Congratulations! You have been accepted into the 2025 Herbalist Training Program. Purchase this item to complete your registration for the all inclusive program, which includes in-person and online classes.
IN-PERSON CLASSES
Our 2025 program will meet in person one weekend per month March through October: March 15-16, April 26-27, May 17-18, June 18-22*, July 19-20, August 16-17, September 13-14, and October 25-26.
Each day starts at 10 am and ends at approximately 5 pm. On some occasions we might stay after class for dinner and a possible campfire at the farm.
Saturday Classes
Our Saturdays will be held at Tryon Life Community Farm, 11640 SW Boones Ferry Rd, Portland, OR 97219.
This location has a limited number of parking spaces and carpooling with fellow students after the first weekend will be required. If you are driving, you will have to be willing to pick up at least one other student. If you are not driving, you have to be willing to coordinate and make it easy for whomever is giving you a lift.
The classroom yurt is comfortably heated and well lit. In our classes students and the instructor sit in a circle, some on chairs and others on pillows on the floor. Feel free to bring your favorite pillow or floor seat, although there will be some supplied.
Classes will include lecture, discussions, organoleptic medicine tasting, possible gardening, harvesting, medicine making and sometimes sharing songs.
Sunday Classes
Sunday hikes in will be held in various locations within about an hour of Portland. Carpooling to hikes is strongly encouraged. Our days in the field often include a few miles of easy to moderate hiking. We go out in all types of weather, so sometimes we spend the day in the rain and other days in bright sun. Be prepared for all types of weather with appropriate footwear, clothing, and an all-weather-embracing attitude. Each hike includes training in plant identification, ecology, medicine making, and materia medica. Harvesting may be possible on some of the hikes.
The Camping Trip - June 18-22
One of the great benefits of this program is the opportunity to camp together and spend extended time in the forest. We will spend 4 days and 4 nights in the field meeting plants, harvesting, medicine making, and enjoying each other’s company. More information about the trip, including location and supply lists, will be provided at the weekend classes.
Planning for Accommodations
For students attending from out of town, you will need to find accomodations for the night between our Saturday class and our Sunday hike. Camping at the farm is possible: contact Brenna at brenna@tryonfarm.org well in advance if you are interested in arranging a farm stay.
ONLINE CLASSES
The Herbalist Training Program includes five months of live online Plant Medicine classes on Thursday evenings in March, April, May, September, and October. This is our detailed plant-by-plant materia medica series for the many Pacific Northwest bioregions.
Each course focuses on a different group of 15-30 plant medicines, covering:
- Botanical identification
- Ecological roles in their native habitat
- Detailed materia medica including both contemporary and historical medicinal uses
- Herbal energetics
Location: Online via Zoom. The meeting code will be emailed to you before the beginning of each class.
Plant Medicine I: Tree Medicine
February 20 & 27, March 6 & 13
In this first class we look at the important trees of Cascadia, including conifers like Western Redcedar, Douglas Fir, Juniper and Pines, as well as essential deciduous tree medicines like Hawthorn, Oak, Cottonwood, Willows, Quaking Aspen, Red Alder, and more.
Plant Medicine II: Herbs, Flowers, and Weeds
April 10, 17, 24, and May 1
In our second class we turn our attention to herbaceous plants, both native and naturalized. Important medicines like stinging nettles, dandelion, and yarrow are taught alongside some lesser known plants of the lower elevation riparian valleys, forests, Columbia Gorge and coasts.
Plant Medicine III: Cascadia Mountain Medicine
May 8, 15, 22 and 29
In our third class we’ll cover some of the very important medicines of the middle and higher elevations of the Pacific Northwest. Many medicinal plants such as Oregon Grape, Devil’s Club and Red Root will be discussed in depth with regard to energetics, historical uses, experiential plant communication, and how to work with these mountain plants in medicinal healing context.
Plant Medicine IV: Western Mountains and High Deserts
September 4, 11, 18 and 25
We continue our Plant Medicine series spending four weeks with the plants typically found in the mountain ranges such as the Western Rockies, Eastern Oregon’s Ochocos, Blue Mountains, Wallowas, and Steens; as well as high deserts and canyon-lands. We’ll discuss Ponderosa-Aspen parkland habitat and Juniper Sagebrush plateaus as well as more remote desert plants. Wild Peony, Oshala, Bitterroot, Aspen, Juniper, Sagebrush, Green Ephedra, Arnica, Lomatium, and many other plants will be discussed in depth.
Plant Medicine V: The Klamath-Siskyoos
October 2, 9, 16, and 23
Southern Oregon, including the Rogue and Illinois Rivers and the Klamath and Siskiyoo ranges as well as the Kalmiopsis wilderness, is one of the most diverse plant regions of North America. We’ll discuss plant adaptations to fire and serpentine soil types, ecology, and recovery after some of the largest fires in Oregon history. In this class Oshala Ligusticums, wild Angelicas, California Spikenard, Yerba Santa, Yellow Coneflower, California Bay, Cobra Lily and many other plants including rare endemics.
Homework and Certificate of Completion
Our program was created for the pure love of learning plant medicine. Attendance is the main requirement for receiving a certificate of completion. All students will complete some short and long term projects, but there is not a lot of homework. There are no exams, and we do not formally evaluate you.
Required books
Medicinal Plants of the Pacific West, Michael Moore
Botany in a Day, Thomas Elpel
Plants of the Pacific Northwest, Pojar and MacKinnon
Handbook of Northwest Plants, Helen Gilkey, 2001 edition
Trees to Know in Oregon and Washington, Ed Jensen
Also recommended, but not required:
Pacific Northwest Medicinal Plants, Scott Kloos
The Herbal Medicine Maker’s Handbook, James Green
Making Plant Medicine, Richo Cech
All Inclusive 2025 Herbalist Training Program
There is an optional tincture tasting packet for each class that must be ordered at least 2 weeks before the start of the class. Details on how to purchase these will be included in the PDF.