In this three day class, we will camp together and focus our time on identifying plants in the field and making medicine each day from our field excursions. We will cover medicine making basics in a field setting without the use of a modern kitchen or facilities. This class is focused on beginner herbal medicine making, primarily. It is a hands-on class, with much of our time spent processing medicine and teachings on proper medicine making techniques.

You’ll walk away with a couple medicines to take home and materia medica basics on how to further process and use them.

This will be in a rustic setting. Be prepared to car camp. Bring what you need to be comfortable in the wild. We will be at high elevation between 8,000-11,000 feet so prepare accordingly. We will make medicine from what is in season, which will vary in diversity depending on monsoon rains and flowering times. Bring your own food and we can collaborate on dinners.

We will cover:

basic plant ID and poison plants

relevant wild tending and sustainable harvesting techniques

wild plant teas

drying plants in the field

folk tincture making

place-based small batch mead and elixir making

place-based flower essences

Our schedule:

August 27 : arrive in the morning, class from noon-5:30 PM

August 28: all day class 9-4:30 PM

August 29: class from 9-3 PM

I will provide a required foraging and medicine making tool list before class time for you to bring to class (this will include things like portable fabric drying racks, note-taking gear, hori-hori, pruners, medicine making supplies etc.). Bring camping gear to be in a wild space without amenities. We will likely be near water but bring water you’ll need during the time. I will send the specific location and a more detailed small suggested gear list as time gets closer to class.

Location will be within an hour of Paonia, Colorado.

Please email me if you have any questions: kelly@ofsedgeandsalt.com