Category Archives: classes

10 Reasons

by herbqi

Wild Herb Week is always one of the highlights of our summer. There are many reasons why you should join us, but I’ll limit myself to 10 for now. image-4

  1. It’s fun.
  2. You’ll get to hang out with great people of all ages and make new friends.
  3. You’ll go home with a substantial set of herbal products to start of your winter herbal medicine cabinet.*
  4. You’ll learn to make different kinds of herbal products.
  5. You’ll get to eat, and learn to make, new and yummy dishes from wild edible plants.
  6. You’ll learn to recognize many wild plants, and learn how to use them. Not only that, but you’ll remember them, because we’ll do plenty of review & we’ll use them.
  7. You’ll get to drink delicious herbal beverages every day, and you’ll learn to make them.
  8. You’ll go home with a beautiful new basket, made by you!
  9. You’ll learn more about how to take care of yourself and your family using safe methods.
  10. You’ll get to learn with your whole family.
  11. There are always some extra things that we learn, and you’ll have some say in what they’ll be: mushroom safety and identification, fermentation 101, and qigong may be among them.

Oops! I couldn’t quite keep it to 10.

 

Register today!!!

*For example, participants in our recent Summer Wild Herb days went home with at least 8 ounces of herbal tincture. It’s not unusual for participants in Wild Herb Week to go home with 16 or more ounces of herbal tincture, plus herbal salve or oil, herbal shampoo, herbal lozenges, delicious herbal “goo balls,” and other goodies. It’s a bit different every time; we make make things that aren’t on this list and not make some of what’s here. It all depends on the plants, the weather, and the people.

For more information, click here!

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Herbal Gift Making

by herbqi

We’ve rescheduled the upcoming Herbal Gift Making workshop. It will take place on Monday, Dec. 19, 3:30-7:30. We’ll begin with a quick weed walk, during which we’ll harvest one or two of the ingredients we’ll be using.IMG_1207-1

As darkness descends, we’ll head indoors, make some wonderful hot herbal beverage to share, and proceed with the gift making.

We’ll makeimage an herbal shampoo, soap, dream pillow, and vinegar. Most of the gifts we make will be ready right away, but one or two will need some time to mature, and so will work best for an end of Kwanzaa or New Year’s Eve present.

Come join us!!

Wild Herb Days Coming Soon

by herbqi

This summer, when we were planning our two Wild Herb Weeks, many people asked for more one-day programs. We listened, and now we’re planning several Wild Herb Days for the coming year. Wild Herb Days will include plant walks and various other herbal activities, such as tincture making, salve making, syrup making, spa treatments and product making, making and eating wild herbal salads and soups, and making and drinking wild herbal beverages, and herbal gift making.

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Many hands preparing sumacade.

We’ll start off the season on Sept. 18 with a weed walk and tincture making. Exactly what we’ll do depends on the plants, but likely activities include making and drinking sumacade, making goldenrod tincture, and making burdock tincture.  If we have time, we may also make a salad.

In November, we’ll do herbal gift making. You’ll go home with four or five lovely herbal gifts, including at least one herbal vinegar, herbal shampoo and soap, and an herbal dream pillow.

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Everyone loves the herbal beverages.

One of our traditions at both Wild Herb Week and Wild Herb Day is to make delicious herbal beverages whenever we can. In the winter, we’ll be making warming drinks to nurture ourselves while we have our herbal spa day and make syrups and salves.

In the spring, we’ll explore the new growth and prepare food and medicine from what comes up. Most likely, this will include a spring salad and a celebration of nettle, manifest in soup and nourishing nettle vinegar.

 

Click here for more details about Wild Herb Days.

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Autumn olives.

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A Wild Herb Week student with her goldenrod harvest.

 

 

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Herbal tinctures and oils.

 

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Baskets made by participants in Wild Herb Week I, July 2015, filled with herbs we gathered for making tinctures and medicinal oils.

Make Your Own Fire Cider at Debra’s Natural Gourmet

by herbqi

 Wednesday, January 20, 7:00-8:30 at Debra’s Natural Gourmet in Concord. Make Your Own Fire Cider with Nina Judith Katz.

 

You’ll go home with a pint of this wonderful, traditional winter remedy, and instructions for finishing it off. I’ll talk about how to use both fire cider and some of the herbs that make it so healthy!  Bring a clean, pint-sized jar and $5.00 to help cover the cost of a smorgasbord of ingredients. Limited to 60 people. Yes, do sign up when you’re in the store or call 978-371-7573. This will be great fun!