In 2020, spend one day a month learning how to make seasonal home remedies from the garden with herbalist leah wolfe
This year, the Community Herbal Intensive will be held at Cleveland Roots. Cleveland Roots works to provide access to affordable fresh produce, promote healthy living, nurture the environment, and cultivate a sustainable community. The Trillium Center hopes to improve community health through herbalism, gardening, and connecting with nature. These two organizations hope to connect herbalism to neighborhood gardening as a way to build community and develop local food systems rooted in seasonal traditions of healing.
The intensive starts in March with identification of late winter twigs and barks used as food and medicine. Then on to spring greens, through summer flowers and berries, ending with the deep nourishment offered by autumn roots. Monthly topics cover the how, when, which, and why to use herbs, weeds, and wild plants.
Some of the topics covered:
- basic botany
- community projects for health and healing
- basic anatomy and physiology
- basic methodologies and ideologies for using plant remedies
- materia medica: the medicinal uses of plants and trees
- from field to apothecary: wild crafting, foraging, and garbling
- medicine making: oils, salves, tinctures, cordials, and more
The foundations of traditional herbalism provide a framework for eating to nourish instead of eating to simply fill with calories. Learning to make a simple herbal tea blend increases dietary diversity. Learning how to pair herbs with food improves digestibility and nourishment. Contact with garden soil has been shown to improve mood and immune function. Time in nature enlivens the spirit. Experience all of this through the Community Herbal Intensive.
LOCATION
Most of the workshops will be held at Cleveland Roots, first Sundays, March to November (no class in July). Workshops will be held from 12-5 pm. Field trips in the Cleveland area will allow participants to see other ecosystems. Location may change due to weather.
SCHOLARSHIP
The Trillium Center maintains a very small scholarship program for people in need of financial assistance. If you are interested in applying, click here to contact us for details. If you are interested in donating, please donate here.
REGISTRATION
The registration fee covers program materials, the Herbal Foundations textbook, supplies and ingredients for medicine making, online programming and resources, and 5 hours in-person and hands-on instruction for EIGHT MONTHS. The registration fee is $750. contact us to register.
contact us to register
Refunds on the registration fee(s) are accepted up until Feb. 25. If for some reason you can’t participate, you can transfer your fees and seat to another person that same year.
Participants are required to complete all assigned worksheets, readings, and attend classes to receive a certificate. Absences are allowed, but may require make-up work. You are not required to get a certificate, but it is helpful if you are considering building a history of your herbal experience.
The Instructor
Leah Wolfe, MPH, will facilitate the workshops. Leah is a community herbalist and health educator. She and Charles Schiavone started the Trillium Center at BLD farm in 2013. She facilitates many different kinds of classes. Her teaching style interweaves science with intuition and hands-on experience in order to engage students on multiple levels. She hopes to inspire participants to deepen their understanding of plants while engaging with local communities to develop projects that improve health and facilitate healing. Leah teaches classes and provides medical support across the country for gardening groups, conferences, camps, and other gatherings. She has a background in public health research and health education.
For Leah, herbalism is based on relationship. Relationship with community. Relationship with friends and family. Relationship with self. And, of course, relationship with each plant. Those relationships should be characterized by respect, willingness to learn, the courage to help when help is needed, and direct experience. Direct experience is important because it requires being present and engaged in the process, whether that process is dealing with a conflict, learning about a new plant medicine, or working with a community that’s been hit by a disaster.
Trillium Center 