In this series, we’ll spend our days learning in an established herb garden throughout the cultivating season.  Each class, we will tend to an array of medicinal plants and explore when and how to gather them for the best medicine, and the health of our plants. We will also learn how to make a variety of herbal preparations with our bounty, discussing each plant’s healing properties and usage.  We will cover key gardening techniques, such as root dividing, pruning techniques, seed saving and give practical advice on how to create a living backyard apothecary.  Our approach will follow a permaculture or ecological lens, where we will study where these plants evolved and learn to create microclimates to foster their best growth. Participants will take home a plethora of plant starts and seeds as well as information to help them maintain their own medicinal landscape. Each month, students will harvest 4 separate seasonal herbs to take home, CSA-style. With one of these plants gathered each month, we will make a different medicine together, from tinctures to salves! My vision is for you to come away with a well-stocked medicine cabinet for today, and the tools and plants for a garden full of medicine in the years ahead!

The Gardening for Medicine series will have a cohort meeting Wednesdays and another gathering on Saturdays from 10am to 4:30pm for a total of 40 hours.  The total cost, including monthly herbal harvest of four plants, handouts, seeds and starts galore is $750. Click below, email gardeningformedicine@yahoo.com or call (503) 489 3483 to schedule a time to make sure this is a good fit for you!