When: Saturday May 10th, 2025 1-4PM

Where: Floating Leaf Farm in Mars Hill, NC. Exact location sent after ticket purchase.

There’s a wondrous world awaiting that many have never explored and where few dare to tread. For a short period of time during Spring, we have the opportunity to partake in vegetable fare unlike anything else - meristematic shoot vegetables. Asparagus is basically the only commonly eaten shoot vegetable among North Americans but there are so many more that go unnoticed and they’re very freakin’ good!

What the heck is a meristem though?

Meristems are the growing parts of plants which are composed of undifferentiated, rapidly growing stem cells. They’re so medicinally potent that there’s entire lines of expensive skin care products made from them. Asparagus is one of the top vegetable sources of glutathione, a potent antioxidant that supports detoxification, immune function and reduces the risk of many major diseases. While little research exists on the nutritive qualities of wild shoot vegetables, I believe they are especially good for us this time of year coming out of winter with less access to fresh food.

What do you do in a meristem clas??

We will dive into foraging meristems by ID’ing, harvesting and eating some of the most common and overlooked meristems in our region. You will leave with a deeper understanding and inspiration around eating shoot vegetables. There’s fair chance we will cover some other seasonal edibles too that aren’t technically meristems. There will be foraged foods to eat at the end of class from ferments to fresh cooked shoots and much more. This class is suited for beginner to advanced foragers and anyone interested in being more connected to this region through wild food

About your Host:

“He’s a meristematic fanatic” - Lindsay Z., Mycologist & Nutritional Therapist

Bryan Bramlett is an avid forager and permaculturist who leads events on wild food foraging, land stewardship and ecotherapy. He holds a master’s degree in counseling psychology which he fuses with his passion for Earth-care to facilitate therapeutic nature-connection experiences. He has practiced & studied foraging extensively with top-tier teachers across the country. His mission is to build healing ecosystems to bring communities into a balanced relationship with the Earth and one another.