Educating the Herbalists

Educating the Herbalists--2004
by Our Members

There are many great educators in the NEHA community who offer classes and workshops and many students who attend. This Spring, as a start on a future project to compile an Educator's Handbook, we asked our members to answer the following questions about programs they offer or that they have attended.

Describe your school or workshop offerings.
Do you offer an apprenticeship program?
If so, give a brief description of your program.
What commitment do you expect from your apprentices?
What is your favorite subject to teach and why?
How do you attract students?
Advertising, word of mouth, reputation, website, other? Website, if applicable.
Please share a short story about a classroom experience.

Here are some of the educator responses that we received.

Robin Rose Bennett - Wisewoman Healing Ways
Under the name Wisewoman Healing Ways: Herbal Medicine and EarthSpirit Healing, I offer weed walks, courses in herbs for body systems, women's health, seasonal tonics, alternatives to antibiotics, and other related health subjects. I weave spiritual healing and hands-on work into all the herb classes. I also guide community rituals on the new and full moons and on the Solstices and Equinoxes. I do Moon magic teachings for women and girls, and meditative teachings with the plants to enhance intuitive wisdom for everyone.

I have two apprenticeship programs, one meets monthly in NJ, and the other meets weekly in NYC. Equal emphasis is placed on the physical aspects of applied herbal medicine, and the spirit healing aspect of attuning to the plants, the earth's cycles, one's own body, rhythms, and truth within the local and global community. The minimum time commitment for an apprentice is one season, but I encourage a one-year commitment, and accept a three-year apprenticeship as a maximum.

The first commitment that I ask of any apprentice is to take at least one class, walk, or ritual with me, preferably an herbal medicine course, before taking the apprenticeship program. I want to make sure that my way of presenting the teachings works for the apprentice. I also want to make sure that I feel comfortable inviting this person into a small interactive group.

The commitment that I expect from my apprentices is that they will show up, and engage themselves, to the best of their ability, in whatever we are doing, whenever we are doing it. I encourage them to bring this commitment into all aspects of their lives. I prefer apprentices who put into practice what we are working on while we are working on it, harvesting, making medicines, preparing teas for themselves, studying outside of classes, but I don't require it. The apprentices generally come pre-supplied with curiosity and passion for getting to know the plants and learning how to work with them.

My favorite subject to teach and why. So many! All of them! Same as learning them . . . I can't pick! Herbal Antibiotics empower people. Aphrodisiacs delight them. Magical herbs awaken students to the magic within and around us. I love to guide weed walks, of course, because I get to be outside with the plants. I love to teach about the nervous system because it fascinates me and because herbs are so helpful in relieving pain and soothing stress. Teaching girls about the connection between their bodies and the moon is utterly gratifying, and teaching kids about the interconnectedness of the web of all life, the aliveness of it all, is the most fun, the most beautiful, the most magical, and the most healing.

How do I attract students? If you mean in the commercial sense - everything you mention. I don't spend a lot of time and money on advertising, though. I've run the same ad in the same place, basically forever. Word-of-mouth is the most important "advertising tool". Mailings seem most important, too.

In the magnetic sense - I think by walking my talk and glowing with the magic that our love of the green world gives to all of us! Other people want some of that magic, and, of course, there is enough to go around!

Our websites are www.robinrosebennett.com or www.wisewomanhealingways.com
P O Box 367, Hewitt, NJ 07421
973-728-5878, email: robin@robinrosebennett.com

Hart Brent - HealthCalls
The in-depth trainings in medical herbalism at HealthCalls offer clinical experience in both the physical and energetic facets of healing. In the two-year training (October -April) students are trained how to use essential oils, homeopathy, flower essences, herbs, and supplements to heal children, adults, and in the summer training - our animal companions. Postgraduate classes focus on topics elected by students, and hands-on diagnosis at a free clinic open to the community. A six-day intensive in July offers certification in leading flower essence brands. The Five Elements form the foundation for organizing all our observations and help us to select tools for deep healing. All classes offer students clinical experience in using oriental diagnosis and perceiving subtle energies. The teaching space is a spacious 30 foot yurt adjacent to extensive herb gardens containing rare Chinese medicinal plants.

HealthCalls accepts 1-2 apprentices each summer for garden work in exchange for tuition for upcoming fall classes. Duties require a rugged constitution, and include gardening (forking witch grass, shoveling manure), harvesting, tincture production, trail maintenance, and care of farm animals. The seven diverse gardens were shaped in partnership with the elemental beings who continue to thrive here.

After a dozen years practice with a darkfield microscope I feel very comfortable with explaining immune functions and the detective work needed to discover hidden infections such as imbalances in gut flora (parasites) or lingering pollution that will create chronic health problems.

HealthCalls attracts students mostly by word of mouth, but we send out mailings, advertise in alternative health magazines, and maintain a website at www.healthcalls.net. The website offers informational articles, sample protocols, Heron Herbal tinctures, essential oil mixes, and Flowers of the Soul.

My favorite teaching experience is to offer students the opportunity to sniff very fine essential oils that, I have discovered, will contact, clear, and deeply nourish the elemental qualities of being known as our inner Earth, Metal, Water, Wood and Fire. After inhaling helichrysum oil, one student began to giggle and then laugh in waves of delight - she became so relaxed, it was as though we were finally seeing her authentic self. I asked her, "Where have you been?"

4287 Bayley Hazen Road, W. Danville, VT 05873, phone (802) 682-2570, email: hart@vtlink.net

Pat Chichon - The Chrysalis Center, Inc.
The Chrysalis Center is my full time practice seeing individuals and families as a nurse practitioner, herbalist, homeopath, and nutritional consultant. I offer multiple workshops in the spring and fall, including In Praise of Mucus, Herbal Skin Care, Basic Whole Care, as well as Maya Healing, Maya Abdominal/Uterine Massage: A Self Care Course, Basic Homeopathy and Nourishing for Health.

My apprentice program has grown out of the requests for more depth and my desire (passion) to help people move away from the medical model/scientific method approach to health and illness. I also feel the hands-on part (my favorite) is critical and so offer an Herbal Pharmacy day at my farm - Pakajomi Farm, and offer clinical hours for all my apprentices. The commitment is big for my students and for me, but is well worth it.

Our A Year With The Plants Herbal Apprenticeship requires one weekend a month for 9 months, Plant Research monthly, and Case Studies monthly.

Weekend I: covers Philosophy, Framework, and Gathering information/reading the signs
Weekend II: Spring - Nourishing, Mucous Membranes, Skin/Digestion, Leaves
Weekend III: Summer - Energy, Neuroendocrine/Reproductive, Flowers
Weekend IV: Systems, First Aid/Acute Conditions
Weekend V: Fall - Fluids, Cardiovascular, Kidney/Bladder, Lymph, Seeds
Weekend VI: Systems, Acute Conditions
Weekend VII: Winter - Structure, Musculoskeletal, Roots

My favorite class room experiences revolve around the plant studies that are done monthly by the students and their passion for this work. One student did Mugwort and brought in dream pillows specially made for each student. The stories the next month were luscious and juicy. We dined on dandelions from another student's plant study and the stories the next week reaffirmed this plant's cleansing properties.

442A Route 31 N., Lambertville, NJ 08530, phone (609) 466-7410, email: chrysalisC@aol.com

Isa Coffey - Dancing Crow Farm
This year, from Feb-Dec, I am offering several herbal workshops at Dancing Crow Farm: Herbal Potions for a Romantic Valentine's, Herbal First Aid, Herbs for Pregnancy and Post-Partum, Herbal Facials, Herbs for Menopause, and Herbal Remedies for Winter.

am also teaching a series of workshops for women at Moksha Yoga Center, Rhinebeck, NY from Jan-Sep that include women's health, women's sexuality and herbs: Gathering in Darkness - Gathering in Light, Erotic Herbal Workshop, Women's Bodies - Women's Wisdom, Falling into Autumn, Women and Tantra.

I hope to offer an apprenticeship program in 2004.

I love teaching Women's Sexuality/Herbal Workshops. They are powerful and healing. Women learn about our sexuality in a true and profound way. We learn about herbs that nourish our reproductive and sexual systems, and experience plant medicine in one of its most profound offerings. We take home the tools to work with herbs in our daily lives, and we open the doors to the powerful and pleasurable world of our erotic natures. Women love these workshops. As we say on our flyers, where else do we get to learn this information?

I do advertise, mostly by putting up flyers. Our website is www.dancingcrowfarm.com Word of mouth and reputation brings many students, with most students returning after they've studied here once.

311 Orchard Road, Hudson, NY 12534, phone (518) 822-1210, email: dancingcrowfarn@yahoo.com

Tina Finnyfrock - Mountain Spring Herbals
I run a series of all day workshops in the summer on various herbal topics. I give lots of info, but try to keep it light. We have a prepared vegetarian lunch and the students pick a wild salad-a favorite activity as they are discovering all the weeds in their own yards they can eat. Every class includes a 45 minute herb/weed walk that focuses on plants particular to the class topic that day. Usually, from the summer classes, several students decide to apprentice. In September, that group starts to meet once per month-all day to get a more in depth taste of herbalism-body systems, etc.-the usual.

There are four separate apprenticeship programs, the year-long Herbal Healing apprenticeship, an eight-month Advanced Herbalism apprenticeship, a five-month Homeopathic class, and a year-long Celebrating the Seasons-Rediscovering the Lost Arts apprenticeship.

The Apprenticeship programs all are very heavy in reading and writing and in hands on experience when they are with me. I require at least 5-10 books for each program. Apprentices fill out a five question worksheet each month, learn to do herbal monographs, write a 5-8 page paper on a topic of their choice concerning herb use, and have to complete a public service project of some sort. Along with monthly reading, students come to class prepared to discuss formulas pertaining to the reading topic. They also do a supervised full health consultation on a person using a wholistic model-diet, lifestyle, body work and herbs. Each class is broken into several periods-one for sharing herbal info, lecture, hands-on experience and herb/weed/woods walk. One of the best things I see is how students become friends with each other and several of my good friends are former apprentices from over 10 years ago. Also, the public service requirement allows shy students to come out of their shells and realize they can get out there and share their love of herbal knowledge.

In regard to commitment, I expect the dates of the apprenticeship classes to be a first priority for the duration of the apprenticeship and that students come to class having done the reading. The more commitments I expect, the fewer drop outs I have. I do require that they take at least a few classes with me first before committing to the apprenticeship, just to make sure they like my teaching style and expectations. I realize everyone is busy - and my feeling is that family should always come first - so if a student takes longer to finish the apprenticeship, that is OK. No one graduates until they've made up all missed classes, all assignments and are paid in full.

I couldn't even begin to answer what my favorite subject is to teach!! For individual classes, I suppose it is how to use herbs in all aspects of life - household use, cosmetics, crafts, foods, plant games, fairy feasts, etc.

I attract students through advertising, word of mouth, and reputation. I'm not tech savvy enough for a website! I also teach adult Ed. classes that usually garner me several long-term students per year.

There are so many stories about classroom experience - both funny and sad. The common theme that has run through all my classes, though is that the students, usually range in age from late teens/early twenties up to mid-sixties, all with such different life experiences and personalities and within a few weeks, they all relate to each other as equals and all are eager to hear about the others unique perspectives.

5504 South Lebanon Road, Earlville, NY 13332, phone (315) 691-3311, email: tinfin@juno.com

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Gretchen Gould - Herb Hill
Currently I am offering weed walks on Herb Hill for those who are interested in meeting medicinal plants in their natural habitats. The walks are offered from June 1st to August 15th for 2003. Groups of up to 6 people can be accommodated.

I work with apprentices on an individual basis. The program involves plant identification and salve making and is held at my home in Poughkeepsie, where the Herb Hill lab is located.

Salve making is my area of expertise, so that's what I like most to teach. I recently finished a book entitled Herbs from the Outside In, which is devoted to the external application of herbs. Salves play a starring role in the book's cast of remedies.

I attract students strictly by word of mouth or personal contact. Some people contact me after reading my brochure.

I like to tell "learning experience" stories such as the story about the burdock leaves that went bad. In one of my adult education classes, we wanted to make a salve from the burdock oil that was made by macerating burdock leaves in oil for six weeks. We hoped that by adding beeswax the smell would improve. It was a big mistake to heat the oil, because this terrible smell invaded all corners of the school where the class met and the place had to be evacuated. When I'm teaching about herbs I often relate stories of things I've learned not to do from hard experience, because when people hear those kinds of stories, they remember what is being taught.

71 Ferris Lane, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601, phone (845) 485-2563, email: gretchgould@earthlink.net

Rosemary Gladstar - Sage Mountain Herbal Retreat Center & Botanical Sanctuary
Sage Mountain is a wilderness Herbal Retreat Center and Botanical Sanctuary located on 600 acres of pristine beauty, Our workshops and classes all focus on our relationship to the earth, plants, and one another. From spring through autumn we offer a series of workshops and programs that emphasize our relationship to the Earth Mother, the plants and to each other. Our teaching encompass multidimensional traditions and experiences all striving to bring us closer to ourselves and deeper in harmony with our connection to the great web of life. We also host the bi-annual International Herb Symposium and the annual New England Women's Herbal Conference. And The Plant Lover's Travel Adventures which take people of like spirit and heart to visit places of extraordinary beauty, rich with plant spirit, and to meet practitioners of herbal medicine in other parts of the world.

We offer the following apprenticeship programs: A Twelve Month Apprentice Program; A Seven Month Apprentice Program; An Advanced 7 Month Herbal Training Program.

Our beginner/intermediate programs emphasize learning by doing, by a complete immersion into the green world. Skills learned are traditional and practical; herbal preparation, plant identification, gardening skills, heart connection with the plants, medicinal herbalism. Classes are fun and joyful, with lots of hands on opportunities.

The Advanced Herbal Training Program, one of our most popular programs, is designed to give the already skilled practitioner as well as the herbalist who is ready for community practice, further learning opportunities. The course provides excellent information as well as the wonderful opportunity to study with some of the best herbal practitioners in the country. Students get the opportunity to do intakes and work on protocols for patients and are given necessary peer/teacher feedback.

I love teaching my apprentice program. I love getting to spend time with the students over a length of time, getting to interact and learn from them. I love the subjects we present in this program; lots of hands on stuff, fun 'stuff', juicy stuff. And I love watching people wake up to the magic and beauty that's all around them. Oh, yes....

I attract students through my brochure. I print and send it out once a year. I don't have too many classes that I offer here, so it seems that the few classes we do offer usually fill up. Our website is www.sagemountain.com.

This is the story that comes first to mind, and though it's probably not the best story to share in a newsletter where you want to make the best impression, it's the first story that jumped into mind. So, I'll trust and share it. This particular story happened several years ago. It was towards the end of week long program and our spirits were high. We had had a terrific time. As a grand finale, we were planning to climb to the top of Knox Mountain, what we call Sage Mountain, and create ceremony at for this group who were successfully finishing up a two year study program with us. The weather was looking fine as we headed off, boots and shorts and a fair amount of good spirits carrying us along. There were a few people in the group who were city dwellers and the vastness of the woodlands and the wild feel of the land, while exciting to them, was also unfamiliar. One woman had told me earlier in the week, her greatest fear, the one she had to contend with often in life, was of getting lost. Not to worry. We've been up and down this Mountain a hundred times, at least. There were several experienced Sage Mountain 'lifers' with us, people who had lived on the Mountain, knew the pathways to the top and her whims well.

It was one of the finest days I'd seen in a long while. When we reached the top, an easy two hour hike, visibility was terrific. Sage Mountain, though only a little over three thousand feet, is treeless on the top and one gets an almost 360 degree view of the surrounding Green, White, and Worcester Mountain ranges. The sun was out. We sat and picnicked, eating all of the precious good food we had, took the necessary group photos, and napped a bit in the warmth. After a while, when the energy felt right and we could hear the Mountain breathing softly, we gathered to create prayer and song together. It was right after the final prayer, right after someone cried out for a deeper connection with the plants, that the weather, suddenly, began to shift. It happened so fast, it was almost like a magic mist blew in, dense and thick and determined, and surrounded us; we now belonged to it. Within minutes, we were gathering up our stuff and heading down; trying to find our way through fog so thick you could taste its rich density on your skin. Then the wind started up, howling, driving the cloud deeper into the woodlands, surrounding us as we tentatively made our way downward. We could hardly see the person in front of us. And then the rains came. It was August, mind you. It should have been warm and easy, a light playful rain. But those rains came down so hard and cold, that with our summer wear, we were soaked and shivering before long.

This is the moment I remember best. We are standing there, a soggy group of good spirited folks, enjoying the adventure, the Mountain familiars conferring which way was best to go down. There was some confusion. The trail had disappeared. The hillside looked unfamiliar. Were The Mountain Spirits playing with us? When we decided which way to go, it was one step over the backside of the mountain, the trail that would lead us away from the warmth of Sage and the hot soup cooking on the stove awaiting our return. We hiked, all told, for seven hours that late August afternoon, in freezing rain. All the while, folks laughing and talking, assured that, sooner or later, we'd find our way back. Some enjoying the adventure, some tentative, but trusting the energy around us. Every once in a while, Jane, that woman who's greatest fear in life was getting lost, would come up to me and say, "We're not lost, are we?" And I'd assure her, "No. We're just taking a different way home."

So, what's the point of all of this? Of course, we found our way back. Or at least, down to the main road where a call was made to our frantic helpers waiting anxiously for us back at the soup pot. They came in cars to round us up and take us back to Sage, where the wood stove glowed warm and hot tea and hearty soup waited. How divine something so simple as a warm cup of tea can be. Later that night, we sat in circle with the group, now warm and dry, to process what had happened. As I sat and looked at people, looked closely, their forms were still there, but in them and through them, I'd see the forest, the trees and the plants like a fine woven tapestry. It was a light play of dark and light greens, leaves and moss, green biomass that had returned with us, transformed us, fully in spirit. I kept trying to bring back the individuals into their shapes, but as soon as my glance would soften, I'd see the spirit of the forest in them, glowing green. And I was reminded of Rocio's story in the Amazon, the story she told of the forest queen, Atunda, the spirit of the forest, who comes to claim her green ones, captures them and teaches them her ways in the woods, then when she's had her full, she returns them, full of wildness and spirit. I keep a little alter now, to Atunda, at the edge of the woods, and make offerings to her as I enter her realm, "I am coming, watch for me. Take me if you will!"

P O Box 420, E. Barre, VT 05649, phone (802) 479-9825, email: sagemt@sagemountain.com

Carol Joyce - Still Willin' Organic Farm
As a Community Herbalist, I specialize in easy to understand, humorous, hands-on teaching for schools, Clubs, at conferences, in your home, and at classes, Woods Walks and "Plant-Ins" at Still Willin' Organic Farm, in Warwick, Massachusetts which is home of White Buffalo Herbs. Located high atop Mallard Hill, surrounded by miles of State Forest, our farm is a conservation restricted, 124-acre, United Plant Savers Botanical Sanctuary offering varied terrain, bountiful wildlife, and peace.

I offer an annual 6-month Apprenticeship on Herbalism & Stewardship in the Green World, 6 weekends, from Nov through May. I afford a limited number of students the opportunity to delve into Herbalism through an INTENSIVE study of herbs, Aromatherapy, & Stewardship. Personalized instruction, textbooks, materials are all included in the fee, with some work-study available.

The apprentices in my program each have a presentation of a special interest project at end of their apprenticeship. We have a presentation "party" each May where they get a chance to be the teachers and share their ideas.

I like to teach anything about Lavender because it is my favorite herb. I also enjoy "Aromatherapy De-Mystified" because it is an introduction to the world of aroma-therapy and it is so exciting to see students get really turned on to their sense of smell. My first aromatherapy class changed my life.

My most effective method of attracting students is word of mouth from other students and fliers at weekly Farmers Markets.

Our website www.whitebuffaloherbs.com is under construction!!

During a Mellow Menopause workshop, one of the students started having hot flashes. She felt quite comfortable in the class so she cast her inhibitions and upper clothing to the wind! Still not relieved of the inner warmth, she tried my "Flash Relief" aroma-mist and the flash receded. She was so excited that she danced around the room spraying everyone. We all loved it (and her) and ended the class on a riotous note.

433 Richmond Road, Warwick, MA 01378, phone (978) 544-2203 email: whitebuffaloherbs@hotmail.com

Pam Leahy - Elementals Herbs
Pam Leahy, herbalist, environmental educator and gardener, is trained in both Chinese and western herbology and certified in the Taoist Healing Arts. She has a private practice in nutrition and herb counseling at the Healthy Living Center in Norwalk, CT. Pam is a lecturer for Oxford Health Insurance Company in NYC and is the owner of Elementals Herbs, a community resource for medicinal herb teas that are available at retail stores and by mail order.

The 5 Elements of Chinese Herbs is a one year certification program in Chinese Herbology for health care professionals seeking to incorporate herbs into their clinical practice. This program is designed to de-mystify Chinese herbalism for the western health care practitioner and give a working knowledge of terminology and protocols that can be successfully applied to compliment their health care practice. This program has been created with an accessible format of classes meeting one weekend a month and includes both academic and clinical training in diagnosis and herb treatment. The program is offered in collaboration with Norwalk Community College, Norwalk, Connecticut and is approved for CEUs for nurses, nutritionists and dieticians. In addition, professional accreditation for this program is pending by The American Association of Drugless Practitioners. Eligibility Requirements: Licensed Health Care Practitioner or Certification in Herbology. Lay students who do not meet the requirements are welcome in the program after interviewing with one of the primary instructors.

Workshops Offered by Elementals Herbs for Lay Public: Introduction to Chinese Herbs and Healing Diet; Building Winter Immunity with Herbs; Growing Medicinal Herbs for Pleasure and Health; Stress Relief Naturally (Herbs to Calm the Mind and Balance the Spirit; Edible and Medicinal Wild Plants (slide presentation); Stocking The Natural Medicine Chest; Herbal Pediatrics (Raising Young Children Naturally); Botanical Medicine & Nutrition in Women's Health Care; Kitchen Medicinals, The Healing Power of Herbs (Introductory class); Chinese & Western Tonic Herbs to Enhance Energy, Immunity and Promote Healthy Aging.

At this time I do not offer a formal apprenticeship program. I have an intern who is studying to be a midwife who works with me on occasion and another student who is an herbalist who helps with herbal products as needed.

My favorite subject to teach is Herbal Gynecology. My private practice is mostly women and I enjoy helping them understand the mystery of their bodies and to connect with the cycles of life. In the 5 Elements of Chinese Herbs program I teach a 2 part program in herbal gynecology - from menstruation to menopause. We use case studies and I break the students down into small groups to develop their presentations. Since the majority of students are health care professionals we have some wonderful group discussions and I learn from my students as well.

We attract students to the program in several ways: For the 5 Elements of Chinese Herbs Program: Our students are our best advertising and we ask their help each year to recruit new students for the program. Whenever I teach a class, I mention the program and include information in their handouts. I do targeted mailings to nurses, nutritionists and dieticians and other health care professionals. The program is offered in the college catalog that is distributed to several hundred thousand in New York and Connecticut.

For my other classes: I teach at several local area institutions, health centers and a garden center. They each do a mailing to their customers/clients of classes.

I do a separate mailing brochure in the Spring and Fall of 500 - 700 pieces from my mailing list summarizing classes I will be teaching in that season and where. I also make my class brochure available at several area health centers and health food stores. There is no magic formula to predict how many will attend any given session. I always ask for advanced registration. Humor is an important part of my presentations and I usually share several laughs with my audience each time.

45 Nod Road, Ridgefield, CT 06877, phone (203) 438-1848, www.elementalz@aol.com

Tony(a) Lemos Herbalist/Food Activist - Blazing Star Herbal School
Blazing Star Herbal School is an informal, grassroots learning center. We are dedicated to teaching traditional herbal medicine in a way that supports a more sustainable future for all members of the green world and shows respect for the integrity of nature. We offer a unique perspective on herbalism, weaving social and political aspects of health and healing through the study of medicinal herbs and food practices. We inspire students to find their own healing path by creating a personal relationship with the plant world. The school also serves as a local and national resource for education and networking.

The main apprenticeship we offer is a weekday apprenticeship, every Tuesday for 10 months. We occasionally do offer a weekend program. I like the consistency of every Tuesday as it enables the student to make herbalism a way of life. It is a really hands on program - we plan, plant, grow, and harvest a garden, we cover the basics of medicine making, we plan a big herbal holiday fair, and take lots of field trips.

Apprentices are expected to bring a commitment to the program, responsibility, respect, timely payments, and enthusiasm.

I like to teach food politics best!

Attracting students has been a challenge, due to lack of funds and an unstable economy. I have tried to take advantage of free advertising opportunities, but we all know that advertising/media in this world is not free, especially now with the new FCC ruling! (See the New York Times June 2-3, 2003 for more details.) I think creativity and persistence are the key and I am looking forward to hearing what others are doing to advertise. We have a website, www.blazingstarherbalschool.org, do a crazy amount of postering around the area, use free calendar listings both in newsletters and online, a tiny little bit of paid advertising, and a mailing once a year. This year we did a small mailing as an attempt to clean up the list. But what works best, I think, though it takes the longest, is word of mouth and personal connections.

A class room experience: I asked one of last years apprentices to recall a moment that stood out for her and she remembered the time we were out laying a path around a peace pole with Mexican river stone. We were really into the sacredness of the area we were creating. We had just laid newspaper down to prevent further grass growth, requesting rain to keep it down. At that moment the wind picked up forcefully, newspaper flew everywhere and the summers blue sky turned to the blackest I've ever seen. Over the next two minutes we frantically ran around looking for rocks to hold the paper down. The skies opened up and the most spectacular storm began. And still we continued to look for rocks.

PO Box 6, Shelburne Falls MA 01370, phone (413) 625-6875, email: tlemos@noho.com

Richard Mandelbaum AHG
I offer workshops in field botany and herbal medicine as part of the curriculum at the Lehigh Valley Healing Arts Academy in Emmaus, PA. The workshop offerings are currently being expanded into a formal program, and so far have included the following topics: Art and Science of Herbal Medicine (an introductory course), How to Identify and Use Native Medicinal Plants of the Northeast, Tincture Making at Home, Herbs for the GI Tract and Liver, Herbal Tonics, and Herbs for Female Reproductive Health.

I also offer occasional workshops and lectures at the Riverside Church Wellness Center in New York City and the Center for Creative Therapies and the Arts in Forestburgh, NY, as well as guided medicinal plant walks at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx.

My favorite subjects to teach are field botany and related topics such as wildcrafting techniques, including, of course, the ethics of wildcrafting. This is where it all began for me personally, and this is what it all ultimately rests upon: the plants themselves. I enjoy teaching on all subjects, but bringing people outdoors and opening their eyes to the plant world brings out a passion in me that other subjects don't match.

I attract students through our website, www.lvhaa.com/instructors.htm, word of mouth, mailings.

PO Box 63, Forestburgh NY 12777, phone (845) 796-1883, email: richardmandelbaum@hotmail.com.

Eva Maynard - South River Herbals
We teach classes and workshops for both adults and children on a variety of herbal topics, both health-related and fun, from Herbs for Winter Health to Soapmaking.

I also provide programs for health care facilities on stress reduction and aromatherapy. Pamper Parties, a relaxing evening of herbal facials, tea, and treats, are a popular "women's night out."

I love to teach classes that emphasize nurturing and self-empowerment through the use of herbs. I also love to teach children.

I attract students through word of mouth, our website www.southriverherbals.com and some advertising.

140 S. River Road, Coventry, CT 06238, phone (860) 742-1258, email: maynard7@mindspring.com

Annie McCleary, herbalist - Purple Coneflower Herbals
I have been teaching herb classes and leading herb walks for over 25 years. I find my teaching in constant evolution, as I learn each year from my students and my beloved plants. Teaching brings me great joy and satisfaction!

I want my students to know the herbs not only as food and medicine, but also as friends, allies and teachers. I teach spiritual dowsing as a means of communicating with plant Devas. I teach my students to thank and honor the plant-beings that offer us humans such beauty and healing, and I encourage students to form their own relationship with the plants.

I am very interested in teaching the identification and use of local wild plants for food and medicine from the perspective of creating sustainable practices and lifestyle, rather than depending on transport of goods from far away places. It makes sense on so many levels to use what we are offered locally: we know and care for our environment when we depend on it to sustain us; foods and herbs are fresh and have not traveled 1,000's of miles to reach us; and we support our local economy. Furthermore, it seems to me that at some point our currently unsustainable lifestyle will shift, and we will experience dramatic changes in our way of living. We are wise to be prepared and know how to sustain and heal ourselves and our communities with the offerings of our locally abundant plant-friends.

I am interested in empowering my students to know how to harvest herbs sustainably, and make simple and effective home remedies and first aid kits. I encourage a holistic approach to health and healing, looking at our food as our first medicine and as a powerful healer. Our attitudes about ourselves and all our relations, our meditative practices and our practice of compassion for all, contribute to successful holistic healing.

Our classes are listed on our website www.purpleconeflowerherbals.com. VSAC grants are available to income qualifying participants.

I teach a five month program called Wisdom of the Herbs: An Experiential Journey Through the Seasons. I would like to tell you a story from our first meeting in May, our wild leek harvest. We drove a short distance from my house to nearby mountain forests, where my housemate, George, and I had earlier found abundant stands of wild leeks. We had done our meditation, asked and received permission to harvest from this forest wonderland. On this glorious sunny day in May, we slowly made our way up the mountain side, 'til we stopped beneath a cliff just short of the leek patch to rest. Herb students melted into the earth, soaking in the intoxication of being in such a wild, quiet place. We moved deeper into the forest and were greeted by a wild carpet of spring-beauties, dotted with trout-lilies, squirrel corn, Dutchman's breeches and false hellebore throughout the leeks. As we said our thank-yous, dug our leeks and sank our bare feet into the loose rich forest soil, we had the sense of being in the middle of a faerie-celebration. We felt profoundly at home.

1948 Ripton Road Lincoln, Vermont 05443, phone (802) 453-6764, email: anniemc@gmavt.net.

Pam Montgomery - Partner Earth Education Center
Partner Earth Education Center is located in beautiful southern Vermont at the base of Marble Mountain where wildlife and wildflowers abound. Water is abundant with a year round trout stream outside our door and Heart spring that provides us with the purest drinking water you've ever tasted. This setting holds the container for the herbal and plant spirit healing classes that happen here. Partner Earth also sponsors the Healing With Flowers Conference and the Green Nations Gathering, www.greennations.org.

We offer a six-month certified herbal apprentice program taught by Pam Montgomery. This program combines didactic information exchange along with hands-on herbal instruction. We believe that the best teaching comes from the plants themselves.

We expect students to attend all classes, participate in home study and complete a final project. We also offer a Plant Spirit Healing Intensive which is my first love and passion. This intensive meets four times for three full days each session. This advanced class takes the student into the realm of spiritual ecology and co-creative partnership with plants. The modalities of the Medicine Wheel, Five Element Theory, the Chakra System and the Three Doshas are taught as structures to use plant spirit medicine in a healing practice. The student builds relationship with plants through sensory awareness and co-creative partnership. The student then progresses to working shamanically with plants to receive their healing gifts.

Favorite times in class are when students are working with plants they don't know and learn directly from the plants themselves. We go and check to see what the books may say and voila it says the same thing the student was told from the plant.

Each year we print a free brochure that we mail to interested persons and maintain www.partnereartheducationcenter.com, our website, for those with access to the internet.

1525 Danby Mountain Road, Danby, VT 05739, phone (802) 293-5996, email: info@partnereartheducationcenter.com

Barbara Nardozzi - Bramblewood Gardens
Bramblewood Gardens is my home and display gardens in Hinesburg, VT. We are located in a woodsy area on a little lake called Sunset Lake. Usually I offer an apprenticeship program only, although I have offered (and I'd like to teach it in the future) Botany of Medicinal Plants and some others.

My apprenticeship program goes from late April until early November. We meet 10 times (approx. every 3 weeks) over this time period. I limit the classes to 12 students only. Classes meet on Saturdays all day. We study approx. 72 herbs during the apprenticeship meetings. Classes are a mix of information gathering ("lecture") on body systems, medicine bags, demos of how to make herbal preparations, some hands-on project making, field trips, plant ID walks, vegetarian potluck meals.

I expect full attendance from my apprentices and for them to arrive on time.

My favorite subject to teach is lifestyle that supports health and well-being (e.g., diet, meditation, immune system support); also the digestive system and the liver which are so important.

I attract students through advertising, word of mouth, and reputation. Plus I teach two courses in herbalism at the Univ. of Vermont and young people spread the word.

On two separate occasions, I've had very sensitive students who have experienced severe adverse reactions/effects from sampling the herbs were offered during that day's class. I think it is tremendously beneficial for everyone to understand that these things can happen and it helps our perspective in knowing that plants can be very powerful for many of us, even when used within reasonable guidelines.

380 Sunset Lane East, Hinesburg, VT 05461, phone (802) 482-3500, email: nardozzi@together.net

Leslie Plant - Leslie's Garden
I teach herbal soapmaking and also herbal balms and creams at area recreation departments, a turn of the last century farm museum and a plant nursery. My classes are good for folks who don't necessarily want to become herbal practitioners but want more herbs in their life and would like to learn techniques to make the mediums in which they can use their herbs.

I love teaching both of my classes because they teach folks techniques that have been used through the ages by our foreparents. I encourage them to likewise, teach someone else these old-timey techniques. I love to see little light bulbs go off as my students realize they have an intuitive knowledge about these skills or as they begin to remember early childhood occasions when their scrapes were tended by a grandmother applying her homemade pine tar balm or watching from afar as the grown-ups made soap once a year. I always feel like my own foremothers are standing at my shoulder and smiling as I teach and empower my students to "make it from scratch."

I attract students through our website www.lesliesgarden.com, mailings, craft show booth, word of mouth.

My favorite classroom experience is really a post classroom experience. After she had taken my soapmaking class, a student - the mother of a teenaged daughter wrote to me. She relayed that she and her daughter had a troubled relationship and could not communicate well. Once she had taken the class she went home and taught her daughter to make soap. She wrote to thank me for teaching her because now that she and her daughter made soap together they had begun to talk and their relationship had improved. How good is that!? It made me smile to think of them working together as mothers and daughters have done for centuries, without tension and with common purpose.

4713 Somerset Road, Riverdale Park, MO 20737, phone (301) 779-8562, email: soaplady@lesliesgarden.com

Rebecca Wood - Hopewood Farm
Hopewood Farm offers many herbal and wellness workshops and retreats. Reiki, yoga, meditation, nature awareness, the healing garden, herbal studies, aroma therapy, wild foods, botanical mapping, winter weeds and field studies in sustainable design principles. The main facilitator of Hopewood is Rebecca Wood as well as many wonderful guest teachers. Garden tours and collaborative events and workshops are also a part of Hopewood Programming with special people like Paul Strauss of Equinox Botanicals, Hank and Paul "the Botany Boys" of Landreformers Greenhouse, Plant it Herbs Chinese Gardens, United Plant Savers and Jeanne Rose to name just a few. Hopewood also is a regional outreach site offering Rosemary Gladstar's Arts and Science of Herbalism as a part of the Herb Certificate program.

Hopewood offers Practicum and work exchanges for local students at Ohio University, Hocking College. Interested folks can call for formal apprentice or practicum opportunities. Housing is available. Participants are involved in every aspect of wellness, general farm and garden work, botanical research and herbal studies, yoga, private sessions available, body alignment, reiki, nature meditation as well as gardening and good "ole fashioned" farm work.

Depending upon the season, Horse boarding and care, mushroom log inoculation, foraging, weeding, drying plants, making tinctures or sleeping in hammock in pines are all just a small part of life at Hopewood. Commitment is based on the individual.

As a whole plant person and holistic healthcare practitioner I find it hard to separate what I like best. All aspects of my lifestyle and program inspire and entice. How does one choose between feeling the sun on your face, listening to the birds, swimming in a pond or sitting in the woods? To me herbalism and wellness are just that.

I attract students through flyers, Hocking College where I am a professor of Natural Resources and teach the Herb Certificate Program, Ohio University, public outreach and workshops, and our website. www.hopewoodfarm.com.

The weekend of April 25-27 was spent with 9 students, and various community members and guests at Equinox Botanicals. This annual event is co-facilitated by Paul Strauss and other local herbalists and is one of my student's favorite activities. Rain or shine spring nights at golden healing pond, the stories, wisdom and personality of Paul, long hikes over hill and 'holler, sweat lodges and the spring splash into the pond are only part of the magic. The students bring their own special offerings of song, personality, wit and desire to learn. We forage for amendments to magnificent meals, invite neighbors and give thanks to the many wonders of nature. This year Chief Tommy Netz joined us for dinner and shared some stories of plants and customs. He and his father happened to be visiting Paul for the spring turkey season starting the following week, what an unexpected gift, thank you Tommy. One of the most special parts of the weekend were the four goslings that hatched Sunday morning along with the brilliant azure blue sky of a crisp sunny spring day. Survival shelters were built, plants were visited for their use and wisdom and a silent mediation at rock garden followed by a short silent walk through the forest were just some of the highlights. I guess spring is off to a good start!

37000 Chase Run Road, Albany, OH 45710, email: hopewood@frognet.net