School of Plant Medicine
Medicine Maker Apprentice
Make safe, effective herbal remedies at home for the whole family, focusing on foundational principles of herbal medicine, what makes remedies work, harvesting and processing local plants for medicine, and delicious recipes, while creating your personal herbal apothecary!
To aid our understanding, we cover central principles of Western herbalism, energetics, solubility, formulation, bioregionalism and ethical wild-crafting, plant identification, and food as medicine.
Throughout the season, students make some of the most popular forms of herbal remedies, including tinctures, salves, honeys, syrups, oxymels, elixirs, oils, and vinegars. This course is appropriate for beginner and intermediate level students. It is very beneficial for any herb student who hasn’t completed a top-down study of the practice of Western Herbalism.
In Person Program:
Connect with the plants and each other in an outdoor small-group setting, with material customized to your interests! The medicine we make as a class is guided by the seasons, and the herbs we choose change as the season unfolds, allowing students an in-depth understanding of the medicinal uses of a number of local plants. We discuss growing or wild-crafting the herbs in our formulas, so students can incorporate their learning into their future herbal practice. Plant walks, group harvesting, & hands-on practice form a core of this course. Participants take home the remedies made in class, as well as written information on the recipes, guiding principles, and uses of herbs. By the end of the season, students have created a personal, handmade apothecary, and learned from the creations of their peers.
Independent Study:
The Independent Study option happens on your own schedule and includes class recordings and assignments to accompany each class, which are discussed by the class online. You receive personalized feedback from the teacher and group feedback from other students. The entire program is designed to be completed on your own schedule, and you end the season with a customized handmade apothecary.
Details
Online Independent Study: watch classes and complete assignments at your own pace as part of a group. Receive personalized feedback for your work.
In Person Program: This class is not running in 2024 to allow time for a special project, but you can register in advance for the 2025 season at last year’s price until fall 2024! This course meets one Saturday a month from June through September, from 9 AM to between 12 and 1 PM, in our beautiful forest classroom. There is an additional Sunday Garden Day per month; these are required for work-trade students, and recommended (but optional) for everyone else.
JUNE – Principles of Home Herbalism, Make Tea Like an Herbalist, Ethical Wild-Crafting, and Early Summer Plant Walk
JUNE – Garden Day
JULY – Science of Solubility: Making Reliably Great Tinctures, and High Summer Plant Walk
JULY – Garden Day
AUGUST – Art of Formulation: Infused Honeys, Syrups & Oxymels, and Late Summer Plant Walk
AUGUST – Garden Day
SEPTEMBER – Putting it All Together: Medicinal Oils & Salves, Food as Medicine, and Fall Plant Walk
SEPTEMBER – Garden Day
SEPTEMBER – Make Up Day, just in case!
TUITION & SIGNUP
In Person: This class is not running in 2024 to allow time for a special project, but you can register in advance for the 2025 season at last year’s price until fall 2024! Tuition for all classes and materials is $380. You can also sign up to take individual sections of the course for $120, provided there’s space in the class. Work-trade is available for local students; see the work-trade policy for details. Scholarships are available for BIPOC students.
Online Independent Study: Tuition for the recorded class is $82.
If you have questions or want more information, contact us. We love to hear from you.
IN PERSON
- $380
All Classes & Materials
INDEPENDENT
- $82
Recorded Class