WORKSHOPS
Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature.
It will never fail you.
PAST EVENTS
DESERT EASTER MIDNIGHT PLANT IMMERSION
TUESDAY MARCH 27 8PM – MIDNIGHT
Come experience 4 magical plants of the California desert in the living room of a beautiful home in Sherman Oaks.
Learning about plants is tasting, touching, smelling and feeling them – having your own experience of what they do in your body and your psyche. You are establishing a connection in the realm of plant consciousness, which is a space where you will learn more about yourself and the medicine of the plants.
Throughout the course of this evening you will be meditating and making medicine with 4 amazing plants of the desert; ocotillo, chaparral, ambrosia and desert lavender. The plants will be ethically and consciously harvested in the Mojave desert and brought to this gathering for you.
This is a midnight venture, for the sake of delving into the plants during the intuitive rhythm of the night.
DESERT PLANT MEDICINE TRIP
ANZA-BORREGO DESERT STATE PARK, CALIFORNIA
Thursday March 22 – Sunday March 25, 2018
The desert is a magical place. Every year the past 7 years I’ve been going to Anza Borrego for time with the plants in the desert. I find that the desert naturally provides deep reflection, contemplation, stillness and inspiration. When I’m in my tent at night I feel the breeze gently move the tent cloth, I can see the stars through the mesh opening, and I’ll hear an owl hooting at night, and often I’ll hear the coyotes howling on the other side of the canyon, dancing around their catch.
We will make flower essences of the desert, and learn about medicine making.
We will meditate with the desert and the plant spirits to learn what knowledge they have for us. We’ll go over ethical wildcrafting in the desert, although we won’t be doing any harvesting of plants in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Three nights, two full days to sink into the desert. We will be camping at a primitive campsite. Please bring your own tent, sleeping bag, water jugs and food. Detailed information about what to bring will be sent upon registration.
ARNICA AND CALENDULA SALVE MAKING
SATURDAY APRIL 22, 11AM TO 1PM
LEARNING GARDEN VENICE, CA
In this salve making workshop we will talk about the use of Arnica and Calendula flowers, as well as scientific findings and new research. Arnica is a cherished plant for topical use for bruises and swelling, cuts and sprains and muscle aches. Calendula is wonderfully skin soothing and healing, and treats infections of the skin.
For this workshop there will be Arnica harvested in the wild and Calendula harvested at the Learning Garden in Venice, by yours truly. The oils will be infused with these plants, and you will press the plant oil and make your own salve and take it home.
HERB WALKS IN THE GARDEN
SUNDAY APRIL 9: 1PM TO 3PM
VENICE, CA
The Learning Garden is full of edible and medicinal plants, from opportunistic wild weeds and native desert plants to exotic ornamentals and culinary herbs. On this tour you will learn about the plants and their uses in western herbalism, and you get to sample and taste various medicines made the ‘kitchen herbalism way.’ Some of the plants you will meet are California Poppy, Sage, Rosemary, Lavender, Elderberry, Roses, Motherwort, Lemon balm, Fo Ti and many more.
MEDICINAL PLANTS AND TEA FORMULATION
SATURDAY MAY 13, 11AM TO 1PM
VENICE, CA
There are many ways of preparing plants and many ways of drinking tea, you can drink tea hot or cold, infuse overnight or decoct, you can drink single plants or mix teas together that have uplifting effects or calming properties. In this class we will be exploring some of the plants, flowers, leaves and roots that have been harvested at the Learning Garden; plants that you could also easily grow in your garden. We will sample, smell and taste various plants and tea blends to delight your senses. Bring a mug!
THE SAGES OF THE LEARNING GARDEN
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 11TH FROM 11AM to 1PM
VENICE, CA
Cur moisture homo cui Salvia crescit in horto? “
Why should a man die whilst Sage grows in his garden?”
She shouldn’t!
Medicine plants are all around us, wanting to be smelled and tasted, discovered and used. You have probably seen sage all around LA, it grows in a variety of forms and loves the Southern California climate.
In this class we will revel in the different kinds of sage (Salvia) at The Learning Garden in Venice, there are over ten species. Sage is a native plant to California and has many healing and medicinal qualities. It has been used for medicine and cherished by native people and folk healers, Romans and gypsies, and now science is catching up with research and studies on these beautiful, unique and magical plants.
We will take a tour of the sages of the Learning Garden, and get to know these plants more intimately through smelling, tasting and medicine making!
See a workshop you missed but would like to do?
If you see a past workshop that you would love to attend in the future, please get in touch and let me know. If demand is high enough I can easily arrange to organize it for a suitable date.
Upcoming Events
Time is TBDGrass Valley, Grass Valley, CA, USAIn this sequence of Monday evening mushroom classes we will be learning about a new genus of mushrooms every time.