Medicinal Herb class

Yesterday two of my favorite peeps & I attended a very informative class on medicinal herbs. This class was taught by Deborah Wagganer, of Shadewood Herbal, just outside Gerald, MO (www.shadewoodherbal.com).

Deborah is a very knowledgeable & personable licensed Master Herbalist. Who knew there is an actually curriculum, leading to a degree in this subject! She began by her giving us a tour of her beautiful earth contact home & the grounds. Don't know whether I liked the outdoors better or the interior of her warm & welcoming home! And that's saying alot from this outdoors loving person.

Gargoyles guard the grounds

Serenity abounds

Peaceful waters 

home fits right into the woods

inspiration on how to utilize cedars for a bed

idea for a garden trellis

interesting method of stabilizing corner of wood pile

another trellis idea

Deborah then took us into her home & we reviewed the binder she provides with the course material. We learned different terms & techniques. Then Deborah served us a delicious home made lunch she prepared of soup, cheeses & bread. Yummy!

Lunch time with friends!! Yum!

Tour of her herb garden

After lunch we took another walk about on the grounds. Deborah showed us what some of the herbs we had discussed looked like, smelled like & tasted like, when applicable. Very instructional!! I learn best doing hands on so really appreciated her connecting the 'book learnin' with what the plants actually look like!

Explaining properties of the plant

identifying native herbs

Calendula Marigold

We then went inside to put our knowledge to work! Deborah showed us her inventory of various herbs & the equipment she uses when preparing her concoctions, tinctures & poultices for her family & friends. 

Really great class & day shared with friends & learned a great deal about medicinal herb prep! Looking forward to attending Deborah's follow up class with more hands on preparations, tentatively scheduled in Feb 2015!