When I was little, my grandmother would point out the echinacea that grew on the side of the road and tell me how powerful it was. It had been planted years before by prairie plantsman Claude Barre, a friend and neighbor and, from what I know about him, a guy whose life was a plant and herbalism course for anyone who was listening.
He died the year I was born, but his legacy was alive in our home. Everyone spoke lovingly of him and his knowledge of horticulture, and does so to this day. His book, Jewels of the Plains, is out of print but still on our coffee table. There was a time that I wished I had been named Claudia, after him.
A Little Interest I Never Pursued
Maybe that’s where my interest in plants and herbalism started. It’s something that has always felt fascinating—but overwhelming. Nature had an answer for everything, but there are so many plants, so many characteristics. Where to begin?
And as is often the case when I’m overwhelmed, I’m paralyzed. What books, what herbalism course, could get me started learning about these things? Over the past few years, I’ve been unfortunately too busy and tired to even think about it. I haven’t thought about it in years, really.
Enrolling in an Herbalism Course
Then an herbalism course dropped down in front of me. An online acquaintance shared that it was the course she had taken that had jump started her interest and knowledge. It came out of nowhere, but felt right for me. I signed up a couple days later.
This is a 100-hour herbalism course from Ecoversity (affiliate link — you can get 10% off with code AMANDAS). There’s a class every week, which I can attend live or via replay, and a few hours of homework to help me practice what I’m learning. I’m already impressed by how the student portal is organized, and the list of teachers and recommended reading is incredible.
Follow Along
I can’t wait to get started. I started an Instagram account (@deepenyourroots) to share some of this learning. With my fitness goals, social media has helped me stay accountable to my plan in a weird way I never really expected, so I’m hoping this will do the same. If I’m learning and sharing, it’ll reinforce that learning, and hopefully I can connect with some people who have this interest and a lot more knowledge than I do. 🙂 Follow along as I embark on this herbalism course and whatever it might lead to. Maybe nothing! Maybe a whole lot more.