Curriculum

      Herbalist Sheelagh Mackenzie has been giving herbal courses
      for 12 years. This year courses have been expanded so that you
      can learn the herbs of all the seasons.

      Courses are a combination of class time (herbal theory, elementary
      botany, and principles of medicine making); field trips (in which we
      will craft each herb in such a way as to ensure it’s continued survival
      over time); and medicine making (in these labs we manipulate the
      herbs we have collected and make medicines of them).

      As you hike through the forests and pastures, wetlands and
      mountains you will collect medicinal herbs and remember the
      abundance of natures gifts. You will find the royalty;
      usnea and devils club, the commoners; dandelion and burdock,
      the tall and stately; red cedar and the tiny; eyebright.
      You will find these and many more.

You will collect and use the cultivated herbs in our gardens, and learn to grow them,
echinacea, valerian, mugwort, vervain, elecampane, Jerusalem artichoke and many more.

You will learn the medicinal properties of all these herbs and other important herbs from
around the world.

Some student comments:

          "This is a great course. Going to beautiful natural places, collecting but
          hardly disturbing. Making a healing medicine from the herbs collected. Wow."

          "I have taken a full correspondence course and am familiar with herbal
          theory. This course brought that knowledge to life. Gathering the fresh
          herbs, smelling, seeing, knowing."

          "Much to my surprise the course was laid out in an open learning environment,
          so Sheelagh can accommodate many different levels of knowledge."

          "Going on a walk has taken on a whole new meaning."

      Many people have used this course as a vehicle to overcome or improve their own
health challenges. Six people have quit smoking. One brave person, a stroke victim who
the year before had been confined to a wheel chair was able to climb a mountain and become
a stroke victor. One person had disabling chemical sensitivities and didn’t think she could
take the course but was able to because of new herbal allies she starting using and the fact
that most of the time we are outside in the fresh air. Two people have been able to bring
their asthma under control.