Locust Light Farm

Hi there,

I'm gearing up for spring classes: allergies, meadow medicine, and Herb Day! My daughter is currently sick, so I'll be fully refreshed for my "crafty ways to get kids to consume herbs" class in two weeks.

I want to chat for a second about the Meadow Medicine class I'm teaching with Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve. I'm teaching this class for two reasons:

1) I love these plants and I think they're highly underutilized in everyday herbal practice. I want to spread the word!

2) I truly believe that growing native plants is one of the things that most of us can do that makes a huge difference. Even a small space can provide crucial habitat for insects. We need the insects! If the insects don't survive, we don't survive.

As an herbalist, I know that just learning about plants doesn't do much -- the magic happens when you develop a relationship with them. Relationships are built on repeated interactions. Tending plants in a garden, and harvesting them and making herbal concoctions with them, is a solid way to build a relationship. That's why I love these classes that combine gardening + medicine-making + herbal learning.

If you have even the smallest space for a few containers, I encourage you to grow native plants. If you're local, join me in this class! And if you're not, here are some resources:

Meadow resources:

• ​Homegrown National Park ​
• ​Lawns into Meadows: Growing a Regenerative Landscape by Owen Wormser -- a very approachable book
• ​Nature's Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation that Starts in your Yard by Doug Tallamy​

Local native plant nurseries:

• Gino's Nursery, Wrightstown, PA
• Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve, New Hope, PA
• Wild Ridge Plants, Alpha, NJ

Meadow Medicine at Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve

Learn the medicinal qualities of our beloved full-sun herbaceous perennials, i.e. the meadow plants!

In this class, we'll go deep with eight "meadow herbs," studying their medicinal qualities, including how they are harvested and used. You'll learn the process by which basic herbal preparations are made, how to grow these precious perennials in your garden, and how they support their local ecosystem.

Herbalist Amanda Crooke will guide you in the herbal qualities of the herbs, and Santino from BHWP will teach you about cultivating these plants and their ecosystem relationships.

What's included

• Each class will include all materials necessary for our study.
• Participants will also go home with eight plants, one of each of the species discussed in the class.
• You will take home one herbal preparation from each class (tea, oxymel, oil, and salve).

Itinerary

Meadow Medicine is a 4-Part Series, held on Wednesday nights, 6:00-8:00pm

• May 13th
• May 20th
• May 27th
• June 3rd

Plant a mini meadow

Classes at Grounds for Sculpture

​Herbal Allergy Relief -- this Saturday!​

Saturday, April 25th, 10:30-11:30am

Explore herbs & holistic techniques that address the root cause of allergies and help manage symptoms when they arise. You’ll leave class with an herbal tea blend, snack recipes, and lifestyle tips. Admission to GFS is included, so feel free to enjoy the grounds!

Note: this class covers allergic rhinitis, not food intolerances or food allergies.

​Crafting Herbal Mocktails​

Saturday, May 23, 1:00-3:00 PM

Learn to craft delicious herbal mocktails (non-alcoholic cocktails) with oxymels, simple syrups, hydrosols, and more! You’ll make your own tasty oxymel (a mixture of honey and vinegar) and receive delicious mocktail recipes to take home, all while sipping delicious mocktails.
​

This class is so fun, I'm also teaching it on:

​Saturday, June 20th, 1:00-3:00 PM​

​Saturday, July 25th, 1:00-3:00 PM​

Herb Day

​Herb Day is a full day of FREE herbalism classes taught by some really wonderful herbalists. The full day runs from 9:00am-5:00pm.

I’ll be teaching Herbs for Kids at 2:00pm. We’ll cover:

• Herbal support for common childhood ailments
• How to use herbs safely with kids (i.e. dosing)
• Safe herbs for kids
• and most importantly — many creative ideas for getting herbs into their squirmy, fussy bodies (i.e. compliance)

Note: everything I teach in this class will also be helpful for getting uninterested friends and family members to take herbs.

psst... want an online herbal allergy class + a personalized formula?

Check it out:
​

Community Bulletins

• My friend Lynn is having a Medicinal Plant Sale and Guided Herb Walk on Sunday, May 3rd in Norristown, PA. She also has a number of workshops this summer!
• Speaking of relationship with native plants, my friend Mare McClellan has created a whole body of art inspired by many threads of relationship. The exhibition opening is May 2nd at the Morpeth Gallery in Hopewell, NJ.
• The teachers of David Winston's Center for Herbal Studies are again offering a free class series! Registration for the next cohort is now open. Many of us will be at Herb Day, so if you want to meet us, that's the place!

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