Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Home Herbalists 2013 ~ Bringing Herbalism Back Home

Here's a glimpse of our first Home Herbalist weekend. We'll be together one weekend a month for the next 7 months creating Herbal Community.



Getting acquainted
A very young and very eager Home Herbalist enjoying his potluck lunch!


Cottonwood Plant study
Getting loupey





In love with Balm





Learning is so much fun with good friends
Hands on learning
Hands on teaching with help from Dandelion

Violet Plant Study
A Violet Faery!

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Balm of Gilead Bliss

Balm plant study March 10 (Click on photos to enlarge)

Sorry you missed out? We'll be offering another one at the end of the month!

The Cottonwood Riparian Ecosystme is the most endangered ecosystem in BC
Big ol Balms
The perfect way to study about Cottonwood!
Balmed out Bliss
"Catkin" ~ She's a pistillate
The magic cookie giving Cottonwood
Catkin, Camouflage and Cottonwood
River Reflections

A Bit of an Update

Greetings Plant Lovers!

I hope this message finds you well and enjoying our early Spring!

(I'm in the process of updating the "News and Updates" page so until then I'll be posting updates here).

While I wasn't quite ready to let go of Winter, I am now well into the "swing of Spring". I take great delight awakening every morning to the mellliflous melody of the little song Sparrow that perches on the Hawthorn
tree outside my window. This little Sparrow (or one of its relatives) is one of the very first harbringers of Spring in my bioregion, making its appearance mid-February. The Canadian Geese are back and have taken up their annual residence down on the river. Thus the cycle continues and I am comforted to be part of it.

I would like to say thank you to everyone who stopped by our display at the Enderby Seed Swap to say hello and give me a hug and tell me how much you liked the Wild Roots display! It warms my heart to see so many earthy, organic folks gathered together in one place offering such an abundance of goodness. What I find very heartening is the increasing number of young farmers in the area. These young folk give  give me great hope for our future! My apprentice this year, Rose Cairnie, is in fact, one of said young farmers and makes her home and living at the Golden Ears Co-op farm outside of Chase. I am really enjoying having Rose on board this year and you will be seeing and hearing a little more about her in future messages.

Here's a sneak peak of Rose (on the left) in the kekuli. And yes, she is as lovely as her botanical namesake!

The Seed Swap is our "jumping off point" in which we start gearing up for the new year of classes, so here we go!

It really helps in the planning of our schedule if we hear from you as to what classes you are interested in. So far, the Medicine Making series is proving to be popular. Also in the works is a "Herbs for Summer" workshop intensive. Please, give us an email and let us know what you'd like to see.

"The Home Herbalist" is our certificate offering this year. This is a wonderful, comprehensive, hands-on learning experience designed to provide you with the skills to deliver Herbalism in the home. The course will start in April and run one weekend a month through to October. The deadline for registration is March 23rd and the course is just about full to capacity with only a couple of spots left. I am happy to see some beautiful, familiar faces back in class and look forward to meeting some new, beautiful faces! If you would like more information about he course, head on over to our website and click on the "Certificate Programs" link for all the juicy details.

If you missed the Cottonwood/Balm of Gilead Plant study last Sunday (and my apologies for not sending out a reminder email), I'll be offering another one, either later on this month or early April.  In the meantime, I've posted a few pics from our walk. And if you think you alreadyknow something about Balm of Gilead, think again! Did you know that our local species, Populus balsamifera var tricocarpa, is a "dioecious tree"
(meaning that the male and female flowers are born on separate trees); that the Cottonwood Riparian ecosystem is the most endangered ecosystem in BC; that the Cottonwood makes such a huge contribution to the ecosystem that it is used as a model tree by biologists studying ecological biodiversity and
in fact, was the first tree to have its genome mapped. It is imperative you know something about the ecology as well as the botany of a plant before you head out to wild craft!

In this day and age of hi-tech, online learning we here at Wild Roots are eally offering something very unique ~ an opportunity to come together, in person, with like minded people, to share and experience, the real, the
sensorial and the wild and wonderful world of plants and Herbalism. In fact, the learning experience goes well beyond "herbs". We are creating a living, breathing, dynamic Herbal Community much like a living, breathing ecosystem.

A beautiful blend of ecosystems
I learned my "herb craft" during a time when there was no internet and very few herbal books and resources available in small town, rural BC. My early herbal training consisted of a back pack full of field guides and hours upon hours, upon hours  ~ upon years, upon years of plant sleuthing and identification. My very first "herbal" was a paperback copy of Jethro Kloss's "Back to Eden" purchased when I was sixteen years old. While my herbal library has expanded to fill up one room and then some, I still have that well worn, well read and dog-eared copy of Back to Eden. And while my early self directed learning was eventually supplemented with formal training it is the hands on learning that I still find most meaningful.
While I utilize and appreciate the  instant information-at-a-finger tip, that the Internet offers, it is my early experiences of wandering through a shady forest, slogging through a muddy swamp, hiking up and down moutains, strolling along the river bank and a pack weighted down with field guides, that I offer to my community.

I hope that you feel inspired to join us for a class this year.

Love and Plants!

Barb

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

In The Mood For Love

We're in the mood for Love and we have some very special offerings to help you get your Love on!
We'd sure love to see you at one or both of these classes!

                              ~ Cacao Plant Study ~

                                  Sunday, February 3 ~ 10:00 - 1:00


Chocked full of anti-oxidants, phyto-nutrients, minerals and so much more, medicine never tasted so good!

Food of the Gods and Goddess associated with the Goddess of fertility, Xachiquetzal!

Join us Sunday, February 3 as we delve into the history, lore, botanical, edible and medicinal properites of one of the most beloved foods on earth - \Cacao!

Pre-registration with full payment required by February 1. Cost: $40.

Make and take home a Cacao sample medicine. 

                     ~ Love Medicine Workshop Intensive ~
                                Saturday, February 9 ~ 10:00 - 4:00

Just as there are a myriad of way so experience Love so there are a myriad of herbs to enhance Love!

In this workshop intensive we will learn about foods and herbs to:
*Nourish the Heart
*Liven the Libido
*Mellow out
*Botanica Erotica
*And much more!

We'll talk, sample, smell and taste a variety of love potions, lotions, elixers, teas and tinctures, foods and herbs to nourish and stimulate Love be it self Love, passionate Love, romantic Love...in fact any kind of Love!

You'll make and take home your own Love Medicines including an herbal Love elixer, a luscious and lickable lip balm, Aphrodite's Atomic Aphrodisiac Love Bombs!

You can read all about one participant's experience here
http://girlgonewildandweedy.wordpress.com/2012/03/06/wild-roots-wild-medicine-wild-love/

Includes a Love-ly lunch and  handout.

Cost $75. Couples receive a $10 discount

Time: 10:00 - 4:00 Pre-registration required by February 6 including a
deposit of $35.



Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Cedar Plant Study Sunday January 6

Greetings Plant Lovers!

We are starting the new year with our ever popular Cedar Plant Study this Sunday, January 6. We hope you can join us as we meet with the "King of conifers".

The plant study will include a walk in the old growth Cedar forest (aka magical Nettle forest) where we will discuss Cedar botany, ecology, identification, ethnobotany as well as a hands-on Cedar medicine making
demonstration. You will have the opportunity to make and take home a Cedar smudge stick. Class includes refreshments and a detailed handout.

Cost is $40. Time 10:00 - 1:00.

Pre-registration is required. To reserve your spot give us a call or send us an emial.

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Interpretive Walk at Kingfisher

Say Green !




Tree Talk











Lobaria!

At the river

Kekuli in the snow

Cookies and Buckbrush Chai in the Kekuli




Monday, December 10, 2012

Winter Greetings and a Winter Walk

Hello Plant Lovers!

Well, it appears that Winter has finally arrived. Our beautiful green Shuswap has been dusted with snow and the landscape has been transformed. This is truly one of my favourite times of the year! I love the quiet, the calm and the stillness of Winter.

I feel fortunate - indeed blessed - that in living this modest lifestyle of an Herbalist I can just go with the flow of the natural rhythm of Nature. I arise each morning with the natural light - a good two hours later than in the Spring and Summer. I'm not pressured by the clock to be anywhere and in the midst of doing the morning chores - I can pause and take the time to appreciate the muted blues, greys and whites of Winter's subtle palette.

I know that "out there" - across the bridge, down the road and across another bridge - there is a different world from the one I live in. A world that is slightly (and then some) off kilter to Nature's rhythm. A world that spins faster and faster and becomes brighter, shinier, noisier and is in stark contrast to the quiet and the calm of the natural Season.

So...my gift to you, this holiday Season, this Winter Season, is to invite you to join me in my little, quiet corner of the world. I'm offering theWinter walk at the Kingfisher Interpretive Centre by donation. The proceeds will go towards the Kingfisher Interpretive Centre. KIC is an internationally award winning Interpretive centre that offers, free of charge, hands-on environmental education to well over 3,000 children andtheir families every year.

We'll meet at 11:00, Saturday, Dec 15 at KIC. We'll learn about the ecology of the Interior Cedar Hemlock Rain Forest, the trees and plants that grow in this beautiful and unique forest, we'll walk along the Shuswap river and we'll finish up with a fire and gathering in the Kekuli.

If you would like to join me, you'll need to rsvp by Thursday 4 pm. I'll send out more details (driving directions etc) once you have confirmed your space.

Love, Plants, Peace and Winter Blessings to all!

Barb