultivate the skills you need to confidently start a garden, grow and forage your own food, safely identify wild plants and mushrooms, cook and process fresh ingredients into food and medicine, cultivate mushrooms at home and more!! This is a fantastic opportunity to learn practical skills, spend time outdoors and connect with like-minded community.

This will be an experiential course where participants will get to work alongside me in the garden and the forest and put to practice the skills they are learning in every class. Each time we meet we will learn and practice new techniques for cultivation, harvesting and processing, discuss different plants and mushrooms, and sample new foods and teas from the landscape. Plus participants will have the opportunity to take home plants and projects that we work on in class. These classes are far more in immersive than my typical monthly Foraging Walks and Farm Tours.

TOPICS & SKILLS COVERED:

• Organic, low-cost vegetable and fruit cultivation

• Harvesting and processing of greens, herbs, fruits, roots and mushrooms

• Vegetable gardening throughout the seasons

• Sustainable foraging practices

• Irrigation, pest and disease management, hand tools, essential equipment

• Mushroom cultivation at home

• Fruit tree and shrub maintenance

• Plant propagation and tree grafting

• Wild plant and mushroom identification

• Medicinal properties of herbs and mushrooms

• Making medicinal extracts and teas

• Cooking and preserving freshly harvested ingredients

• Soil science and ecology

• Composting strategies

• Seed saving and more…

SCHEDULE:

• 12 x 4-hour classes (48 hours total)

• Every class will go from 12:00 pm - 4:00 pm

• Saturday, April 18th - Forested Farm

• Saturday, May 16th - Forested Farm

• Sunday, May 24th - Silver Spring, MD

• Saturday, June 13th - Forested Farm

• Sunday, June 28th - Greenbelt, MD

• Saturday, July 18th - Forested Farm

• Saturday, August 15th - Fort Washington, MD

• Sunday, August 23rd - Forested Farm

• Sunday, September 13th - Forested Farm

• Saturday, October 17th - Silver Spring, MD

• Sunday, October 18th - Forested Farm

• Saturday, November 14th - Forested Farm

**Dates and locations may be subject to minor changes based on extreme weather and emergencies in which case we will reschedule or use Nov. 14th as the make-up date.**

Here's an example itinerary for a class day!

April 18th, 12-4 pm (Forested Farm):

• Opening circle and introductions

• Measuring out and creating vegetable beds, bed prep, basic soil science on the go

• Essential tools and equipment

• Direct seeding veggies by hand, planting seedlings

• Foraging for spring mushrooms and herbs

• April farm tour

• Shiitake mushroom harvest

• Harvesting and processing greens

• Building and eating a salad together

• Steamed greens from the farm

• Fresh tea with wild herbs and flowers

LOCATION:

Some of the classes will take place at Forested Farm and Education Center in Bowie, MD. For other classes we will meet at local parks around Montgomery County and Prince George counties in Maryland and perhaps we will meet once in Washington DC or Arlington, VA.

REGISTRATION:

Maximum registration of 25 participants (RECOMMENDED TO REGISTER ASAP - THIS PROGRAM SOLD OUT LAST YEAR). There are three payment tiers for this course. This payment system is designed to accommodate participants with different levels of financial flexibility. Please choose your payment tier based on the guidelines provided below (please be honest):

• $650 - Low Income (your annual income is less than $40,000)

• $850 - Getting Along (your annual income is $40,000 to $80,000)

• $1,050 - Financially Secure (your annual income is greater than $80,000 AND/OR you possess multiple properties, a trust fund, or other substantial financial assets)

To register please send a $350 non-refundable deposit payment via Zelle to bodhi.vasilopoulos@gmail.com or via Venmo to bodhi-vasilopoulos (the remainder of the payment will be due before the program begins on April 18th). REGISTER SOON TO HOLD YOUR SPOT (THIS PROGRAM SOLD OUT IN 2025).

There are also five (3 remaining) discounted $400 BIPOC tickets available for folks whose financial reality reflects the “Low Income” category listed above (please email me at bodhi@naturesloveandwisdom.com to claim one of the five BIPOC discounted tickets).

ACCESSIBILITY:

No background in foraging or farming is required and all levels of experience are welcomed. Access to a personal vehicle or arranging carpooling will be required for this course. Classes will be held on uneven terrain, including grassy fields and woodlands so it is important that all attendees are capable of walking and moving, as well as performing all other executive functions without assistance.

TESTIMONIALS FROM LAST YEAR’S PARTICIPANTS:

“The F3 Fellowship was without a doubt the best thing I did in 2025. I was so hungry for a relationship with the plants of our bioregion, and I was so deeply fed by this program. We learned so, so much at every meet-up - from the nitty gritty details of plant identification and medicine making to the bigger, older stories of this land. The program really activated positive change in my life - it helped me to make my earth-care values more real, and set me on a path of curious, playful and fruitful relating with the biosphere. The F3 community was truly special - a space where I could show up fully and really share in the learning with other amazing, generous, inquisitive humans!”

“I'm so glad I participated in the Farm and Forage Fellowship. I learned SO much about growing annuals and perennials, foraging in local forests, and making teas and tinctures. I didn't even know what a tincture was, and now I have three of them on our counter. I practiced what we learned in our backyard and at the community garden, which made the learning come to life - literally. It was so inspiring to learn about forest gardening at Forested where they've been doing it for over a decade. Bodhi's calming presence and plant wisdom are special gifts. And I learned from every single person in the fellowship. I would encourage anyone who wants to take their edible plant knowledge to another level -- and wants to do it in community -- to take a class with Bodhi, whether a two-hour walk in the woods, or the year-long Farm and Forage Fellowship, or something in between.”

“Bodhi is one of the best teachers I’ve encountered. He blends deep technical knowledge with authentic passion and humility. It’s such a joyful experience to learn with him. Bodhi has designed meaningful experiences that are accessible to many different backgrounds and skillsets, and I always felt invited to participate and ask questions. I would recommend this fellowship to anyone interested in expanding their knowledge of and relationships with the natural world.”

“I joined this program to deepen my connection to and understanding of nature. What I gained, though, was much more than that. I had no idea that when I signed up for this program, I would be signing up for a life-altering experience! I began implementing what I have learned from this program in my own farm work, my volunteer work, my personal gardens, and even my work at a grocery store. Everything I learned in F3 will be imperative to the work I do continuing forward. This program has made my life so much richer, healthier, and more spiritually connected. It has given me tools that I will continue to use for a lifetime!”

“Connecting with a group of plant lovers from all different backgrounds has been an inspiration to me, I feel like we all gain so much from honoring and learning about plants, local and beyond, and all of the abundant properties that they have that we can use for so many different things. This class has expanded my worldview from day one. It has enhanced my own personal spiritual practices and I feel more confident in my deep sacred connection to nature more than ever. It is beautiful to experience this in a setting with people who share the same feelings!”

“The most interesting... perhaps most Impactful too, was the foraging. I have spent the year struggling to find steady income, and food is particularly expensive and difficult to obtain without the financial means, and this program quite literally helped me find new, HEALTHIER, ways to obtain my daily nutrition! I foraged chanterelles and beefsteak and made so many teas and stews and salads ALL THANKS to this program! My struggles have also made getting medicine difficult, and now I HAVE medicine and knowledge to make tinctures that truly are keeping me healthy and alive. I fully believe the only reason I have not gotten sick this year is because every time I felt like a sickness was coming on, I would take some of the Elderberry tincture we made, and I never got sick! My family has a long history of cancer, and now I can make medicine from my mushrooms that will help fight cancer? This program has given me the tools to elevate my life, feed me, keep me healthy, and more connected to the land I live on.”

“If I had to choose a favorite it would be the community we built together! It feels so good to be connected to people that are also leaning into the earth beneath our feet and leaning into the world as it could be! Everything felt more possible, more real.”

“These are dark times Bodhi, but your class brightens and lightens. I am so happy to be a part of this experience.”

“I love this class!”

PLEASE DON’T HESITATE TO CONTACT ME VIA EMAIL AT BODHI@NATURESLOVEANDWISDOM.COM IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS!!