2020
Community Herbal Apprenticeship Program
IMPORTANT: This program is post-poned until 2021 - new dates will be announced,
you may put in an application below.
Wild Ginger Herbal Center is excited to offer our Community Herbal Apprenticeship Program, a community based herbal program - we're dedicated to putting herbal medicine in the hands of the people! This program offers our community a chance to explore folk herbalism from various traditions, and to understand natures ability to support our health, strength, and vitality. The series is an introduction and includes herbal fundamentals, North American and Mid-Atlantic medicinal plants (and others), practical and therapeutic applications of herbs, herbal preparations and medicine making, harvesting and wild crafting plants, herbal gardening, herbal energetics and more. A strong sense of social, racial, healthy, economic and environmental justice is integral to our program. Our focus at Wild Ginger Herbal Center is to provide an inclusive learning environment that celebrates the voices and contributions of people of color, indigenous, LGBTQIA, women and more. All are welcome in our program with an open heart and dedication to a safe and respectful collective space. You will receive instruction from the abundance of local, expert knowledge.
During our Community Herbal Program, we build cooperatively to keep the knowledge of our food, herbal medicine, seeds, and our healing traditions alive and vital within our communities. Our belief is that plant medicine is the people's medicine, everyone of us comes from a lineage of plant people, and this knowledge is our birthright. We are a community rooted educational center, our goal is to keep our classes affordable & accessible while honoring the time, energy, and knowledge our instructors come to share. We celebrate the richness and diversity of folk herbalism while providing practical knowledge that can support each of us, our families and communities. We honor the incredible knowledge present within our communities and our teachers are all local herbalists and plant people in the communities we work, the knowledge is right here! By attending this program you are supporting and are part of this cosmovision, creating alternatives to the dominant paradigm, and you are helping us to provide employment to local herbalists and to keeping our dynamic educational center & teaching gardens running. We thank you for your interest and support, and we look forward to building with you!
Our schedule is intensive, we are together for long days and we ask that by enrolling students to commit to being present for each class except in case of emergency, and that students arrive at least 15 minutes ahead of class beginning. This is truly a collective journey so everyones presence is central to our work together. Rooted in the knowledge this this schedule is an intense commitment for those who join us, timely attendance helps to respect fellow students and facilitators time.
Class Session Topics:
- Herbal Healing Traditions
- Kitchen Herbalism
- Social, Environmental and Economic Justice in Herbalism and Healthcare
- Medicinal Plants and Plant Walks!
- Nourishing Herbs
- Herbal Gardening & Permaculture
- Herbal Therapeutics
- Flower Essences
- Doctrine of Signatures
- Herbal Actions, Tastes, & Energetics
- Botany & Herbal Plant ID
- Herbal Medicine Making
- Nutritional Healing
- Herbal First Aid
- Grassroots Herbalism and Social Change
- Intro to the Herbal Apothecary
- Introduction to Ayurveda
- Field Studies to Local Gardens
- Introduction to Traditional Chinese Medicine
- Body Systems Herbal Therpuetics
- Fermentation
- And More!
The Community Herbal Program Is:
~ For individuals with an interest in herbal and nutritional wellness and self care.
~ Focused on empowering participants with basic knowledge and information on holistic health and self care.
~ Taught by skilled herbalists in areas of holistic health, herbs, nutrition, energy healing and more.
~ Is designed to give you practical skills as well as basic theoretical background on how to incorporate holistic wellness into your life, how to incorporate herbs into your diet and how to make basic herbal remedies.
Instructors:
Molly Meehan
Ayo Ngozi
Karen Culpeper
Holly Poole Kavana
Yuma Bellomee
Geoff Edwards
Olivia Fite
Lacey Walker
Green Farmacy Garden Staff
Materials to Bring Each Class
(if you have them, don't purchase if not we'll share)
Full Waterbottle
Sheers/Scissors/Hand Clippers
Cutting Board
Basket
Shovel - small or large
Pen/Writing Utensil
Pack Your Lunch (there are not local options for lunches nearby)
A Copy of Newcombs Wildflower Guide for Botany & Wild Plant UD Class (you can get from local library)
2020 Program Dates:
Online Classes:
Body Systems Therapuetics Online with Ayo Ngozi -
Monthly Class Online Using Zoom on one Wednesday Evening Monthly 7-9pm June, July, August, September, October
Onsite Classes:
May 23 from 10- 5
Introduction to Folk Herbalism, Herbal Actions, Tastes, Energetics with Molly Meehan
May 24 from 10-5
Herbal Medicine Making & Herb Gardening, Tinctures, Teas, Oils, Salves, Seed Starting & Herbal Gardening
Garden Time
May 25 from 10-4
Botany & Wild Plant ID with Holly Poole-Kavana
Basic botany, plant identification, and plant walks, recommend you bring Newcombs Wildflower Guide to this class
June 13 from 10-4
Field Studies Garden Tour to Green Farmacy Garden in Fulton, Maryland
June 14 from 10-4
Field Studies - Professional Apothecary Tour, Apothecary Practices & Herbal Formulations
with Karen Culpepper in Ft. Washington, Maryland with Karen Culpepper in Fort Washington, MD
June 27 from 10-4
Herbalism - A Peoples History of Herbal Medicine & Ancestral Herbalism with Ayo Ngozi
June 28 fro 9-4
Building Relationships with Our Plant Allies: Doctrine of Signatures & Flower Essences & Plant Journeys with Molly Meehan
Serving the LGBTQIA Community with Holly Poole Kavana
August 8 - from 10-4
Herbs & Metaphysics & Herbs for Male Reproductive System with Yuma Bellomee
August 9 - Field Studies- Fox Haven Farm from 10-4
Field Studies Day - Organic Herbal Growing, Harvesting Processing and Drying at Fox Haven Farm in Jefferson, Maryland with Lacey Walker
September 5 from 10-4
Kitchen Herbalism, Intro to Seed Saving, Root Digging with Molly Meehan
September 6 from 10-4
Herbs for Digestive Support AND Fermentation with Suzanna Stone
September 7 from 10-4
Herbal Gardening Day, Herbal First Aid, Ethical Herbalism & Skill Building: Native Medicinal Plant Conservation, Apothecary with Molly
October 10 from 10-4
Intro to Chinese Herbal Medicine with Geoff Edwards
October 11 from 10-4
Herbal Clinical Intake Demonstration, Herbal Formulations, Creating Your Holistic Business with Molly
October 12 from 10-4
Ayurveda with Karen Culpepper
November 7 from 10-4
Phytochemistry and Herb Drug Interactions with Olivia Fite
November 8 from 10-4
Student Herbal Medicine Showcase, Student Presentations & Closing Celebration
Certification:
Herbalists who complete our program receive a beautiful Certificate of Completion which documents the amount of hours of our program as well as the subject matter. This is an excellent way to document your knowledge and training for future endeavors. We are often asked if after taking our programs if participants will be a certified herbalist. As far as certification, here are no legal certification or license for herbalists in the US. Herbalists are free to practice, some are "folk" herbalists and practice from information passed down generation to generation, while others go and get masters degrees in herbalism, and still others attend community based schools such as ours and then go on to practice. There is no legal difference and no certification or lack there of has any legal meaning whatsoever. Herbalists cannot legally practice medicine. Herbalists themselves come in many forms, some cultivate herbs, some see clients as wellness consultations (herbalists are not allowed to practice medicine, only doctors are), some make beautiful herbal medicinal preparations, some teach, some do research, there is not a finite definition. Our program classes are geared towards beginners and are a great place to start for those who want to lay the foundation to be a professional herbalist, whatever that may be. We are not a clinical herbalism program, rather we focus on folk herbalism, keeping our traditional knowledge alive and vital at the community level. Those completing our program are no more legally allowed to practice as an herbalist than you are, or than a grandmother in her kitchen treating her grandkids, or than a person who has a Masters Degree. Our program is a great way to gain a better understanding of herbs and medicinal plants, to refine your knowledge moving from a more mechanistic approach of "this herb is for this issue" instead toward looking at patterns, interrelationships, and systems of the body and their relationship with herbs, a more wholistic view. Its not geared towards clinical herbalists, however provides an in depth foundation for those who are on that path.
Here is a great resource:
http://www.americanherbalistsguild.com/legal-and-regulatory-faqs
What we give is a certificate of hours that you studied as well as the subject matter we cover in class.
Registration, Cost and Logistics:
The Community Herbal Apprenticeship Program includes the above meeting days. By signing up for the course you agree to attend every class and will miss no more than one weekend of classes in order to receive your certificate of completion. As much as we learn about plants we walk this journey together growing in community. By signing up for the course you agree to pay in full, all payments are final and no refunds/transfers will be issued for any reason. Each class please bring a ready-to-eat potluck dish to share for lunch and please be sure to bring your own mug! Teas and beverages will be provided.
Carpool
We are currently looking for participants willing to do a carpool worktrade (see below) offering to give students who do not have car transportation a ride to and from Southern Avenue Metro Station each class day. Carpool possibilities are not gaurenteed until we find someone to fill this worktrade position.
Payment & Registration
IMPORTANT: This program is post-poned until 2021 -
new dates will be announced,
you may put in an application below.
Registration & Waiver Form - Please Answer Questions Below and email to [email protected] and Sign & Return
You must read, complete, sign and return this form to be considered for acceptance into the program and before paying. Forms can be scanned and returned to [email protected] or a photo can be taken of the signed printed document and emailed back.Thank you!
Name:
-Age:
-Hometown:
-Current Location:
-What Session/Dates Are You Applying For:
-How did you learn about Wild Ginger Herbal Center and about this program?
-Why do you want to participate in the program?
-How will you be an addition to the program?
-What is your current knowledge about herbal medicine, medicinal plants, and tropical medicinals?
-Medical Training:
-Email &/or Phone Number:
-Emergency Contact Info: (relation, phone number and email)
-Are you applying for a worktrade, if so which one and have you read the dates/description below? What mades you great for this worktrade position? If that spot is taken what would be an alternative position you would like to apply for.

wild_ginger_waiver.pdf |
Payment:
Please remember all payments are final, non refundable and non transferable.
Please note worktrade/discount/buddy/group pricing offers cannot be dually applied, choose the option that works best for you.
PLEASE DO NOT PAY until you have been accepted to the program.
You may pay using the Paypal Payment Drop Down Menu Below, Using Cashapp to the $wildgingerherbal (please include a note with your email address and 2020 Community Herbal Program)
If you would like to pay by cash or check please contact us at [email protected]
Full Series Costs & Logistics
(please read carefully)
$1800
We are rooted in providing high quality programming accessible to all therefore we strive to keep our prices as low as possible. That said we strive to honor the time of our teachers by paying them fairly for the knowledge they bring, we rely fulling on tuition for our operation costs to keep our center and programs running and receive no subsidies.
Please note space is limited in the class, and the class will be filled on a first come first serve basis. Our courses often sell out.
You may pay for the course in full immediatly upon acceptance or choose the payment plan below.
Please do not send payment amounts that are different than those listed below.
In order to secure your spot a deposit of $300 is required immediatly once accepted into the program.
A Second payment of $750 is due by March 1, 2020
A Final payment of $750 and all final payments due by May 1, 2020
We are not able to offer discounted rates to those who have conflicts during the program.
Please note all payments must be complete before students begin the course, we are unable to offer extensions.
Buddy Pricing
$1700 per person limit 2
If you register with one other person you will both receive a $100 discount off the cost of the course.Please email us if you would like to register at buddy pricing BEFORE you register.
Group Pricing
$1650 per person 4 or more people
For groups of 4 or more people when registered together each person receives a $150 discount off the course. Please email us if you would like to register at group pricing BEFORE you register. This is a great option for co-workers or businesses that would like to send their employees to the course.
Worktrade Option:
In an effort to make our programs accessible to all we do offer a partial worktrade option for this course - these spaces are very limited and are not automatically given if applied for. No discounts, buddy or group pricing is available for the worktrade option. There are very few worktrade positions available and these tend to fill up very fast. As far as worktrades, please note that we are not a funded organization, we truly rely on income from registration fees in order to keep producing quality programs, worktrades are created and reserved for those who truly face financial hardship and do not have the resources to afford full registration fees. We do not ask details about applicants personal financial situations as we trust folks will honor making sure these limited spots are open to those who need them.
If you apply and are accepted for a worktrade spot, in order to secure your spot the program deposit is required, then two equal final payments are due by March 1, 2020 and May 1, 2020.
While there are several types of worktrades, the onsite worktrades must attend all worktrade days as listed below, one emergency is permitted however if if you miss one worktrade you must make that up within one week OR a payment of $90 (the amount each work trade day is worth) can be submitted within one week. Continued missing worktrades (other than in emergency as listed above) results in that student loosing their worktrade position and will need to pay full tuition for the course. If you for any reason drop out of the course you still owe the remainder of the tuition as we rely on our worktrades for this help and by giving you the position someone else who has applied will not have this chance. By signing up for the worktrade you agree fully to the terms listed above.
Please note these are very intensive committments to make in addition to the actual course dates, we truly rely on these positions so we ask that you consider this commitment seriously before applying.
Worktrade's pay a discounted price for the course (details below), and then participate in one of the following options:
Garden & Grounds Maintenance Worktrade: (1 Space Available)
This is our most popular worktrade option and is geared to those who have experience in the garden and farm. This option includes hard outdoor work in all kinds of weather, including hot sun and sometimes rain. Worktrades are expected to bring their own workgloves or any other comfortable attire for their time. Tasks includes weeding, mulching, planting, weeding, other farm chores, path maintenance, pruning, and more. Once a year we do major pruning, painting, clean out gutters and other farm maintenance activities. Transport time is not included in your worktrade hours, and we take 1/2 hour break for lunch. There are a limited number of worktrade positions. By signing up for this worktrade you agree to for pay $1200 for the course plus work a total of 40 hours as follows (you are trading at $15 an hour). If you sign up for this worktrade you agree to come on these days and times, if you miss a day for any reason you will need to pay $90 within one week of the missed worktrade day, missing one worktrade day is permitted and can be made up within one week of missing it, or if you cannot make up we ask that you send $90 payment to reimburse for missed worktrade. If more than one date needs to be missed the student cannot continue with the worktrade position and will need to make final payment for the course in full in order to continue.
May 9 from 9-3
June 6 from 9-3
July 5 from 9-3
August 16 from 9-3
September 13 from 9-3
October 25 from 9-3
Each date has a 30 minute lunchbreak built in.
*If conditions are dangerous to work in such as thunderstorm or if you know ahead of time you have to miss one of these days, you agree to work a different day for the same amount of hours within that month to be scheduled.
Apothecary Worktrade (now full)
This worktrade is for an individual who has experience or a dedicated interest in making herbal medicine making. This will involve some harvesting, processing, drying, and preparations of medicinal oils, tinctures and more. This individual must also be highly organized and will help create and implement a new organizational system in the apothecary, and help implement this system. Highly respectful of the plants, motivated, and organized individuals for this position.
Transport time is not included in your worktrade hours, and we take 1/2 hour break for lunch. There are a limited number of worktrade positions. By signing up for this worktrade you agree to for pay $1200 for the course plus work a total of 40 hours as follows (you are trading at $15 an hour). If you sign up for this worktrade you agree to come on these days and times, if you miss a day for any reason you will need to pay $90 within one week of the missed worktrade day, missing one worktrade day is permitted and can be made up within one week of missing it, or if you cannot make up we ask that you send $90 payment to reimburse for missed worktrade. If more than one date needs to be missed the student cannot continue with the worktrade position and will need to make final payment for the course in full in order to continue.
May 9 from 9-3
June 6 from 9-3
July 5 from 9-3
August 16 from 9-3
September 13 from 9-3
October 25 from 9-3
Each date has a 30 minute lunchbreak built in.
*If conditions are dangerous to work in such as thunderstorm or if you know ahead of time you have to miss one of these days, you agree to work a different day for the same amount of hours within that month to be scheduled.
Set Up/Clean Up Classroom (1 spot)
We have one worktrade available for someone willing to come and deep clean our classroom and set up our classrooms before and after class each month in exchange for reduced tuition for our program. This includes setting up our tea and water, doing dishes, taking out trash and recycling, cleaning floors, surfaces, organizing and other tasks as needed. Highly motivated, and organized individuals for this position. This person HAS TO COME ON TIME in the mornings so we are able to have tea ready for class to begin. This person comes 1.5 hour before class and stays 1 hours after each class on Wild Ginger Onsite Class Days only (14 total classes) for a total of 35 hours of service through out the program.
Transport time is not included in your worktrade hours. There are a limited number of worktrade positions. By signing up for this worktrade you agree to for pay $1275 for the course plus work a total of 35 hours as listed above (you are trading at $15 an hour). If you sign up for this worktrade you agree to come on these days and times, if you miss a day for any reason you will need to pay $15 per hour missed within one week of the missed worktrade day, missing one worktrade day is permitted and can be made up within one week of missing it, or if you cannot make up we ask that you send $15 per hour missed payment to reimburse for missed worktrade. If more than one date needs to be missed the student cannot continue with the worktrade position and will need to make final payment for the course in full in order to continue.
Classroom Deep Cleaning Worktrade (1 spot)
We have one worktrade available for someone willing to come and deep clean our classroom in exchange for reduced tuition for our program. This includes doing dishes, cleaning floors, surfaces, organizing and other tasks as needed. Highly respectful, motivated, and organized individuals for this position.
Transport time is not included in your worktrade hours, and we take 1/2 hour break for lunch. There are a limited number of worktrade positions. By signing up for this worktrade you agree to for pay $1200 for the course plus work a total of 40 hours as follows (you are trading at $15 an hour). If you sign up for this worktrade you agree to come on these days and times, if you miss a day for any reason you will need to pay $90 within one week of the missed worktrade day, missing one worktrade day is permitted and can be made up within one week of missing it, or if you cannot make up we ask that you send $90 payment to reimburse for missed worktrade. If more than one date needs to be missed the student cannot continue with the worktrade position and will need to make final payment for the course in full in order to continue.
May 9 from 9-3
June 6 from 9-3
July 5 from 9-3
August 16 from 9-3
September 13 from 9-3
October 25 from 9-3
Each date has a 30 minute lunchbreak built in.
*If conditions are dangerous to work in such as thunderstorm or if you know ahead of time you have to miss one of these days, you agree to work a different day for the same amount of hours within that month to be scheduled.
Flyer Distribution Worktrade (now full)
This worktrade positions is great for a person who has transportation and is familiar with DC Metro Area/Baltimore and Southern Maryland. This person will spend 40 hours distributing flyers in the above listed areas, in exchange for reduced tuition to our program. This person must provide their own transportation, and when submitting your application we ask you send us the dates for each of the following months you are committing to do these distribution hours. We have a spreadsheet of locations we would like flyers to be distributed and we ask that you track each location as you drop flyers there.
The hours must be completed as listed below:
DC/MD Metro Area 8 hours in January 2020
Southern Maryland 5 hours in January 2020
Baltimore 6.5 hours in January 2020
DC/MD Metro Area 8 hours in August 2020
Baltimore Area 8 Hours in August
5 Hours Preparing Mailing Flyers for National Distribution in August 2020
There are a limited number of worktrade positions. By signing up for this worktrade you agree to for pay $1200 for the course plus work a total of 40 hours as listed above (you are trading at $15 an hour). If you sign up for this worktrade you agree to come on these days and times, if you miss a day for any reason you will need to pay $15 per hours missed within one week of the missed worktrade day, missing one worktrade day is permitted and can be made up within one week of missing it, or if you cannot make up we ask that you send $15 per hours missed payment to reimburse for missed worktrade. If more than one date needs to be missed the student cannot continue with the worktrade position and will need to make final payment for the course in full in order to continue.
Chesapeake Herb Gathering / Social Media & Marketing Worktrade (now full
This position is great for a highly motivated, organized individual with experience using social media as a promotional platform as well as helping to work special events. This person will spend 7:30am to 7pm and 7:00am to 3:00 pm working the Registration and Info Table at the Chesapeake Herb Gathering on September 19-20 of 2020 in Jefferson Maryland for a total of 19.5 hours.
This person will also spend 1 hours per week posting promotional content on Wild Ginger Social Media as well as to relevent groups and listserves from April - October for a total of 32 hours. We will have a one hour organizational meeting to get a schedule and content organized and an additional2 hours will be spent organizing content for Chesapeake Herb Gathering promotion. This worktrade is a total of 55 hours, this persona agrees to pay $975 for the program and trade 55 hours of service as described above for the remaining tuition.
If tasks are not being completed on a timely manner we will need to re-assign the worktrade to someone else and this person will need to pay the remaining tuition in order to continue with the program.