Welcome to
Herbal Apprenticeship
Program Near New York
Old Ways Herbal School of Plant Medicine sits just over the Vermont border in Newfane, close enough that a good number of our students drive in from New York City, the Hudson Valley, and the Capital Region every season.
If you’re coming from the city, you’re probably not looking for another herbalism class taught from behind a screen.
You want to kneel in real soil, learn a plant where it actually grows, and come back to it again and again across a full Vermont growing season.
That’s what a real herbal apprenticeship gives you that a weekend workshop can’t: repetition, through the whole arc of the season. You meet a plant in spring, harvest it in summer, and by fall you’re standing at the workbench turning it into medicine you made yourself. It’s slow, and it’s supposed to be.
You can read more about how the whole program is built on the School of Plant Medicine page.
What Brings Students Here
Old Ways Herbal School of Plant Medicine has been teaching herbalism for more than two decades. Juliette’s background includes teaching at schools and universities around the country, running a successful herbal medicine company, writing extensively about herbalism, as well as years of clinical work as a practicing herbalist and Family Nurse Practitioner. Her experience brings together traditional plant knowledge, clinical understanding, biology and ecology, and many years of working closely with herbs. For students in New York looking for an herbalism apprenticeship near New York, the opportunity to learn in this kind of setting can make the journey to Vermont worthwhile. The farm and Botanical Sanctuary give students a place to spend real time with the plants, rather than learning about them only from books or in a classroom. We understand that travelling from New York takes planning. Some students make the trip regularly, while others arrange visits around work, family, and the changing seasons. For those who are able to come, the time spent here becomes an important part of the apprenticeship.
Find Your Path into Herbalism
Learning herbalism can take many forms, and not everyone has the same opportunity to spend a season on the farm. These programs offer several ways to study with us, from hands-on work in the Botanical Sanctuary to online learning from home.
Traditional Apprentice Program
This is the most in-depth and personalized herbal apprenticeship near New York. It runs from May through October and includes 135 to 150 (or more) hours of hands-on learning. There is also the opportunity to join this program just in July and August. We spend time identifying plants, wildcrafting, growing and harvesting, and making medicine outdoors in the Botanical Sanctuary, on the farm, and around Southern Vermont. We also have intensive discussion about holistic physiology, ecology, health justice, nutrition, clinical skills, and many other important topics in modern and traditional Western herbalism. The work follows the season, so what we are learning changes as the plants do.
Herbal Medicine Maker Apprenticeship near New York
For students who are especially interested in making herbal medicine, this apprenticeship offers plenty of time to work with the plants and the preparations they become. We gather in the forest classroom to make tinctures, salves, syrups, oils, oxymels, infused honeys, and other preparations, with enough practice to become comfortable with the process and develop your own way of working. Plant walks and in-depth discussion of principles of Western herbalism provide a well of knowledge to support medicine making skills.
Online Herbal Apprenticeship Program
For students who cannot make the trip to Vermont regularly, the Home Herbalist Apprenticeship online offers another way to study with us. Live classes and self-study (or self-paced independent study with recordings) follow the same seasonal approach as our work on the farm. You may be joining from home, but the learning remains connected to the plants, the land, and the work taking place here.
News & Updates
What Your Time Here Will Look Like
Looking for an herbal apprenticeship program near New York? At Old Ways Herbal, you’ll spend a season learning with the plants, getting your hands in the soil, and seeing what herbalism looks like day to day on a working herb farm.
Apply and enroll.
Start by taking a look at the program and seeing if it feels like the right fit for you. Once you’re ready, you can apply. We offer interest-free payment plans, work-trade, and scholarships for BIPOC herbalists.
We know that paying for a program like this can take some figuring out, so we’re happy to have people look at the different options.
Travel and attend.
The farm is in Newfane, Vermont, and we have students who come up from New York for the apprenticeship. Depending on where you’re coming from, you might make the drive for the day or stay somewhere nearby.
Some students also plan their visits around what’s happening on the farm at that point in the season.
Get your hands in the soil
You’ll be outside for much of this. In the gardens, around the farm, out looking at plants and their surrounding ecology, and at the work table making medicine. You’ll identify and care for, harvest them to make a wide varieties of medicine, and then do it again. That repetition is part of how the learning sticks.
By the end of the apprenticeship, you’ve spent real time doing the work rather than simply reading about it.
Why Choose Old Ways Herbal for Your Herbal Apprenticeship
There are plenty of places to study herbalism. What you learn, and how you learn it, can look very different from one program to another.
At Old Ways Herbal, we’ve chosen to make the plants and the land a big part of the experience. That means spending time outside, working with what is growing, and having the chance to come back to things more than once.
Years of Teaching and Practice
Juliette Carr, RH (AHG), APRN, has taught herbalism for more than two decades. She is also a Family Nurse Practitioner, so her teaching brings together clinical experience and a long-standing practice of herbal medicine. Students have the opportunity to look at herbs from both perspectives while spending time learning how they are grown, harvested, prepared, and applied medicinally. Much time is spent on holistic physiology, ecology, interconnectedness, matera medica, and how herbs work in the body. The goal is to build a solid understanding of herbalism through study as well as hands-on experience.
Learning on the Land
Much of the apprenticeship takes place outdoors on the farm and in the Botanical Sanctuary. You’ll learn to identify and tend plants as they grow, spend time with them throughout the season, and take part in harvesting and medicine making. Working this way gives you time to build deep relationship with the plants and their medicine, rather than trying to learn everything in a single class. You will end the season with many handmade remedies and a deep understanding of the medicine of herbs and how they work in the body. The knowledge will stay with you as the season progresses, and become part of your ongoing practice. Apprentices receive a certificate reflecting their hours of study that is accepted by the American Herbalists Guild, and are qualified for advanced clinical study. Once the apprenticeship is finished, we also offer one-on-one herbalist mentoring for students who would like continued support, especially those working towards their AHG Registered Herbalist designation.
Personal Consulting
What's included in the Old Ways Herbal School of Plant Medicine Apprenticeship near New York?
It's a seasonal, hands-on program on our farm in Newfane, Vermont. Students spend real time with the plants themselves, both in our gardens and out in the surrounding landscape, working through identification, cultivation, harvesting, wildcrafting, medicine making, and using herbs safely and effectively, as the season moves through spring, summer, and fall.
Why do students travel from New York for an herbalist apprenticeship?
Because plants don't hold still, and neither does the learning. Working with a plant where it actually grows, then coming back to it weeks later to see what's changed, teaches you something a photo or a recorded lecture can't. The apprenticeship is built around that return visit, again and again, across a full growing season.
What will I actually learn?
Because plants don't hold still, and neither does the learning. Working with a plant where it actually grows, then coming back to it weeks later to see what's changed, teaches you something a photo or a recorded lecture can't. The apprenticeship is built around that return visit, again and again, across a full growing season.
Do you offer an Herbal Medicine Making Apprenticeship?
We do. It's for newer students who want to go deep on the preparation side, tinctures, salves, syrups, infused oils, and the rest, and really understand not just how to make them but why each step matters.
Is there an online option for students near New York?
There is. Our online Herbal Medicine Maker Apprenticeship near New York follows the same seasonal arc as the in-person program through recorded lessons and self-paced group discussions, for students who can't make the regular drive up to Vermont.
There is also the Home Herbalist Apprenticeship, which is held during the late fall and winter through live online classes and self-study. This is the perfect season to get cozy with a cup of tea and focus on safe, effective herbal formulation based on holistic physiology, principles of Western herbalism, and matera medica.
Do I need any experience to join?
No. Students come to the Herbal Apprentice Programs at every level, from complete beginners to people already deep into their own practice. What matters more is curiosity, a willingness to get your hands dirty, and enough commitment to stick with it through a full season.
There is also the Home Herbalist Apprenticeship, which is held during the late fall and winter through live online classes and self-study. This is the perfect season to get cozy with a cup of tea and focus on safe, effective herbal formulation based on holistic physiology, principles of Western herbalism, and matera medica.
Is there an Herbal Remedy Making Class near New York?
If that's what you're after, our medicine-making offerings are worth a look. Rather than working from written instructions alone, you're making the medicine yourself, with your hands, as part of a full hands-on education.
There is also the Home Herbalist Apprenticeship, which is held during the late fall and winter through live online classes and self-study. This is the perfect season to get cozy with a cup of tea and focus on safe, effective herbal formulation based on holistic physiology, principles of Western herbalism, and matera medica.
How far is Old Ways Herbal from New York?
We're in Newfane, Vermont, four hours from New York City and about an hour and a half from Albany. Some students make the drive for a single day; others stay nearby and turn it into a weekend, depending on the season and where they're coming from. We keep this in mind and schedule intentionally to make it easier for students.
Do you have an Herbal Medicine School near New York?
We're based in Vermont, not New York, but plenty of our students are. If you're looking for an herbal medicine school near New York, take a look at our apprenticeship and online programs and see which fits how you learn and how far you're able to travel.
Come Learn with Us
Old Ways Herbal offers an herbal apprenticeship program near New York for people who want to study herbalism through regular, hands-on work with plants. The in-person program takes place on our farm in Newfane, Vermont, and follows the growing season from spring through fall.
We also have herbal medicine classes near New York and online study options for those who aren’t able to make the trip to Vermont. You can read more about the school and our programs before deciding which one makes the most sense for you.
If you’re also thinking about growing herbs at home, our herb garden planning consultations are another way to work with us.