Northeast School of Botanical Medicine Field Trips
Please note-these longer field trips are only for the Community Herbalism Intensive (CHI). All field trips for the Weekend Herbalism Program are local.
These field trips are an integral part of the Community Herbalism Intensive. On these botanical expeditions, we travel to different ecosystems, learn the local plants and gather and prepare botanical medicines. There are three field trips. These are the approximate dates for each year’s trip (the exact dates will be known in May).
June 30-July 12-Rainbow Gathering (California 2024) and field trip
August 7-14-Adirondacks, NY
September 11-18-West Virginia
Rainbow Gathering-The first field trip is to the Rainbow Gathering which is a large outdoor free event held in a different National Forest each year. It is different than the other field trips as we will be working at a first aid station for the 8 days that we are there. After the Rainbow Gathering, we go on a 4-day field trip nearby.
In August we go to the Adirondacks and in September to West Virginia.
We also have weekly field trips to ecosystems around Ithaca including bogs, woodlands, fields, and the occasional parking lot.
Field Trip Objectives: Plant identification, sustainable wildcrafting, botanical medicine preparation, and learning about new environments.
We will be together a lot on these trips, and students are expected to behave in a way that allows everyone to get along. This includes punctuality and helping share car costs with whomever you are traveling with.
Expenses: With each field trip, students are required to cover their own expenses. This includes transportation costs (students generally carpool), food, tools, medicine-making supplies, and other expenses. During the second two field trips (Adirondacks and Appalachia) I pay for the food and hire cooks. The cooks are given parameters for dietary preferences and food sensitivities are taken into account.
What’s Needed: Some items are required, others can be shared, and some are up to the individual student’s needs.
All students will need some wildcrafting tools such as pruners and hori-hori. They will also need their plant field guides and botany kit. Students set up their own transportation, usually carpooling with other students. We meet at our prospective trip locations and start caravaning there. How much medicine-making equipment (ethanol, jars, oil, scales, cleavers, etc) is up to the individual student. The more medicine you want to make for yourself, the more supplies you will need to bring. The biggest expense is usually alcohol for tincture making. Students group order the alcohol together before any field trips.
