Where do our American herbs originate? Weren’t our plants all burned up in the Chicxulub asteroid impact 60,000 years ago? Join us for a fascinating romp through phytogeography research as we discover how ginseng and other American medicinal plants got here.

Join us for a study of autumn season activities for harvesting. Roots and cuttings and so many wonderful things happening during the deepening time. We will discuss the great boon of mycelial networks to the permaculture landscape and why having no-till areas of perennial return is so important.

This is a broad introduction to the benefits of mushrooms for our gardens and our bodies as well as a brief glimpse into how our planet has evolved with the help of these poorly understood organisms. Topics include general characteristics of mushrooms, their life cycle, medicinal properties of common mushrooms, how to grow them in your garden & how we are starting to work with these organisms to help heal the world.

This workshop covers the basics of small-scale chicken keeping and brings a natural perspective to chicken care. This workshop does not include anything about chickens for meat production, but rather focuses on chickens as pets and as part of the family.

In this workshop we will discuss which of our endangered botanical woodland friends can be easily grown under existing trees or in shady backyard corners using permaculture techniques for low maintenance and plant resilience. We will show photographs of my endangered botanical beds and describe all the triumphs and woes of getting a healthy plant community established.

Learn about this delicious edible mushroom that has been cultivated in China since 1100 AD and in the US since 1972. Shiitake is more than a tasty mushroom; it has properties that help mitigate arthritis symptoms, diabetes, cholesterol, and immune deficiency. Ingrid will share her knowledge about log-grown shiitake mushrooms and several ways to incorporate them into your diet.

Have you thought about what else you might be able to grow if you have a garden that is too shady for tomatoes? What about an area you would like to enhance with mycelium to get healthier crops of vegetables while also growing and harvesting mushrooms. Come learn techniques to add diversity to your gardens and improve your soil health by adding funga to your landscapes.

Fungi are the great connectors of the forest. They often form relationships with other organisms that are beneficial to both. The Wood Wide Web is a great example of how fungi pair with tree roots to form an incredible network that provides benefit to both fungi and trees involved. In this workshop, we’ll explore symbiosis in the forest and in our own lives as well.

By learning to cultivate wild mushrooms from our local woodlands, we can bypass the need to buy commercial spawn and safeguard against the introduction of non-native invasive mushroom species. We’ll leverage low-tech techniques to create spawn from native fungi and discuss strategies for small-scale home grow set-ups.

Learn the basics of designing a garden: site selection, soil preparation, and the variations between formal and informal gardening. Theme garden designs are suggested. This class expands the mind to engage the senses for creating a space to spark creativity, gratitude and reciprocity.

Want to incorporate mushrooms into your existing garden beds? Join Roxanne as she sparks ideas and gives examples of how to bring fungal friends in to play harmoniously with your plant pals.

For established or in-progress business owners, project starters, creatives. We will apply the principles & ethics of permaculture to the world of herbal business, project creation and beyond! We can utilize the tools and framework of permaculture design to map our individual stories, uncover our soul work & recognize the value of community support as we undergo this journey in putting our work out into the world.

What kind of garden can offer nourishment for people, beneficial wildlife habitat, lower maintenance needs, and beauty all at the same time? A garden of edible native plants! Learn some nutritious and delicious native crops, and how to grow them so that they support pollinators, birds, healthy soil, and much more. Audio Recording from 2017 Spring Herbal Conference Live Event with Judy Speer.

The native habitat for many plants is dwindling. Plants that were once abundant are over-harvested and fighting to survive. We can help protect these plants by learning to grow them in our yards, and learning how to ethically harvest. We will focus on identifying, harvesting and planting roots and fall seed plantings.

Barbara will share some of the creative and practical “systems” she uses when processing plants and herbs for food, health and vitality. Come for an introduction to getting more from your harvest, and leave with a framework for extending the life-cycle in your own kitchen and apothecary, including a personalized set of approaches to begin your daily, weekly, monthly and seasonal second life-style.

A great way to learn about and from our medicinal herbs is to watch them grow throughout the year's cycle. It's great fun to harvest seeds on a crisp fall day as we watch the plants get ready for winter. We will try our hand at several seed collecting methods, and talk about harvesting, storing, and planting our seeds. Then we can spend the winter dreaming about seeds sprouting next spring.

Explore the healing nature of Homeopathic remedies in the garden. Are your plants healthy? Is the pH of your soil too high/low? Having trouble with pests destroying your plants? Learn how to handle it in a more natural way and how Homeopathic remedies can help heal the energy of your garden. The emerging science behind its healing aid with plants and our soil is just emerging.

Learn, simple, yet deep, practices of communicating with the plants and the earth. Discover ways to honor the elemental beings of the land. Create a nourishing life, gathering herbs and crafting them for healing. Strengthen your intuition through connections with your surrounding. Hear stories of the plants from our land and their wisdom and healing—wild rose, nettle, dandelion, apple etc.

Learn how to grow 12 medicinal herbs and get more ideas on making herbal preparations. This lecture will include beautiful slides as well as an herb show and tell, a remedy demo, and a garden planning activity with markers and paper.

Join us for A Journey through the National Geographic Herbal, where Mimi introduces nine beloved plants—Peach Leaf, Prickly Pear, Sumac, Sunflower, Self-heal, Kudzu, Saw Palmetto, Damiana, and Rooibos. Explore their sensations, uses in kitchen and apothecary, garden allies, forest traditions, and global histories in a captivating celebration of herbal wisdom.

We can utilize mushroom’s mycelial powers to decompose toxic wastes and pollutants (mycoremediation), catch and reduce pathogens in agricultural and urban watersheds (mycofiltration), control insect populations (mycopesticides), and generally enhance the health of our forests, gardens and local ecosystems (mycoforestry). We will discuss each of these four branches of what Paul Stamets coined “Mycorestoration."

Tall, resilient, and furiously green, nettle has a bad reputation as a stinging weed... but it also has many health benefits and uses. That's why we've been growing it for so long! Learn 40 ways to use nettle and enjoy some tasty treats made with this deeply nourishing herb.

Permaculture ("permanent" + "agriculture") is both than a method of gardening and a philosophy. Learn how to apply Permaculture ethics and principles to growing medicinal herbs. We will discuss soil health, sheet mulching, water retention, ecosystem restoration, guild plantings, food forests, seed saving, and delve into social permaculture.

The holy day of October 31st in the Northern European agricultural calendar marks the first day of Winter, and the closing of the old year. It is a time to honor our Beloved Dead and prepare to enter the liminal space between endings and new beginnings. Learn traditional customs and themes of this holiday, and how we can ritualize this holiday with meaning for today with consciousness and reverence.

Preserving our heirloom garden seeds & indigenous wild seeds is the cornerstone of any localized food movement. In our time together we'll explore ways to building a sustainable seed community. Topics to be touched on include basic seed saving info, seed libraries, hosting seed swaps, useful tools & best practices for harvesting/storing seed.

We will explore what we have learned from our people and the seasonal foods that we gather, grow and prepare throughout the year through stories. From maple sugaring, wild leeks, wood greens, and morel Mushrooms in the spring, to milkweed, berries, corn, beans, and squash in the summer and beyond, this Keynote will explore the fishing, hunting, and gathering practices through stories of the Stockbridge-Munsee Tribe.

This talk is a broad introduction to the many benefits of mushrooms for our gardens and our bodies as well as a glimpse into how our planet has evolved thanks to the help of these organisms. The general characteristics of mushrooms and their life cycle, the medicinal properties of some common mushrooms, how to grow them in your garden and how we are starting to work with these organisms to help heal the world.

Indigenous peoples enhanced the food and medicinal plant bearing capacity of every region in the Americas. Drawing from her doctoral research, Lyla June will discuss the nature of these food systems, why their stories were never told, and how humanity can bring them back. Please see the file with this lesson for complete recording description and Lyla June's full bio.

Explore and learn about the ancient agricultural practices of harvesting and readying seeds for storage. While our forebears utilized baskets, gourds, and the wind, we'll practice streamlined ways to speed up the process. Come immerse yourself in a time honored tradition. Feel free to bring seeds to swap as well!

A general education course designed to introduce fundamental concepts to the fungally-uninitiated and to the novice practitioner. Our exploration will span from the lifecycle of mushrooms, to how mushrooms impact immune function. This course dispels common mycophobias, reviews the basics of mushroom cultivation & medicine making, & illuminates several key species and their affinities to act upon specific body systems

This workshop is designed to help participants begin and/or maintain relationships with herbs in city environments. Ayanna will share her experiences and knowledge as a gardener, steward of the earth, and shaman in Chicago, which is her ancestral land. Participants are encouraged to share their experience and knowledge with the collective.

The Wheel of the Year refers to the Solstices, Equinoxes, and cross-quarter days that traditionally mark the seasonal holy days. This workshop is an introduction to the interconnectedness between the earth and agricultural cycle, the mythic cycle of the goddess, and the female life cycle.

We will explore the fascinating world of fungi, acknowledging their vital role in maintaining life on this planet. How can we interact with them in ways that will help us forge a bond with this ancient yet hardly understood world living all around us? Introduction to the world of fungi ecology. A brief primer on mushrooms for food and health. An overview of mushroom propagation. Some basics of mushroom foraging.