Kathi’s Herb Classes
Year-round program with herbalist Kathi Keville & visiting staff. Take all or your fav segments!
Kathi’s love for history and folklore includes worldwide ethnobotany—the use of plants by indigenous peoples. Our class honors the Nisenan Maidu for this land and sharing of plant knowledge. These course is all inclusive for everyone. We’ll get you into nature even if you use a cane or wheel chair.
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January~March: HERBAL MEDICINE BODY SYSTEMS SERIES
April~September: WILD MEDICINAL & EDIBLE PLANTS: APPRENTICESHIP
April & September: HERB CULTIVATION & GARDEN DESIGN
April, May & June: HERB WALKS
June & July: HERB GARDEN TOURS
Oct, Nov & Dec: MEDICINAL & AROMATIC PLANTS & DISTILLATION
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HERBAL MEDICINE BODY SYSTEMS SERIES
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Each class devoted to one of nine body systems: Digestion, Liver, Urinary Tract, Cardiovascular & Nervous & Immune & Respiratory Systems, Women’s Health & Glands: Thyroid & Pancreas.
Practical, integrated holistic healing. Custom& design holistic protocols with formulas using several healing modalities–herbs, aromatherapy, flower essences, nutrition, lifestyle + music & color therapies. Consultation techniques. Physiology & chemistry in relationship to herbs. Handouts and home study. Open to students with some herbal experience.
Delicious nine-course, organic meal served in each class with all the foods and spices healing to thae body system we discuss that day. You’ll receive lots of class notes plus the menu & recipes.
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HERBAL APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM
April–Sept
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Bring an open mind and heart to explore medical herbalism from the ground up! Learn and observe wonders of natural healing. Take this plant journey with an experienced herbalist and with a group of extraordinary folks. From Spring through Summer, we follow wildflowers and native plant bloom from the Sierra foothills to high country mountains, making herbal preparations and studying plant ID. Sunday is a field trip exploring different eco-systems along rivers and creeks.
Make an herbal first-aid kit and an herbal apothecary from scratch. Share herbal experiences with each other. Do advanced formulating and medicine making techniques. In medical botany, we discuss the relationships of plant families to their healing aspects. You’ll discover how to use a botany key and tricks making plant ID easier. We’ll prepare herbariums and flower essences.
This in-depth course dives into a deep of understanding of herbal medicine. Held in our outdoor classroom. Field trip every weekend. July’s 3-day camping trip is easy car camping next to a high Sierra lake with canoes and kayaks for your use. We share plant stories around the campfire. Native sweat holders join us to build and enjoy a sweat lodge.
GARDEN & LAB: Prepare Herbal 1st Aid Kit & Home Apothecary from our extensive gardens. Take an advanced look at tinctures, glycerites, salves, liniments, decoctions, pills, tablets, syrups, oils, and flower essences.
FIELD WORK: Harvest and prep herbs. Make a plant press and herbarium. Learn herbal botany and how to ID plants.
RESEARCH: Collect data and research contacts and determine herb safety. Kathi will open her extensive library with 1500 herb books for your research.
AROMATHERAPY: Combine aromatherapy with herbalism. Choose specific techniques and essential oils for physical and emotional conditions.
PLANT ENERGY WORK: Get in touch with the plants to develop plant-based intuition.
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HERB GARDEN CULTIVATION & DESIGN CLASSES
April & September
Kathi combines her herbal knowledge with a green thumb & art degree to share how to create a useful & beautiful herb garden. Learn specific cultivation & propagation techniques for herbs from all over the world, sun & shade lovers, edible and medicinal herbs in hands-on demos of seeds, divisions & cuttings. Take cuttings and seeds home! Harvest herbs for maximum quality. Tour the Herb Gardens with emphasis on garden design.
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HERB WALKS
April, May, June
INDEPENDENCE TRAIL, BEAR RIVER, ROCK CREEK
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Kathi has been leading these herb walks since in the area since 1978. Her extensive knowledge of the edible & medicinal uses of plants shines through colorful descriptions of science, lore, history & her own experiences. Short, wide and easy trails each have 40 interesting herbs.
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HERB GARDEN TOURS
June, July & August 9-11am
Stroll with Kathi through her terraced herb gardens with 500 species—some familiar, some unusual—from around the world. She’ll discusses uses, colorful histories & cultivation requirements for dozens of medicinal & culinary herbs. Fragrance, Chinese, Ayurvedic, Mexican, African, Eastern Woodland, Celtic, and Culinary sections. (Most of the tour is in shade with benches to sit on along the way.) Observe different garden design styles.
Afterwards, visit our apothecary store filled with herbal products & Kathi’s herb books. & The herb nursery offers a selection of 150 medicinal plants for sale.
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AROMATHERAPY SEMINARS
October, followed by advanced seminars in Nov & Dec.
10am-5pm
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Techniques for home, clinic & bodywork. History, lore, scientific research. How to judge quality. Blending techniques. Smell physiology & essential oil chemistry. Effects of oils on mind & body skin, digestive & circulation disorders & infections. (Charts included). Treat depression, anxiety, fatigue & nervous system. Synergistic Blends. Design and make aromatic products.
Aromatherapy acts on the body: anti-inflammatories vs. liniments, skincare for both beauty and disorders such as psoriasis, eczema, and skin cancer. Learn different applications for massage and other therapies. Distill essential oils and hydrosols from our gardens in class to take home. Create custom blends. Design and make body oils from dozens of essential oils.
ADVANCED AROMATHERAPY SEMINARS II & III Oct & Nov 10am-5pm
Combine aromatherapy with herbalism. Treat acute and chronic disorders. Chemotypes, chemistry & healing properties of common and uncommon essential oils. (Charts included.) History, application, healing properties & blending guidelines. Unique and obscure oils. Natural perfume making. Advanced formulating. Aromatherapy cosmetics, skin care & skin disorders and skincare physiology. Essential oils to reverse aging & “new” cosmetic ingredients. Massage face lift. Creams & carriers. Bath/body salts for therapeutic use.
The three seminar weekends meets Level I Aromatherapy Training standards set by National Association of Holistic Aromatherapy. Certificate granted upon completion.
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ROCK WALL CLASS: DRY STACK CONSTRUCTION
with Ron Bertolucci, mason and designer, at Oak Valley Herb Farm, Grass Valley.
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Learn dry stack stone construction as it was used by ancient cultures throughout the world. Class offers, theory, and hands-on instruction. Covers in-depth training with demonstrations of tools and techniques. Supply sources and handouts provided. View different styles of completed walls, stairs & terraces on site.
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More of Kathi Keville’s HERB CLASSES & SEMINARS throughout the US
MEDICINAL & EDIBLE WILD PLANTS of the Sierra Flora. July.
Held at San Francisco State University SFSU field campus in the High Sierra www.sfsu.edu/~sierra Ethnobotany course through SFSU Biology Department. Instructor Kathi Keville with guest herbalist assistant. Kathi has been teaching this course for 25+ years. Identif wild plants & theirmedicinal and edible uses, and process them. Ecology, related geography, and herbal interactions with human physiology is also addressed. We will conscientiously harvest and prepare a wild foods meal.