Rhizome Summer School
We are very excited to be teaching our Outdoor Summer School again this year. The course will be for 5 Wednesday evenings starting June 21st 2023 and finishing on July 19th from 6.30pm - 9.00pm.
This course will use basic botany and intuitive methods that engage our senses to identify and connect with medicinal plants. Each class will be spent outside exploring a different community garden and discussing the herbs we find. This is one of our favourite courses as we are outside in these beautiful community gardens around Bristol and are able to show you the herbs and harvest them.
Each week you will also look at a particular plant family. This will expand your understanding of how plants are organised, enable you to recognise patterns among related plants and their medicinal uses. Learning plant families and their shared botanical and medicinal characteristics is a great way to deepen your herbal knowledge.
In each class you will also make a fresh herbal medicine that you can take home.
We will discuss the practice of compiling plant information in a herbarium. Herbaria are collections of dried/preserved samples that document the identity of plants and fungi; they can be beautiful handmade artefacts, or large important databases, for example, the herbarium at Kew houses seven million specimens. You can experiment with preparing your own herbarium samples from some of the local herbs you encounter over the five weeks.
Classes will be held at different community gardens in Bristol, and you will be sent full directions and a map of how to find each place each week. Exact locations for each week TBC. Here are some of the venues we use:
You do not need to have been on any previous courses or have any prior herbal knowledge to join us.
This course will use basic botany and intuitive methods that engage our senses to identify and connect with medicinal plants. Each class will be spent outside exploring a different community garden and discussing the herbs we find. This is one of our favourite courses as we are outside in these beautiful community gardens around Bristol and are able to show you the herbs and harvest them.
Each week you will also look at a particular plant family. This will expand your understanding of how plants are organised, enable you to recognise patterns among related plants and their medicinal uses. Learning plant families and their shared botanical and medicinal characteristics is a great way to deepen your herbal knowledge.
In each class you will also make a fresh herbal medicine that you can take home.
We will discuss the practice of compiling plant information in a herbarium. Herbaria are collections of dried/preserved samples that document the identity of plants and fungi; they can be beautiful handmade artefacts, or large important databases, for example, the herbarium at Kew houses seven million specimens. You can experiment with preparing your own herbarium samples from some of the local herbs you encounter over the five weeks.
Classes will be held at different community gardens in Bristol, and you will be sent full directions and a map of how to find each place each week. Exact locations for each week TBC. Here are some of the venues we use:
- Herbalists without Borders Garden, St Werburghs
- New Roots Garden
- Grow Wilder (Avon Wildlife Trust)
- The Haven Garden
- Windmill Hill City Farm
You do not need to have been on any previous courses or have any prior herbal knowledge to join us.
Cost
There are three tiers to our sliding scale and guidelines to what that means.
These are very rough guidelines so please pay the tier that you feel comfortable with. No judgement, just get in touch if you have queries. We are striving to keep things affordable whilst making our living
Top tier £260
So this is the tier that is appropriate if any of these apply to you: You have a full time reasonably paid job, home/land owner, you are able to afford holidays and other luxuries
Middle tier £240
So this is the tier that is appropriate if any of these apply to you: low waged or part-time waged or struggling to afford holidays/luxuries.
Low tier £200
This is the tier for those who are unwaged or struggling financially.
A deposit of £50 is required to secure your place and then full payment is due a week before the course starts.
There are three tiers to our sliding scale and guidelines to what that means.
These are very rough guidelines so please pay the tier that you feel comfortable with. No judgement, just get in touch if you have queries. We are striving to keep things affordable whilst making our living
Top tier £260
So this is the tier that is appropriate if any of these apply to you: You have a full time reasonably paid job, home/land owner, you are able to afford holidays and other luxuries
Middle tier £240
So this is the tier that is appropriate if any of these apply to you: low waged or part-time waged or struggling to afford holidays/luxuries.
Low tier £200
This is the tier for those who are unwaged or struggling financially.
A deposit of £50 is required to secure your place and then full payment is due a week before the course starts.
Cancellation Policy: The deposit is only refundable if you cancel your place no later than two weeks before the course is due to start. The full balance is payable a week before the start of the course.
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Course Outline:
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Theory
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Practical
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Week 1
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Basic plant identification, looking at different plant parts, learning botanical terms and using a hand lens.
An introduction to grouping plants into families and the common characteristics of some of these families. Introduction to important herbs: St Johns Wort, Marshmallow, and Comfrey. |
Making an infused oil from fresh herbs
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Week 2
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Introduction to the Mint Family and how to identify its members. Important herbs: Lemon Balm, Lavender and Sage.
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Make a fresh herbal tincture.
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Week 3
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Introduction to the Sunflower Family and a close look at the anatomy of its flowers. Important herbs: Elecampane, Daisy and Calendula.
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A fresh bitter liqueur
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Week 4
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Introduction to the trees and flowers of the diverse Rose Family. Important herbs of this family: Hawthorn, Agrimony and Meadowsweet.
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An aromatic distillate.
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Week 5
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Introduction to parsley family, it’s delights and dangers, its tasty and toxic family members. Important herbs: Angelica, Fennel and Celery.
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An ointment, using the infused oil from the first class.
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