Oregon's Wild Harvest
Redmond
Oregon
Since I can remember I've worked with the plants, wild crafting and working with the crew on the farm. I have a deep respect for nature, and this beautiful planet we live on. I grew up driving a tractor in the summer and when I was old enough to drive a truck I quickly became the driver for our wild crafting crews, managing up to 12 pickers. It's all about love and respect for one another, love and respect for the soil plants and animals. It's part of my DNA, it's what I do, it's how I make sure that we have a good source of plant medicine now and for future generations.
Presentation 1: Biodynamic Farming
From a large garden to a full size farm for Round table discussions
Sustainable Herbs Project
Vermont
Ann Armbrecht is a writer, anthropologist, herbalist, creator of the Sustainable Herbs Project, mom and producer of the film Numen that celebrates the values at the heart of traditional herbal medicine. Ann will present a keynote address on “the Sustainable Herbs Project and its relevance to the Conference and the herb movement in general.”
Areas of Expertise:
Presentation 1: Keynote Speaker Friday Evening plenary, 7:45pm – 8:15pm.
Pixie Honey Company
Areas of Expertise: Maker of herbal infused honeys, honey wine and many herbal products.
Presentation 1: Presenter with the "Herbs used in beers, wines, liqueurs, spirits, kombuchas, and beverages" Track
Foster Farm Botanicals
East Calais
VT
Benjamin's farm Foster Farm Botanicals has 8 acres of herbs in 2016 out of a rotation base of 30 acres.
Areas of Expertise:
Presentation 1: Large-scale and Medium-scale Medicinal Herb Farming Panel
Barbolian Fields
Sequim
WA
Presentation 1: Participating in panel on Cottage Industry Herb Growing
How do you define your niche? What can be better grown on a small scale, as opposed to competing with larger operations? What are the advantages to growing on a smaller scale? And the cons? Can you live relatively remote and still play a role in the herb market? Do you use your own plants for products, and what things are better outsourced? Who is your customer, and what are your sales outlets? How do you balance a limited budget for operations and marketing? How do you find time to do *everything*? When do you hire? How do you decide whether it's best to scale up or scale back? What is your story - and how do you get it "out there"? So many questions! Let's talk about the answers!
Presentation 2: Participating in panel on Growing Medicinal Plants in Polycultures and Permaculture Systems
What combinations of herbs and other plants grow best under what conditions? How can you stack your plants in space and time to your (and their) advantage? What kinds of plants are best for attracting beneficial insects, adding nitrogen to the soil, building mulch, or creating a microclimate of its own? What can you do to conserve water, build soil, and create habitat? Can polycultures be just as - or more - efficient than mono-crop designs?
Endorfin Foods
I spend my time wearing many hats, including that of an activist, of a healer, and of an educator. I am a master chocolatier and chocolate maker, and am currently working on several projects inspired for my passion for cacao, ethnobotany, and social entrepreneurship.
Areas of Expertise:
I hold a breadth of degrees and training spanning the realms of neuroscience, ethnobotany, medicine, and the culinary arts.
Presentation 1: The Ethnobotany of Cacao
In this presentation I’ll go over humanities’ relationship with cacao as a vehicle and carrier for plant medicines. Humans have been consuming cacao in healing contexts with plants for 4,000+ years, yet most people on the planet are only familiar with the confections and candy that’ve been around the last couple centuries. In this talk I’ll go over cultures that work with cacao, agricultural & farming considerations, and the use of child trafficking and slave labor in the chocolate industry.
Presentation 2: Social Media Marketing for Plant People
I’ll go over easy ways to cultivate & engage your botanical community through social media, primarily via Facebook and Instagram. If you’re like me (and most of the plant people I know), spending more time with the plants and less time on your computer & mobile devices is a major life priority. In this presentation I’ll go over some tips & tricks to help you make the most of your effort on social media so you can focus your energy on doing what you love.
Bastyr University
Kenmore
WA
Christine supervises everything that happens in the extensive medicinal and edible gardens at Bastyr University. She is a graduate of the Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine and has worked on organic farms in Alaska, Missouri, Illinois, and North Carolina.
Areas of Expertise:
Small-scale organic farming (medicinal herbs, culinary herbs, vegetables, and dairy goats), harvesting and processing medicinal herbs on a small scale, educational gardens, self-sufficient medicine, medicine making, culinary skills, making goat's milk soap
Presentation 1: Growing Medicinal Herbs in an Educational Context
Bastyr University's Medicinal Herb Botanical Garden is open to the public, but also actively grows and harvests medicinal plants students to use in their botanical medicinal courses. This workshop will highlight our example of a productive botanical garden which balances display and visitors vs. productivity/harvesting and supporting our students in learning about medicinal plants.
Oregon State University Malheur Experiment Station
Ontario
OR
Presentation 1: Stevia; Growing and Breeding
Presentation 2: Using Medicinal Plants in Ecosystem Restoration w/ Michael Pilarski
Trout Lake Farm
Trout Lake
WA
Responsible for all farm operations including preparing ground, planting, cultivating, all the way through harvest to root washing and bin drying, Danielle has been a leading force in the implementation of Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and Trout Lake Farm is proud to be an industry leader in food safety standards. She has created an entirely new farm documentation system and standard operating procedures and has set the highest standards for safety on the farm.
Areas of Expertise:
Presentation 1: Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) on herb farms
Eagletree Herbs
Eugene
OR
Daphne Singingtree, began studying herbs at the age of 12, and in 1974 she attended Instituto Naturista in Antigua, Guatemala for Natural Medicine. In 1975, she turned her focus to midwifery and is the author of the Birthsong Midwifery Workbook, The Emergency Guide to Obstetric Complications, and Training Midwives: A Guide for Preceptors. She retired from midwifery in 2003 and returned to her roots in herbal medicine. She has a Master’s in Education with a focus on learning technology, and when she is not making herbal products she is working on developing an online education program for holistic community health workers.
Areas of Expertise: Medicine Making, Midwifery, Native American Herbs and Healing.
Presentation 1: Native American Perspectives on Herbal Medicine
Panel - Discuss projects around Native herbs, foods, and using plants as medicine. Cultural appropriation; what is it and when is it showing respect for tribal traditions, and when it is exploitation for marketing purposes?
Presentation 2: Panel - Small urban herb growing.
Eagletree Herbs makes and sells over 150 different products from a house on a typical suburban lot. Less than 1/8 of an acre, grow herbs and incorporate what we grow in as many of our products as we can.
Trinity Natural Medicine
Hood River
Chris is a member of the Northwest Asian Medicinal Herb Network, and owner of Trinity Natural Medicine in Hood River.
Areas of Expertise: Acupuncture and Herbailsm
Presentation 1: For Growers and Manufacturers: Essential Concepts in Chinese Medicine
Dynamic Roots
Carbondale
CO
Areas of Expertise: Community Supported Herbalism
Presentation 1: Panel on Community Supported Herbalism: CSH
Blue Moon Herbs and Rene Caisse Tea
Polson
MT
Areas of Expertise:
Essiac and its history as learned directly from Mali Klein, who knew and worked with two of Rene Caisse’s closest friends and helpers Sheila Snow and Mary McPherson. Debbie is Mali’s American partner in carrying on the tradition of this tea.
Presentation 1: Essiac – Creating a Model for local production from seed to cup of tea, Getting it Right.
I’ll be sharing what we’re doing in the Flathead Valley to grow community and sheep sorrel! This workshop welcomes the round table as we look at growers’ guilds as a model and a means of commercially supplying whole herb sheep sorrel and/or sheep sorrel roots for making the Essiac formulae. We’ll also look at the role of Essiac and self-sufficiency in wellness with a review of the history of Rene Caisse and Essiac, including lots of info on growing and harvesting, making and working with the tea.
Mountain Spirit Herbal Co
Port Townsend
WA
Presentation 1: Basic Herbal First Aid Kits—personalized for your families’ needs
Presentation 2: Growing and Cultivation of Herbs in Port Townsend
Lets learn the difference of what is easy to grow in rows, clumps and what we can harvest in the fields and woods around our region.
Presentation 3: FDA Compliance
Wildroot Botanicals
Bow
WA
Dr. Lekos is an expert in extracting medicinal and aromatic phytochemicals from plants. He is the co-founder of Wildroot Botanicals and is the botanical extraction manager for Privateer Holdings. He has a decade experience working with bio-based chemicals, alternative fuels and medicine.
Presentation 1: Methods of Extracting Essential Oils From a Variety of Aromatic Medicinal Plants
We will cover a variety of methods of extracting essential oils including steam, hydro-distillation, super critical CO2.
RavenCroft Garden, Pacific Wise Women
Monroe
WA
Areas of Expertise:
Community centered herbalism, generative gardening, herbal medicine making, hedge medicine. And then, of course, there's the singing, dancing and mischief making!
Presentation 1: Hawthorn: Recipes and Remedies
What is medicine? How do we engage health and well-being on our adventure through this life? How can we relate with plants for the enrichment of all? What is an oxymel anyway? What is meant when we say "this preparation is stronger than that one"? Did you know there are over 1000 species of hawthorn at this latitude and everywhere she grows people revere her medicine! Come! Enjoy an organoleptic world tour of Crataegus sp! The beloved hawthorn.
Presentation 2: Hedge Medicine
Learn natural succession, symbiotic layering in nature and life and cell wall permeability from hedges and edges! How cultivating, tending and foraging the hedge for health and wellness strengthens countryside and city alike... Learn how understanding the medicines inherent in hedges have brought them renown as the green ribbons of life in England and how they can contribute to the health, wealth and vitality of communities in America.
Presentation 3: Simpling Into Diversity: Black Cottonwood
How can one herb deepen our understanding of the world we live in? Join me on a journey with Black Cottonwood and discover the magic and medicine of Populus trichocarpa...Taste and smell samples of tincture, natural scent therapy oil, salve, propolis, compost all simply made with black cottonwood. For now, imagine how this magnificent tree might change your life...if you but knew her medicine!
Portland Apothecary
Portland
OR
Presentation 1: Community Supported Herbalism
Tarboo Wildcrafting
QUILCENE
WA
Erin Vicha is a wildcrafter and medicine maker living in the beautiful Tarboo Valley. She first started exploring herbal medicine through her relationship with native plants. She then became a medicine maker and lab manager at Heron Botanicals. Recently she has gone back to her wildcrafting roots and has been focusing on her business Tarboo Wildcrafting and on experimenting with different kinds of herbal preparations at home.
Areas of Expertise:
Presentation 1: Wildcrafting Panel
Gentle Strength Botanicals and Massage Therapy
Bayside
California
I was raised in the mountains of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and currently make my home on the Pacific coast in far southern Cascadia; Shasta Bioregion, Humboldt County. In my practice as a clinical herbalist and bodyworker, I tap into this experience of growing up in wild lands and the deep quiet one experiences in the remote backcountry. SWSBM '92, 1999 RH(AHG), Ayurvedic Institute 1994, Heartwood Institute; Advanced Massage Therapist 1997, Wilderness First Responder 1998.
Areas of Expertise:
Front line Direct Action Herbal First Aid and off-grid clinicing, DIY & Holistic Family healthcare & custom formula making, Athletes, Momma and Baby, Elders, Livestock and Pets, Bodywork, Ayurveda. Ecological Issues are my passion. I helped found the Center for Biological Diversity, the hardest-hitting organization currently defending biodiversity in the courts.
Presentation 1: Radical Herbology Panel
When I dig roots I make sure I get to the radical. I am a radical root digger and specialize in front line herbal first aid supporting non violent direct actions in defense of the wilderness, biodiversity, the forests, the critters and native land rights occupations. I have supported Deep Ecology and Earth First! activism for over 25 years and founded or have been involved with MASHH Clinic Collective, Cascadia Health Educators, Direct Action Network and Black Cross Health Collective in Portland where we developed tear gas and pepper spray remedies. I have nurtured models for administering herbal first aid and wellness clinics at large outdoor gatherings. I cultivate, grow or wildcraft nearly all the medicines I use in my apothecary, a radical act these days with great proliferation of manufacturing companies. The questions I would like to present and discuss to this community of medicinals growers and collectors are primarily about locality, the discerning necessity of local farm-to-shelf, and the current state of our public wildlands and rapidly disappearing biodiversity.
Presentation 2: Garden to Apothecary radical herbology
DIY vs purchasing in bulk. Maintaining an apothecary with high integrity and valuing sustainability and effectiveness over cheapest and quickest. Why is it so important that an individual communicate with the plants we use for medicine? How do we lose out on important information when we consume a plant and we don't know the flavor and details of it's environment, what bug was hanging out on it, what the soil was like, how it's vitality was expressing at the moment it was harvested, or... (gasp) whether anyone sang it a song in appreciation? When herbalism is further industrialized how do the plants still effectively pass on their DNA and what important parts of the story might become lost in the shuffle? I believe many clinical herbalists are starting to miss some important connections to the plant world by not being more discerning about our sources. I believe we are providing a product to people who over-consume it because the urgent-care based, industrialized modern medical model of healthcare many still subscribe or fall in to utilizes a cannonball, not an arrow. We must keep focused on carbon footprints, energy use, and sustainability while we strive to produce and provide a highly ethical and effective medicine. Our planet is currently experiencing the most severe biodiversity crisis in 65 million years. Becoming a "Localvore" is an extremely important mindset to cultivate in the midst of this Anthropocene Epoch and the sixth great mass extinction crisis. Nearly two-thirds of all species will be extinct by the end of this century. We all know farming on an industrial scale heavy with pesticides and fertilizers has been a major contributor to the loss of biodiversity, so how can we as grassroots farmers and cultivators help nurture the holdouts clinging to the tattered threads of the Web of Life?
Carnation
WA
Knowledge about native plants and their uses have been gifted to me in many ways; in the way I live my life, the people I surround myself with, the places I have traveled to, and in constant search for traces of the ancestors that have gone before us. It has been my work for the last 18 years to pass this knowledge on to those who care to learn through writings, workshops, presentations, classroom programs, curriculum development and more.
Presentation 1: Panel on Native American Perspectives
Naturespirit Herbs
Williams
OR
James Jungwirth is a harvester of edible and medicinal wild seaweeds, herbs and fungi, and a health care practitioner specializing in herbs and nutrition. A passionate student of nature since he was a child, James has been teaching classes about seaweeds, wild medicinal plants, constitutional physiology, and human health in general for over 30 years. In 1990 James and his wife Kari started their family business, Naturespirit Herbs, offering a complete line of wild sea vegetables, seaweed powders, seaweed capsules, wildcrafted herbs, herbal extracts and herbal extract formulas. James and Kari live in the Siskiyou Mountains of southwestern Oregon.
Areas of Expertise:
Wildcrafting seaweeds and herbs, making herbal extracts and formulas, herbal and nutritional health care, teaching, gardening, and tracking.
Presentation 1: Wildcrafting Seaweeds
Seaweed harvesters Ryan Drum and James Jungwirth will talk about how to find, identify, harvest, process and use PNW seaweeds for food and medicine.
Presentation 2: Plant Walk with a Focus on Wildcrafting
On this plant walk we’ll meet (and taste) some of the local wild medicinal plants and, learn how to find, harvest and use them for food and medicine. Lots of specific, hands-on wildcrafting information will be given.
Presentation 3: Panel on Sustainable Wildcrafting Practices
Let's discuss and share our strategies, methods and experiences in harvesting medicinal wild plants in a way that causes minimal impact to future plant populations.
Jazper Ethan Torres, ND, DC
Cascadia Artisan Distillery / Vilya Spirits
Cave Junction
OR
Jazper Torres, ND, DC, is the founder of Cascadia Family Medicine, a primary care practice that focuses on diagnosis and treatment of patients with chronic illnesses, autoimmune disease, and endocrine disorders. Dr. Torres has a deep passion for all things plants and herbs. In addition to working with medicinal plants as part of his medical training and utilizing them as part of his medical practice he has become rather fond and involved in the use of herbs in the art of distilled spirits. Jazper Torres, ND, DC founded Cascadia Artisan Distillery, producers of the Vilya Spirits line of artisanal beverages which will be featuring it's Vilya Superior Absinthe Verte and Vilya Superior Absinthe Blanche.
Areas of Expertise:
Distillation of botanicals to produce small-batch traditional artisanal beverages.
Presentation 1: Panel
Herbs used in beers, wines, liqueurs and spirits, kombuchas, and beverages.
Presentation 2: Herb Beverage Tasting Saturday evening.
Oshala Farm
Grants Pass
OR
Jeff's passion for farming and background in organic vegetable and fruit production and Elise's passion for Western Herbalism collided into a full fledged herb farm in Southern Oregon's lush Applegate Valley.
Areas of Expertise:
Production of medicinal herbs, crop enterprise analysis, farm consultation, business development and agricultural advocacy work at the federal, state and local level.
Presentation 1: Scaling Up
Growing from Garden to Farm.
Presentation 2: Farming Herbs For Profit
Tracking Costs and Assessing Profitability on the Herb Farm.
Zack Woods Herb Farm
Hyde Park
VT
Jeff Carpenter has farming in his blood. Descended from generations of Vermont farmers, Jeff deepened his love and understanding of plants through an apprenticeship with Rosemary Gladstar and as the co-owner of Sage Mountain Herb Products. Since those early days Jeff’s work as a farmer, agricultural consultant, educator, and researcher has focused on the cultivation and marketing of medicinal herbs. Jeff also partners with Rosemary Gladstar in hosting the International Herb Symposium. His passion for the green world is evident as he spends his days working in the fields and in the community.
Areas of Expertise:
Farmer, agricultural consultant, educator, and researcher focused on the cultivation and marketing of medicinal herbs.
Presentation 1: TBA
TBA
Rising Stone Farm
Milwaukie
OR
Areas of Expertise: Jeff grew over 10,000 ashwaganda plants in 2015.
Presentation 1: Growing Ashwaganda (Withania somniferum) and other fascinating facts about this famous Ayurvedic herb.
Presentation 2: Panelist on the Small-scale Farming Track.
Viriditas Wild Gardens/Heron Botanicals
Days Creek
OR
Areas of Expertise:
Herb growing and processing, promotion of polyculture growing methods, soil biological processes and organisms, Cannabinoid chemistry and metabolism
Presentation 1: Plant growing methods and Medicinal quality.
Presentation 2: Medicinal Plant Polycultures on the Farm and in Permaculture Systems
Mycorrhiza, ground cover. inter-species planting by bioregion/native habitat conditions, overstory, understory, harvest, labor and/or machines. Climate change considerations for permaculture herb production.
Bastyr University and Green Bean Natural Health
Monroe
WA
Dr. Jenn Dazey is a core faculty member in the Department of Botanical Medicine at Bastyr University. She sees patients in her private practice at Green Bean Natural Health in Monroe, Washington. Dr. Dazey has worked as an herbalist in private consulting since 2003, and as a primary care physician since 2008. Dr. Dazey grew up on a local subsistence farm in Duvall, WA, and has been teaching organic gardening and many other topics related to soil and land management since 2002. At Bastyr University, Dr. Dazey teaches herbal materia medica and clinical herbalism, as well as organic gardening, soil ecology, seed saving, and biointensive IPM for the certificate program in Holistic Landscape Design. She leads students abroad to study medicinal plants in Costa Rica and Peru, as well as locally and in the San Juan Islands. Dr. Dazey specializes in the use of herbal medicine in her private practice. She has a special interest in incorporating plants into everyday living, as she believes plants are the natural and necessary complement to all animals, especially people.
Presentation 1: From Farm to Pharmacy: Running an Herbal Dispensary
Learn how to create a year-round garden and medicine-making calendar based on the medicinal plants you use in clinical practice. How do you manage your herbal dispensary to avoid waste and optimize your time? What records do you need to keep? What agricultural practices will save time and earn money?
Herbal Junction
Eugene
OR
One of Jerry’s missions in life is how to make medicinal herbs taste good so that more people take them. He has invented a wide range of non-alcoholic beverages, tonics, tinctures and elixirs.
Areas of Expertise:
Presentation 1: Presenter with the "Herbs used in beers, wines, liqueurs, spirits, kombuchas, and beverages" Track
Harmony Fields
Bow
WA
Jessica Gigot, Ph.D, M.F.A, is a poet, farmer, teacher and musician. She has a small farm in Bow, WA called Harmony Fields that grows herbs, lamb and specialty produce. She also is part-time science faculty at the Northwest Indian College and offers courses in soil ecology and food sovereignty in their native environmental science program.
Areas of Expertise: soil, herbs, food sovereignty
Presentation 1: Native American Perspectives on Medicinal Plant Cultivation
Jessica Gigot is science faculty at Northwest Indian College's Swinomish Site. Her current research project examines the cultivation of traditional foods and medicinal berries using organic farming approaches. In her talk she will discuss an overview of this project and some of the benefits and issues around horticultural approaches to improving access to culturally relevant plants.
Presentation 2: Soil Biology for Herb Farmers
In this presentation, Jessica will give a practical overview of soil biology basics and its relevance to healthy soil. We will examine the role of soil quality in food and medicine production systems in the northwest. This information will be relevant to new and seasoned medicinal herb growers that are interested in a better understanding of the ecology of their soils and how to improve soil health parameters using organic soil management approaches.
Head Gardener & Curator of the University of Washington Medicinal Herb Garden
Areas of Expertise: Seed propagation whiz.
Presentation 1: Cultivating Chinese Medicinal Herbs Panel
Moon Valley Organics
Deming
WA
Kim Otto is the co-founder of the organic skin care company Moon Valley Organics. Together with her partner, Aaron Otto, she runs a 10 acre herb farm and apiary, as well as overseeing the production facility where they produce their body care line. As a mother, wife, business owner, beekeeper & herbalist, Kim utilizes her knowledge in all these fields to educate consumers to support the organic movement and to help save pollinators. She is an advocate for sustainable practices in business & teaches future farmers about organic farming by hosting volunteers from the World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms.
Areas of Expertise:
Presentation 1: Building an herb business from farm to product to retail.
Kim Otto will speak on the development of Moon Valley Organics, a vertically-integrated company (grass-roots style) which grows the herbs on their own farm, makes the value-added products and markets them through a retail store at the Pike’s Place Market in downtown Seattle.
Apothicare
Minneapolis
MN
Kirsten is the founder of Apothicare, a body care company working to empower people. Through elderberry syrup, tea, and deodorant, lip balm, and more, Kirsten aims to help people improve their health and therefore, lives. As a holistic health professional, she is passionate about teaching people from all walks of life about the basics of holistic health philosophies.
Areas of Expertise: Herbal Body Care Products, Permaculture and Environmental Education.
Presentation 1: Sourcing and Finding Your Niche; What To Consider When Start a Body Care Business
Kirsten Grohovsky will discuss quality and sourcing issues in the Midwest and topics related to sourcing from out of your region, sourcing at-risk plants, wildcrafting, and herbs that come from overseas and their uses in body care products and what she's discovered about marketing in Minneapolis.
Seed & Thistle Apothecary
Portland
OR
Lara has lived and worked on farms, co-produced a bike tour farm documentary called Faces from the New Farm, and helped start the Common Good City Farm. She completed the three year program with the School of Traditional Western Herbalism and also participated with the Cascadia Folk Medicine Making Herbal Apprenticeship and when not wildcrafting and learning from the plants then you might find her playing music, gardening, sailing, and spending time with family and friends.
Areas of Expertise:
Lara Pacheco is a Latina clinical herbalist, herb farmer, wildcrafter and musician who founded Seed and Thistle Apothecary in the Cully neighborhood of Portland, OR. She is a community organizer and teaches classes, builds gardens, gathers oral histories,and advocacy around women's health and access to alternative medicine for the underserved.
Presentation 1: Combating systemic oppression by Cultivating the Wild with home grown medicine
Join Lara Pacheco of Seed and Thistle Apothecary as she dives into the work of the various ways we can help connect people to the surrounding landscapes, plants, and the healing potential of their bodies while also sustaining a small scale herbal business that aligns with your ethics and goals. She'll share the work she's been involved with in her neighborhood as a herbal representative. She's also discuss models of educational programming and various resources for starting a mobile herbal clinic to help perpetuate herbalism as a model of empowerment and access.
Wildroot Botanicals
Bellingham
WA
Leslie Lekos is founder of Wildroot Botanicals. She runs a bioregional herb school and distills aromatic and medicinal plants. She has studied extensively with respected herbalists from across the country and has a deep love for plants and the natural world. She is a birth doula, certified Iyengar yoga instructor and co-author of the book, Yoga for Pregnancy.
Presentation 1: Marketable Aromatic Crops for Distillation Panel
There are many aromatic plants that can be grown in the Pacific Northwest. The panelists will discuss what plants distillers have a need for. The hope is that from this panel; both distillers and growers will walk away with great connections.
Presentation 2:
Presentation 3:
Flying Bird Botanicals
Bellingham
WA
Areas of Expertise: Herbal product manufacturer.
Presentation 1: Working with Local Growers
Sharing experiences and leading a round table on companies buying direct from farmers
Heron Botanicals
Kingston
Washington
As QA/QC Manager for Heron Botanicals, a small manufacturer of artisan-quality liquid herbal extracts, I’m responsible for oversight of cGMP compliance - and the mountains of documents that come with it! My goal is to help other small businesses continue to produce high-quality herbal products in changing times. I’m a practicing clinical herbalist, and a graduate of Blue Otter School of Herbal Medicine and the clinical herbalist training program at the Vermont Center for Integrative Herbalism. I’m also an author, a runner and an aspiring cellist.
Areas of Expertise: cGMP compliance (small business/liquid extract); Western clinical herbalism
Presentation 1: Intro to cGMP for herbalists and small businesses
An introduction to current GMP regulations geared for small herbal product companies. I will speak from my experience as QC manager for a small liquid extract manufacturer; workshop will provide background information, resources and ideas for herbalists and small manufacturers. Please note I'm not a GMP consultant, and cannot provide legal advice - but we can work together to strategize and share resources.
Dandelion Botanicals
Seattle
WA
After living in the mountains in my young twenties I decided to attend herb school at the California School of Herbal Studies, Worked in the Herb Store while I obtained my B.S. in Botany at the U.W. I opened Dandelion Botanical Co. 20 years ago on a shoestring budget and worked hard to build the herb store that I dreamed of. I'm a wildcrafter at heart but have a small permaculture based yard in Seattles haller lake neighborhood. I'm always searching to improve the quality of herbal medicine that is available - I see access to herbs as food and medicine as a basic human right. I feel encouraged by the endeavors of those on their unique paths of herbalism.
Areas of Expertise:
Retail herb store owner, buying directly from farmers and wildcrafters for retail store
Presentation 1: Participant in Panel/Round Table Discussion about Retail Medicinal Herb Quality
Herb Pharm
Williams
OR
Areas of Expertise:
organic soil fertility, propagation of herbs, agricultural equipment, and public outreach
Presentation 1: Perennial Herb Production
topics include long-term yields, perennial crop rotation, natural cycles from seed through maturity, pruning, pest, disease, and drought tolerance.
Presentation 2: Medicinal Cover Crops
explore dual benefits of improving soil and harvesting herbal cover crops, such as red clover, milky oats, and flowering alfalfa. We will discuss appropriate planting times, on-farm nutrient cycling, nutrient availability, and crop rotation.
Presentation 3: Farm Equipment for Medicinal Plants
a round table discussion of farm equipment options for our growing industry. Let's share pricing and vendor information, innovative design, and efficiency
Ɂełnélixʷs Spokane Tribal Food Sovereignty/Safety grassroots movement
Spokane
Washington
"Ɂełnélixʷs" in "ńpoqińišcn" (the Spokane language) means "their food; the food by which they are known". Spokane Tribal member, Melodi Wynne, is part of the grassroots group that recognized and asserted the importance of food sovereignty/safety. The group assembles to learn and teach through the practices of gathering and producing local foods that are native and/or cultivated in Spokane country. The group works for a return to traditional diet and healthy nontraditional foods, which brings the people a step closer to wellness, balance, food sovereignty and food safety. Open sharing of knowledge and resources can lead members to refocus on traditional foods, and start-up of local agricultural systems to produce and distribute fresh and healthy non-traditional food. Wynne also represents Ɂełnélixʷs on the regional Spokane Food Policy Council where she advocates for wild land and wild foods.
Presentation 1: Native American (First Nations) perspectives on growing medicinal plants
A roundtable panel discussion will be led by people who are active in tribal communities to share thoughts and inspire discussion on the issues around cultivation of traditional medicine plants. Current tribal initiatives and programs around traditional food and medicine can be presented. What kind of help or collaboration are they looking for from the wider herb community? What do Native Americans think about bringing their native medicinal (hence spiritual) plants into commerce and into cultivation? There is an increasing use and popularity of native PNW herbs such as Oregon grape, devils club, Lomatium dissectum and others. Cultivation is in the early stages at this point. How can there be profit sharing with tribes for their knowledge? What can we learn from tribal traditional horticulture practices for the growing of herbs today?
NorthWest Asian Medicinal Herb Network
Bellevue
WA
Mercy Yule, East Asian Medicine Practitioner, has been practicing herbs, acupuncture, and shiatsu for 25 years, and is dedicated to the preservation of traditional medical knowledge. She is co-founder of the NorthWest Asian Medicinal Herb Network. NWAMHN is a group of growers and practitioners working together to promote sustainable domestic production of high-quality Asian medicinal herbs through providing workshops, guidance in finding authentic seeds and plants, information about cultivation, harvest and processing, and evaluation and marketing of products.
Areas of Expertise: ---
Presentation 1: Organoleptic Evaluation of Chinese Medicinals
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Presentation 2: The emerging market for Chinese medicinal plants - With Peg Schafer
Michael "Skeeter" Pilarski
Areas of Expertise:
Presentation 1: Farming Medicinal Plants in Agroforestry Systems.
30 years of experience establishing plantings in Washington, Oregon and Montana. Blending medicinal trees, shrubs, perennial herbs, biennials and annuals with vegetables, culinary herbs, berries and fruit crops. Up to 2,000 trees and shrubs per acre.
Presentation 2: Panel on Medicinal Plant Polycultures on the Farm and in Permaculture Systems
Mycorrhiza, ground cover. inter-species planting by bioregion/native habitat conditions, overstory, understory, harvest, labor and/or machines. Climate change considerations for permaculture herb production.
Agroforestry Associates
Olympia
WA
Mike has been researching and trialing Hippophae for many years and he has traveled to Central Asia to visit orchards and attend conferences on growing and the medicinal uses of this medicinal shrub.
Areas of Expertise:
Presentation 1: Growing Sea Buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) (aka Seaberry) for medicinal fruit
Natasha Clarke and Victoria Dawson
Tea with your Dragon
Stanwood
wa
Areas of Expertise: Herbalist, wildcrafter, medicine maker, herbal retail and tea blends
Presentation 1: Herbal mixers for drinks - how to combine elixirs and tinctures
Herbal elixirs for alcoholic beverages. Not only can you include your herbs into food but you can make incredible herbal cocktails and beverages. Using the inspiration of our local wild ones we will take you through various infusions, tinctures, meads and elixirs that you can mix into wonderful herbal cocktails - not only for taste but for mood and health enhancement. From how and when to wildcraft, best extraction of taste and constituents we will be discussing the process from waysides to bar stool of herbal cocktails.
Lovelight Herb Farm
Veneta
Oregon
Areas of Expertise:
Small scale farming (<2acres) - herb growing, drying, experience with WWOOFers
Presentation 1: Small-scale farming panel
Panel for sharing experiences and Q&A
AHD, Inc. // Pharmacopia Herbals
Eugene
OR
Areas of Expertise: herbalism, wildcrafting, sound healing, ceremonial plant healing
Presentation 1: Restorative Wildcrafting in the Pacific NW
Using real life examples from plants in found in our local bioregion, this class will explore the many aspects defining Restorative Wildcrafting. Far from overharvest, or even sustainability, ultimately one can find methods to make wild harvesting actually increase the range, health, and productivity of wild patches of botanicals. We will discuss methods of harvesting for crop health, post harvest methods of dissemination and plant reproduction, and ethical wildcrafting methods. An introduction to grading a botanical by its growth type, concentration rate, regeneration type, and global range will be given. This helps the wildcrafter assess impact as well as methods for making a harvest, in fact, restorative. Ideas and questions welcome!
Presentation 2: Pacific NW Analogs to Common Trade Herbs
Part of learning to heal ourselves is learning to heal the land all around us. Even as herbalists and doctors we are commonly directed to herbs from far and exotic places. While in a global social economy and a global health “crisis” we may need some of these far-off medicines for very specific pathologies, there are many times when a locally abundant, native or exotic botanical is equal to or even more efficacious than one of these far off imports. By learning what these bioregional plants are and how they can be used, our apothecaries gain resilience and as practitioners we are given a chance to educate about our local forests, while instilling pride and a mindset of respect and conservation for local landscapes into our patients. We will use various examples and organoleptic tasting to help us understand how to incorporate locally abundant wild herbs into our herbal practice and replace their common trade herb counterparts with these often more potent, bioregionally local botanicals. Harvest methods, sustainability, and a brief materia medica highlighting differences amongst species within each genus will be given for each botanical.
The Medicine Chest
Rollingbay
WA
Nora is a Western Herbalist who specializes in Community Herbalism and Northwest Medicinal Plants. She began her herbal studies in 2005 while interning with a drug addiction rehabilitation center in Peru. Later on, she attended the School of Traditional Western Herbalism in Portland, Oregon and co-founded a small herbal remedies CSA called The Wheel Plant Medicine. In 2014, Nora founded The Medicine Chest, an CSH that features the remedies of small scale herbalists from across the West Coast. As founder and co-owner of The Medicine Chest, Nora curates the seasonal packages and co-authors the company's quarterly publication. She has also lead grief groups for college students and facilitated talking circles for teens and women.
Areas of Expertise:
Presentation 1: Community Supported Herbailsm Panel
Chinese Medicinal Herb Farm
Petaluma
CA
Peg Schafer’s main endeavor is the 19 yr old Chinese Medicinal Herb Farm just outside Petaluma, CA. Primarily an educational and research farm: to date have grown out more than 260 different Chinese herb crops.
Presentation 1: Growing Chinese Medicinals
A workshop about domestic Chinese medicinal herb production. Participants will learn about the cultivation of medicinal herbs, relevant issues affecting herb quality and accessibility, as well as the changing market of contemporary Asian herbal medicine. This program will be of interest to adventuresome gardeners, growers, entrepreneurial farmers, Asian herb practitioners, students, medicinal industry stakeholders.
Presentation 2: The Emerging Market for Chinese Medicinal Plants
East Asian Herbal practitioner Mercy Yule and Peg cover the marketing opportunities for this exciting and new market.
Presentation 3: Local grower panel, moderated by Peg and Mercy Yule
What works locally, how is it going for them, what are they growing and what do their farms look like.
Radical Mycology
Portland
Oregon
Peter McCoy speaks on behalf of the fungi, the most overlooked and misrepresented organisms in the web of life. A self-taught mycologist with 15 years of accumulated study and experience, Peter is an original founder of Radical Mycology, a grassroots organization and open-source movement that teaches the skills needed to work with mushrooms and other fungi for personal, societal, and ecological resilience. Peter is the lead cultivation expert for the Amazon Mycorenewal Project and Open Source Ecology and his work has been featured in various news and media outlets such as Grist, Vice’s Motherboard, Permaculture Voices, The Survival Podcast, and The Visionary Activist Show on KUPL. His unique approach to teaching accessible mycology has brought him to present at The Permaculture Voices Conference, The Village Building Convergence, The Telluride Mushroom Festival, The Breitenbush Herbal Conference, The National Brownfield’s Conference, and The North American Mycological Association, as well as for countless community groups across North America. In 2016, McCoy published Radical Mycology, a comprehensive book on working with fungi in the home or on the homestead. From his mushroom homestead in Portland, OR, Peter’s daily practice centers on cultivating, researching, and foraging for new intersections between healthy human and fungal relations.
Areas of Expertise:
A self-taught mycologist with over 14 years of accumulated study and experience, Peter is an original founder of Radical Mycology, a grassroots organization and open-source movement that teaches the skills needed to work with mushrooms and other fungi for personal, societal, and ecological resilience. Peter is the lead cultivation expert for the Amazon Mycorenewal Project and Open Source Ecology. Apart from his work with fungi, he is also a community organizer, street medic, zinester, artist, musician, lecturer, and teacher.
Presentation 1: 10 years of Radical Mycology
Radical Mycology (RM) is a grassroots organization and movement working to advance the study of fungi for the benefit of humans and the ecologies they are enmeshed in. Originating as an idea shared between two friends, RM has grown over the years to become a leading voice in the rapid evolution of mycology. In this presentation, Peter will share his insights into what has helped RM maintain its impact and keep the fire burning against many odds. The talk will conclude by sharing space to take some of Peter's experiences and lessons and translate them to the potential hurdles a Radical Herbology movement may face.
Presentation 2: Medicinal Mushrooms, Where to Grow From Here?
The medicinal mushroom industry has been gaining increased awareness in the west in recent years. But are the products out there the best that they could be? Where is there room for improvement and how can better products be made that fully realize the healing potential of fungi? In this presentation, Peter will provide an overview of the medicinal mushroom industry, some of the common products, and how they are made. Peter will also propose new avenues for expanding the industry, ways to increase the quality of medicinal mushroom products, and how herbalists and practitioners of various modalities can further support the growth of the medicinal mushroom usage in the west.
Oregon’s Wild Harvest
Redmond
OR
Presentation 1: Biodynamic Farming
The amazing parallels between practicing biodynamic farming and practicing herbal medicine
Presentation 2: Large Scale Medicinal Herb Farming Panel
Salt Spring Seeds, Kairos Botanicals, Akasha Seeds
Salt Spring Island
BC
Rupert has been growing food, medicinal herbs and seeds for over 14 years, through intentional communities, and organic and bio-dynamic farms. He’s spent the past decade or so working with Dan Jason and Salt Spring Seeds, currently growing a wide variety of vegetable, grain, and medicinal herb seeds. His specialty is medicinal herbs and their seeds, running a small-scale medicinal herb and tincture business Kairos Botanicals, and currently growing a medicinal herb seed venture, Akasha Seeds. Over the past 3 years he's also been working as a regional co-ordinator and advisor to the Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security, looking to increase the production and quality of ecologically grown food and medicine seed, in order to enhance regional seed security.
Areas of Expertise: Food, and medicinal herb seed production
Growing medicinal herbs
Presentation 1: “Saving More Than Seeds”
Looking at the various aspects and importance of seed production to maintain and increase overall medicinal herb production.
Presentation 2: Panel: Grower experiences in cultivating Chinese medicinal herbs
Panel: Grower experiences in cultivating Chinese medicinal herbs. Jonathan Major, Steven Wrubleski, Vivian Henderson, Shawna Care, Rupert Adams, and Keith Posse, University of Washington Medicinal Garden. Moderated by Peg Schafer.
Island Herbs
Waldron
WA
Ryan Drum BSc(Chem. Tech.), PHD(Botany/Phycology) has lived off the grid on a remote island in a small cabin he built, and been a successful medicinal PNW herb grower and wildcrafter, and seaweed harvester and teacher for nearly 40 years. Prior to removing to the island, he was a Botany professor for a decade ( UMass, UCLA, WWU).His published research concerns ecology and cell biology of Diatoms, Sponges, and Petrifaction of wood in his laboratory.
Presentation 1: Wildcrafting & Marketing 5 PNW Medicinal Herbs
Presentation 2: Growing and harvesting Red Clover Blossoms for medicine.
Presentation 3: Breaking the Retail Lousy Medicinal Herbs Barrier
A Panel/Round Table Discussion about retail Medicinal herb Quality
Shennong Medicinal Herb Farm
Shawna Care, with her husband Byron and daughter Halley, have established Shennong Medicinal Herb Farms in the Pacific Northwest over the past 3 years. Shawna and her family are dedicated to making Shennong Medicinal Herb Farms an important partner in providing quality herbs to practitioners throughout the Medicinal Herb Community.
Areas of Expertise:
Presentation 1: Participants in the Local Growers Panel
Local growers will discuss their experiences in cultivating Chinese medicinal herbs.
Presentation 2:
Dynamic Roots
basalt
CO
Areas of Expertise:
Permaculture, Seed Saving, Folk Herbalism, Herb Growing, and Greenhouse design/management.
Presentation 1: Public Spaces - Ripe for an Herbal Infusion
With public Food Forests springing up around the country, where are our herbal allies in this movement? Can herbal poly-cultures on public parks either join in the movement or offer a viable alternative that may avoid some of the common concerns and long term complications that arise with public food forests? Yes!
Old Growth Ales
Springfield
Oregon
Steve Braun, PhD is an environmental scientist and founder of Old Growth Ales. Amanda Braun is a certified western herbalist and nutritional therapist. Old Growth Ales crafts botanic ales with organic, ethically traded or wild-harvested ingredients from the Cascadia bioregion. We use unique sugar sources in our ferments including cane, honey, seeds and fruit. These unique and traditional ales are adapted from old world recipes passed down from alchemists, brewers and herbalists. We carry on lineages creating seasonal health tonics, including ales, wines, ciders, meads and gruits.
Areas of Expertise:
Collectively: Brewing, Fermentation, Wildharvesting, Traditional Western Herbalism, Plant Spirit Medicine, Nutritional Therapy, Restoration Ecology and Environmental Education
Presentation 1: Brewing Workshop - Wildharvested Urtication Ale
Wildharvest spring herbs, help brew and take home a gallon of fermenting Urtication Ale - a springtime country wine. Harvest stinging nettles (urtica diocia), dead nettles (lamium maculatum), cleavers (galium aparine), dandelion (taraxacum officionale). While enjoying last year's batch, we will brew our harvest, discuss the properties of spring herbs and fermentation techniques. You leave with a bottle of wort, ready to ferment at home. Limited space available (15 participants occurring over two work periods - 4 hours total). All materials provided. We will bring herbs if none are available on the conference grounds.
Presentation 2: Expanding Your Educational Scope - From an Income Source to Protecting the Source
Quality education is radical and can be a pivotal component to every herb growing business. Apprenticeships, workshops, certifications, formal and informal classes can generate more income than products. Furthermore, we have the responsibility to protect rare and endangered plants, preserve biodiversity and promote an environmental ethic within our community. Education is a radical marketing tool and agent of change. Explore the avenues for and effects of educational programming in your practice. Leave with a firm grasp on several instructional techniques which will improve your teaching practice.
Presentation 3: Saturday Evening Tasting Herbal Drinks, Beverages and Treats
We will participate in this event. Please let us know how many people have signed up so that we may bring an appropriate amount of product.
Lopez Island
WA
Childhood running through the hills of coastal California. Over 40 years living on Lopez Island. My main project over the past several years has been getting a 2 acre deer fenced permacultural farm established. (Well actually my MAIN project is taking care of my 94 year old mother with advanced Alzheimers and trying to stay healthy)
Areas of Expertise:
I am an overall plant enthusiast and researcher. My focuses include propagating woody plants, local farm scale food production, vegetable seed breeding and production, growing medicinal herbs, and permaculture or regenerative agriculture.
Presentation 1: Participant in Panel for Local growers
SOLUM&HERBE Apothecary
Port Townsend
WA
Susan M Parker, herbalist, author, formulator, and lover of the nature transforms nature’s materials and ingredients into new forms for natural skin care. Founding SOLUM&HERBE Apothecary twenty years ago devoted to the most natural skin care, she recently published Power of the Seed; The Guide to Oils for Health and Beauty, a book devoted to the subject of the carrier oils. Susan also has created on line classes on working with herbs and natural materials and has plans for more.
Areas of Expertise:
Using herbs and natural ingredients in skin and body care with 20 plus years experience. I have also made a specialty of the fixed carrier oils and written a book on the subject Power of the Seed; Your Guide to Oils for Health and Beauty. The book is reference, how to, listing of 90+ oils and their properties, skin and oil, using the oils for various topical applications. I also have developed an on line course on extracting herbs and plants into various media for use in topical products.
Presentation 1: Herbs in Skin Care; types and forms needed
Using herbs in skin care can take many forms; dried, in oil, in alcohol, glycerin, etc. What herbs are being used to make skin care products world wide. And which ones grow in the PNW. Discussion on the different forms of extractions, extracting for volume, selling the extractions or dried plants in whole or powdered form for DIY skin care manufacturers. There are many, many new "natural" skin care manufacturers coming along all the time. This could be a huge market if understood and positioned well.
Presentation 2: Oils; The wide range and how to use them
This is a course I have done at the CSHS in Forestville, CA. A foundation in the wide variety of oils and when best to use them for a variety of applications. The subject ranges from the waxes, to the plant butters, the monounsaturated oils like olive to the polyunsaturated oils. How to combine and use them to make top quality herbal extractions is the focus of this presentation. Understanding the structure of the oils is fundamental so will underlie the presentation.
Presentation 3: Participant on Panel for Skin Care Herbs
Woodland Co-op
Rockport
WA
Terrance was brought up on organic farms in Colorado, California, Oregon, and here in Washington where he fell in love with the temperate rain forest. Terrance manages with his wife Erin the Forest Farmstead, a certified organic forest and farm. He is a founding member and current director of the Washington Woodland Cooperative which serves small woodland owners and woodland workers by marketing forest products and by providing information and opportunities to its members.
Areas of Expertise:
Presentation 1: Introducing the Woodland Co-op. a marketing cooperative for wildcrafters starting in Northwest Washington
Presentation 2: Wildcrafting Panel
Vivaculture Institute
Bellingham
WA
Terri has been foraging and wildcrafting in field and wood in Western Washington and Northern California for many years.
Areas of Expertise: Foraging, Herbalism, Permaculture, Organic farm worker, Indigenous Plants
Presentation 1: Wildcrafting Weeds on Farms
Let’s run a "Got Purslane?” campaign to promote this friend as the new super food that it is! We have amazing plant volunteers that could graduate from “weeds” to crops with good marketing. Purslane, chickweed, "wild spinach" (lambsquarters), plantain, dandelion, cleavers, burdock, etc. have great nutritional and medicinal value. Let’s share ideas to create a power food fad and market that can benefit us all!
Presentation 2: Plant Walk
Explore the local environs, meeting our plant friends and sharing knowledge about their medicinal and nutritional values.
employee, Heron Botanical, Bellevue Acupuncture Clinic
Kirkland
Wa
Presentation 1: Cultivation and harvesting of some common Chinese herbs (Codonopsis, Astragalus, Angelica, Peony) and others.
Presentation 2: Processing and toxicity of common TCM herbs
Crimson Sage Nursery
Orleans
CA
I have been growing and working with plants of all kinds for the last 30 some years. Since 1999 I have focused all my plant growing knowledge toward my true passion-- Medicinal Plants. I was a market grower of all sorts of vegies and salad greens for many years in Washington State along with growing my own medicinals for for my herbal product line, Mama Goats Garden. More recently, in 2005, after a move to NE Humboldt County California along the Klamath River, I took over Crimson Sage Nursery, an online/mailorder nursery perfect for this ideal Mediterranean climate and remote location. Expanding into the online nursery has allowed me to greatly increase my knowledge of plant propagation and given me the excuse I needed to grow as many different medicinal herbs as possible. Crimson Sage Nursery produces thousands of plants each season and ships close to 400 different types of organic medicinal plants to gardeners and growers all over the country! The goal of the nursery has always been to empower gardeners and herbalists alike to grow as much of their own medicine as possible bringing the direct plant connection back to the forefront of herbal medicine.
Areas of Expertise:
Propagation and growing of many different herbs. Running a small certified organic online mail order nursery
Presentation 1: Medicinal Plant propagation techniques roundtable
Roundtable discussion of propagation techniques on some of the more difficult to start herbs Everyone has their own unique methods it would be great to share amongst a panel.
Presentation 2: How to grow and market Medicinal Herb Plants on a small scale from a remote community
Growing and selling Medicinal Plants. An overview on starting and managing an Organic Online nursery specializing in Medicinals.
Green Lynx and Bear Creek Apothecary
Sequim
WA
Presentation 1: Essental oil and Hydrosol Distillation demo of Salvia Apiana
Presentation 2: Radical Herbalism : Medicinal Herbal Gardens in Public Spaces- "Lets start a grassroots movement"
Presentation 3: Herbalists Without Borders Forming a Pacific Northwest Chapter
Herbal Vitality Inc
Sedona
AZ
Areas of Expertise: Scientific research, Botanical Medicine, Herbal product manufacturing
Presentation 1: WORKSHOP: ADDING "QUALITY" TO FARMED AND WILDCRAFTED FRESH HERBS:
This workshop will present ways to increase the quality and worth of fresh plant material that are farmed and wildcrafted. Discussed will be choice of harvest times and locations, cleaning of plant material once harvested, packing strategies and invoicing.