INTRODUCTION TO HERBALISM & MEDICINE-MAKING
At The Santa Cruz Permaculture Farm
In this practical and fun class, participants will learn how to source, make, and use a wide range of herbal medicines. We’ll build your home apothecary by making tinctures, syrups, oils, salves, lotions, pastilles and much more. We’ll introduce herbal actions such as Adaptogens, Calmatives/Sedatives, Immunostimulants, tonics and Harmonizers that can be grown in our gardens or sourced locally. We’ll also discuss the crucial role diet and nutrition play in promoting our vitality, immunity, and resilience to stress. Whether you’re interested in herbal medicine and want to begin your journey or are just looking for natural ways to support your energy and nervous system, relax more, and sleep better, all within a supportive community of practice, this class will teach you an abundance of tools that you will use for decades to come.
Join master herbalist Jackie Christensen for a comprehensive introduction to herbalism and medicine making.
Jackie Christensen, Ph.D., is an internationally respected educator with expertise in herbology, Ayurveda, and natural health. She holds a Ph.D. in Naturopathy, a Masters in Ayurveda, and Certificates as a Nutritional Consultant and Master Herbalist. Jackie is a faculty member, clinical supervisor, and practitioner at the Mount Madonna College of Ayurveda, and instructor at Cabrillo Community College. She operates Practice Ayurveda, a private practice in Santa Cruz, CA, specializing in therapeutic interventions for Type-2 Diabetes and gut health. Jackie has lived in Santa Cruz for over 20 years. In her spare time she enjoys foraging, and spending time in the Sierras wildcrafting, snowboarding, hiking, and swimming in the lakes.
Join herbalist and wild foods forager Lexi Hudson for our Wild Foods & Medicine Weekend.
Lexi Hudson is a clinically trained Western herbalist, wild foods forager, chef, and educator living in the Bay Area. She began her herbal studies in Davis under Leslie Gardener of California School of Herbal Studies and went on to study extensively with Pam Fischer at the Berkeley Herbal Center where she completed their two-year Herbal Foundations and Therapeutics certificate and two-year Clinical Internship. After graduating, she supervised first year clinicians and offered courses at BHC for both the public and for the school’s clinical herbalism programs. Lexi serves as a matchmaker for people and the natural world, facilitating transformational processes to help them align with their highest selves. Her recipe for a good life includes wild food, herbal medicine, land tending at her homestead, grateful surrender to the divine, and quality time in the ocean with loved ones.
Full Series: 6 Weekends over 6 Months
Pricing
- Full Tuition: $1295
- Early Bird Discount: $1195 (Register by March 25, 2025)
- Super Early Bird Discount: $1095 (Register by March 11, 2025)
- Partner / Spouse Tuition: $995 (When one partner registers for the full course, the second gets a discount)
- Teachers: $995 (Special price for For K-12, College and University Teachers)
- Youth: $795 (Special price for ages 13-18)
Fall-Winter 2024
Basics – November 16-17, 2024Digestive System & Kitchen Herbalism – December 14-15, 2024Nervous System + Botany – January 11-12, 2025Wild Foods Weekend – February 8-9, 2025- Immune & Common Ailments – March 8-9, 2025
- The Integumentary System & Topical Applications – March 22-23, 2025
Session Times: Saturday and Sunday 10am to 5pm
Spring-Summer 2025
- Basics – April 19-20, 2025
- Digestive System & Kitchen Herbalism – May, 17-18, 2025
- Wild Foods Weekend – June 21-22, 2025
- Nervous System + Botany – July 19-20, 2025
- Immune & Common Ailments – August 16-17, 2025
- The Integumentary System & Topical Applications – September 20-21, 2025
Session Times: Saturday and Sunday 10am to 5pm
Individual Sessions
If you don’t want to sign up for the full course but would like to sign up for an individual weekend, you’re welcome to do so! The tuition is $295 per weekend.
Immune & Common Ailments – March 8-9, 2025 & August 16-17, 2025
The Integumentary System & Topical Applications – March 22-23, 2025 and September 20-21, 2025
Basics – April 19-20, 2025
Digestive System & Kitchen Herbalism – May 17-18, 2025
The Wild Foods Weekend – June 21-22, 2025
Nervous System + Botany – July 19-20, 2025
Session Descriptions
All sessions include plant walks, plant sits and lots of hands-on making & crafting. Classes run from 10am-5pm on Saturday and 10am-3pm on Sunday.
Basics
- Explore the basics of herbalism: the how, what and why we use herbs.
- Explore the language of plants, learn how to engage with plants and become familiar with botanical vocabulary.
- Study herbal actions, constitution basics, and herbal dosage.
- Gain proficiency in the art of tea making and blending. Learn about infusions, sun teas, decoctions, and more.
- Learn about ethical wildcrafting.
- Discover how to source high quality herbs and learn best practices in drying/storing herbs.
Digestive System & Kitchen Herbalism
- Explore digestion and nutrition basics to support overall health.
- Learn how herbs can support the digestion system.
- Discover herbal flavors and taste, and how they interact with the body.
- Learn about herbal monographs and materia medica.
- Make various herbal culinary items like herbal salts, vinegars, oils, pesto & herbally-infused ghee.
Nervous System & Botany
- Gain understanding of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system and the benefits that a well regulated nervous system can provide.
- Learn about adaptogens, tonics, and Nervines.
- Learn to identify plant families, their scientific names, and cultural history of plants.
- Understand the reproductive parts of plants, and how plants photosynthesize and communicate across landscapes.
- Explore the basics of plant constituents.
- Explore the basics of Tincture and Glycerite making.
The Wild Foods Weekend
- Learn how to forage for wild foods and medicines including plant identification and common look alikes, and wildcrafting ethics.
- Harvesting & processing techniques.
- Medicinal properties & medicine making techniques.
- Culinary virtues and recipes to incorporate wild plants into daily cuisine.
- Folklore and traditional use of plant materials.
Immune & Common Ailments
- Explore herbs for building a healthy immune system.
- Learn all about immunmodulators and immunostimulants.
- Explore the wonderful world of medicinal mushrooms.
- Make herbal syrups and herb infused honey.
- Make herbal gummies and pastilles.
- Learn about herbal vinegars & fire cider.
The Integumentary System & Topical Applications
- Discover the supplies needed for making herbal preparations.
- Learn about the integumentary system
- Make herbal body oils, salves, lotions & poultices.
- Learn about common first aid plants for topical care.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can make up material you missed during the next session.
Please use the registration button above.
Cancellations up to two weeks before the course begins will be refunded, excluding a $150 processing fee. No refunds are given after that date.
Participants are welcome to defer their enrollment to the next session of the course.
Most classes are held on our 26-acre farm north of Davenport, CA, 20 minutes north of the Westside of Santa Cruz and 1 hour from San Jose or San Francisco. Participants are welcome to camp onsite for the weekend of the course and enjoy the gorgeous natural surroundings and beach access.
Course participants are very welcome to camp at the farm Saturday of the course weekends. Our facilities are rustic, but comfortable. Building community around the campfire is a wonderful bonus! The farm is a gorgeous place where you will feel immersed in nature and enjoy spectacular stars at night and walkable beach access. There are restaurants and markets nearby in Davenport and Costanoa.
There are no required readings, though here is a list of recommendations:
- Grow it, Heal it: Natural and Effective Herbal Remedies from Your Garden or Windowsill by Christopher Hobbs and Leslie Gardner
- Healing with the Herbs of Lifeby Lesley Tierra
- Medicinal Herbs of the Pacific West by Michael Moore
- The Flavors of Home: A Guide to the Wild Edible Plants of the San Francisco Bay Area by Margit Roos-Collins
- The Modern Dispensary by Thomas Easley
Class meets Saturday from 10AM-5PM and Sunday from 10AM-3PM, with a lunch break both day. We typically have potluck lunches either Saturday or Sunday.