Then I thought about Earth's people who have dedicated their entire life to learning all that they can about herbs, not just for food but also for medicine, for survival, for spiritual growth, for visual art, and even for social rituals and music! While I was just having fun eating what Nature provided me in various countries, these masters truly MASTERED the knowledge of Nature's herbal wisdom .
One of these masters is Carol Ewert, my friend from my River Haven Community in Wisconsin(www.RiverHaven.org). She has made the Wisconsin foraging trips I have organized in Summer 2008 so much more interesting, endowing us with her herbalist's insights. This gave us the idea of creating a PRACTICAL, HANDS ON WESTERN HERBALISM COURSE, awarding the graduates 7 University Credits that can apply toward a degree at the University of Natural Medicine. This certification course will be taught by Carol at the River Haven Community, where we go foraging each summer (see descriptions, testimonials, articles, and pictures here).
To make these trips more ecological, we decided to combine the activities each foraging weekend during 2009. You have 3 choices, for each of six weekends this summer:
1. You can join me (we carpool, using my Eco-van) on any of these 6 weekends (from June until September 2009), eating only what grows in the wild from Friday afternoon until Sunday noon, plus (weather permitting) going tubing in the beautiful Hay River (we have 1.5 miles of this river on our 250 acres property), hiking on our many trails transversing forests and rolling meadows, enjoying campfires and music, using the Infrared Sauna and other facilities in our large Monolithic Geodesic Dome, meeting at my TreeHouse to escape a chance rain, conversing about health and nutrition, and learning a special kind of Mindful Breathing Meditation from Thailand.On each Friday at 6 PM the entire group will meet Carol who will share with you the details of her course topic for that weekend. You will then have an opportunity to join her group class for that weekend alone (at additional cost), if you choose, or any other weekend topic you wish to learn from her.
2. If you wish, you can sign up ONLY for Carol's classes to become Certified in Western Herbalism (link details below), which are held on these six weekends in River Haven at 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. on Saturdays and 9:00 a.m. to noon on Sundays. NOTE: There will be a SEVENTH weekend in October, for summary and a practical / theoretical exam (pass/fail). You need to attend at least six of the seven weekends to be certified. If you miss a weekend you can make it up by receiving/studying the written materials from Carol AND/OR joining the equivalent session next summer.
3. THE BEST OPTION for those taking the Certification course: You can combine BOTH activities for the entire 6 weekends- enjoying an entire weekend of foraging with the Foraging Group, together with the 7 hours of Carol's Certification Course. That's the most ecological, since you have to be present at River Haven early morning on Saturdays and Sundays for Carol's sessions anyway!
Here are the 6 weekends' course topics, for options 2 and 3 above (link details here):
June 5, 6, 7 - Introduction to Herbalism - overview and history of Western Herbalism.
June 26, 27, 28 – The Action of Herbs – terms like Alterative, Analgesic, Anodyne, Anti-microbial, Anti-spasmodic, Sedative will be defined and examples given.
July 10, 11, 12 – Herbs for the Immune System & Herbs for Stress, Spasms, Anxiety and Sleep Disturbances.July 24, 25, 26 – Herbal Tonics and Herbs for Longevity.
August 14, 15, 16 – Herbal Preparations – How to prepare oils, tinctures, honeys, glycerites, vinegars, capsules, and salves using herbal ingredients.
September 11, 12, 13 – Herbs for Detoxification and Sacred Plant Medicine, and indigenous methods of herb identification and use will be discussed.
If you have any questions about the course's content, please call Carol - 715-861-1067.To register for the Certification Course, or to sign up for any individual weekend's topic (without certification) go here.
To get additional info about our Wisconsin Foraging Trips go here..
And I almost forgot, this month's raw recipe. Mangoes are now in season and help make a great dressing for all of those wonderful greens you worked so hard to collect.
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Wild Salad with Mango Dressing Dressing Ingredients: 2 cups tomato 2 cups mango 2 Tbs. balsamic vinegar ½ cup water (can also be replaced by lime or lemon juice) Salad Ingredients: 4 cups (lambs quarters, mallow, chickweed, tender dandelions, etc or foraged greens of your choice) 1 cup lmixed baby greens 1 cup grated carrots Directions: Enjoy this dressing over a large bowl of your favorite foraged greens. |
Yours in summer anticipations, and warm greetings to all MOTHERS (including Mother Earth), Dr. T
