Herbal Medicine Making Apprenticeship

TOPICS COVERED:

Wildcrafting & processing of tropical plants for food and medicine.

Drying, infusions and decoctions, tincturing, hydrosols, infused oils, vinegars & honeys, salves, from our local plants as plants coming from other bioregions.

FULL CURRICULUM:

– Introduction to Permaculture (1 day)

– Permaculture Zones (half day)

– Soil Science (half day)

– Appropriate Treatment (half day)

– Introduction to Botany (1 day)

– History of Herbalism & healing traditions of the world (1 day)

– Herbal and Human Energetics (half day)

– Theory in Formulations for Constitutions and Acute Care (half day)

– Plant Identification (morning plant walks)

– Plant Care and Propagation (half day)

– Lunar Rhythms (half day)

– Food as medicine (half day)

– Conscious Omnivory (half day)

– Creating our Envision Festival Herbal Clinic Apothecary

– Herbal Medicine Making

– Herbal First Aid: herbs for common ailments

– Kitchen Remedies

– Fermentation Overview for our community´s kitchen

– Herbal Body Care

– Cacao: Medicine of the Gods

– Guided individual medicine making projects

– Group Garden Project

WORKSHOPS AND FIELD TRIPS:

• Ancel Mitchel’s Medicine Making: Soaps, Essential Oils, Moonshine, Medicinal Foods

• New and Full Moon Celebration

• Herbal medicine preparations: infusions, decoctions, tinctures, vinegars, honeys, oils, salves

• Techniques in Herbal First Aid: Washes, Poultices, Wound Dressing

• Plant Walks: Identifying common medicinal plants and mushrooms of Punta Mona

• Plant Care: propagation, harvesting and processing herbs

• Medicine Making: Theory and Individual Projects

• Cacao preparation – learning the process from tree to beverage on the full moon

• Medicinal Plant Guilds in the Garden

• Introduction to Permaculture: World Situation, Philosophy, Principles & Ethics

• Permaculture Zones: 0 – 5 in the ecosystem and human body

• Soil Science: Understanding the microbiome

• Introduction to Botany: Common Medicinal Plant Families and Plant Anatomy

• Making scrubs, lotions, toners for natural body care

• Harvesting and processing: Leaves, Flowers, Barks, Roots, Mushrooms

DAILY FLOW

6:00 – 7:00 am: Morning Yoga, Plant Meditation & Observation (optional)

7:30 – 8:30 am: Breakfast

9:00 – 12:00 pm: Class Time

12:30 – 2:30 pm: Lunch Break

2:30 – 5:30 pm: Personal Project Time

6:00 – 7:00 pm: Dinner

7:00 – 8:00 pm: Occasional night activities

You will have four days off, and afternoons for you to dive into diverse projects.

FACILITATORS

LAURA PALMIERI

Laura Palmieri, “Lala” is a biologist, botanical explorer, herbalist, gardener, permaculturist & teacher, working life-long with plants.

She was raised in an oasis in Guatemala City, cultivating orchids and other epiphytes, building green walls and aquaponic systems.

She has lived at Punta Mona for four years as a permaculture & herbal medicine educational facilitator and mentor to apprentices and volunteers.

Lala co-leads the Village Witches Herbal Clinic at Envision and Cosmic Convergence Festivals with Sarah Wu, organizes free clinics for disaster relief and is also a member of the Fungi Academy. She is passionate about life and all living creatures.

She will be guiding the first weeks of the program.

SOUZIE BOEREMA

Born and raised in New Zealand, Souzie began her career as a nurse, but felt limited by the lack of health care options gives to patients. Since then she has been practicing herbal medicine and has been involved in setting up and running the Herbal Clinics at Envision Festival and Cosmic Convergence.

Souzie has been living at Punta Mona full time since April 2018 and she started and leads our alchemy lab and leads every-day herbalism here on the farm.  

She will be bringing her magic as the Lead Mentor and Teacher of this experience.

SARAH WU

Sarah Wu is a clinical herbalist of 19 years and a practicing permaculturist for near a decade. She facilitates learning with a planetary perspective on natural medicine, integrating large scale systems such as Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine as well as diverse folk traditions and ethnobotany, with a foundation in Deep Ecology and modern Witchcraft.

She has participated in and taught 22 Permaculture Design Courses, annually curates 6 simultaneous stages of educational and spiritual content for Envision Festival as well as the Village Witches experience, and has developed a 150- hour unique curriculum: Permaculture for the Herbalist’s Path.

Sarah founded the Envision Herbal Clinic training program and has organized and worked herbal clinic relief. Sarah is a passionate biophiliac, educator and mentor.

She will be joining for one week of the program to come share her amazing knowledge and inspiration.

YOUR STAY

All our guest rooms are hand-built from fallen trees and bamboo foraged and milled on our land. Most have solar-powered electricity, however we encourage you to give your eyes and body a break from artificial light during your stay and end your day by candlelight.

Our most popular accommodation is private or shared rooms in our main or back house. These rooms have 1-3 beds, open or screened windows, mosquito nets, lockboxes and often closet rods for hanging clothes.

Click here for more info on our accommodation options.

BECOME A PART OF THE COMMUNITY

For the duration of the course you will be living in within the intentional community of Punta Mona.

This is a co-creative, co living space, of shared meals, common integration spaces and connection.

We have a permanent community of staff and volunteers who keep Punta Mona alive, tending to the farm, the chickens, our buildings, our kitchen and food, and the overall health and energy of our people.

We’re fruit lovers, seed savers, compost fanatics, organic chefs, natural builders, herb witches, writers and artists – and we look forward to opening our doors and hearts to you.

During the course we will assign you some tasks and daily chores for you to care for and be integrated in our community.