Registration in Advance is Required. Please register here, using PayPal or you can send us a check made out to Midsummer Farm:

Using Herbs

In different formats in cooking
Dried, powdered, simple syrups, fresh as flavor base as well as a bright addition to end of recipes
Making herb centered dishes - pestos, green sauces, etc
Baking, desserts, herbal sorbets
Salads, salad dressings, vinegars
Succi (Herb Juices)
Beverages
Harvesting and preparing with cooking in mind
Storing and freezing
The health benefits of eating super foods

Cooking with herbs and preparing seasonal food in your herb garden is particularly poignant and fulfilling.

An Herbal Community
Not only do you gain a solid understanding and plan for using herbs in supporting the health and well-being of your household, but you also become a part of our Midsummer Farm Herbal Community.

Herbal Students are invited to various gatherings and events... And they get to shop our plant sales early! Over the years, we are becoming an ever-evolving and developing supportive and fun group of local and passionate herbalists.

This is a chronological learning experience where I share what I do with my herbs throughout the entire course of a year. Propagating, seed-starting, growing, harvesting, storing, cooking, making healing teas, tinctures, salves, and more!

For an intense herbal educational experience, this course can be taken along with our Building a Sustainable Herbal Apothecary Course, or with our Herbal Guild...

Course size is limited so as to provide as much hands-on experience as possible. You will be able to directly apply what we cover in the sessions in the herb garden within your own garden as we will be working directly in sync with the growing season.

Upon completion, I would like to see each participant create a herb journal with notes, drawings, and schedules for harvesting, planting, favorite pairings - basically a personalized 'materia media' that applies to your own interests, health, and family.

If you don't have space for an herb garden: As long as you love using herbs in your daily life, you will still get a lot from the course. It is certainly beneficial to know an herb in its growing environment as you use it.

Areas to be covered:

Growing herbs

Seed starting and propagation
Designing the garden areas and your backyard's herbal culture
Companion planting / and combining herb and vegetable gardening / Herb neighborhoods
Growing with essential oil content and medicinal quality in mind
Biodynamic principles
Permaculture and farmscaping
The colonial dooryard garden and exploring other traditional and creative herb garden structuresPairing herbs, harvest-time, planting style, use, etc.
En masse plantings for using herbs in bulk or selling herbs
Annual, Biennial, and Perennial methods
Forest and Shade plantings
Natives
Container Gardening
Greenhouse or conservatory herbs
Deepening our connections with plants
Pollinators, beneficial insects, native insect habitats
Techniques for weeding, planting, spacing, watering, soil development and maintenance, composting, animal partnerships, protecting the garden
Selling herbs and micro-farming herb businesses

Once you've taken this course, you be more than able to design, plant and harvest from a wonderful personalized herb garden.

Our Living with Herbs Year-Long Intensive Course is an Herbal Year at Midsummer Farm~

The focus of this course is Living with Herbs - familiarizing yourself with using them and growing them and integrating them into your daily life. Classes will be intensive - Covering a wide range of herbs and usages.

This is a great course for someone who wants to make the most of a current herb garden, for someone who wants to take his/her herb garden to the next level, or for someone who is starting from scratch and wants to build the ultimate herb garden. There is a growing demand and need for organically-grown herbs - and Herb Farm is a smart business idea. This course can help give you an idea of what types of herbs are in demand in what markets as well as how difficult or easy various herbs are to grow. We'll be discussing the environmental and cultural needs of literally hundreds of herbs.

I know many people who have an instinctual drive to collect herb plants for an herb garden, but then just don't make the most out of the herbs' presence in their lives - this course addresses that - providing lots of inspiration, information and experience. This course is also great for someone who doesn't have a herb garden, but who wants to use herbs regularly.

Classes are from 10 am to 3 pm on Sundays in 2020

12 full day sessions each year

Cost: $845.00; Early registration discount ($50!) before November 30th: $795.00

We also offer a 3 payment plan of $290 each.

we're now accepting registrations for the 8th annual (2020 season) LIVING WITH HERBS COURSE! Starts February 9th 2020

Medicinal Uses:

Types of medicinal herbs - categories and families
Study of 100's of herbs from Agrimony to Yarrow
Harvesting time varies for each herb and varies for what you need to use it for
Drying / tincturing
Salves and Lip balms
Ointments
Teas- nourishing and healing
Simple syrups
Pets and farm animals
Sanctuary tonic allies

This will be organized by season for harvesting specific herbs.

This course took over 5 years to structure and plan, and I am so excited about finally offering this season-long course. It is going to feel so great being able to spend time focusing on herbs and working with a group of people who also love herbs! Let me know if you're interested in participating!

Fee includes 2 of my favorite herbalism books, supplies, snacks, and lunches.

We also have some inspirational Guest Teachers in our Living with Herbs Course! We are so excited to be expanding and enlightening the experience! Guest Teachers Page

Classes will take place at Midsummer Farm in Warwick NY (156 East Ridge Road, Warwick, NY 10990) and will move about the farm during the course of each session from the greenhouse to the kitchen to the garden beds.

Dates for our 2020 Living with Herbs Course:

Sundays, 10 am - 3pm

2/9/20

2/23/20

3/15/20

4/5/20

6/28/20

7/12/20

8/9/20

8/23/20

9/13/20

10/11/20