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Healing is growing all around us, often in the very places we overlook. Many of the plants and herbs commonly labeled as “weeds” are actually powerful sources of nourishment and natural medicine, rich in vitamins, minerals, and healing properties that have supported communities for generations. This 90-minute guided plant walk will invite participants to slow down, observe, and reconnect with the land. Participants will discover how common plants support digestion, immunity, respiratory health, and overall vitality—reinforcing the truth that what we consume directly impacts our well-being. After our walk, participants are invited to visit Eva’s apothecary nearby!
Speaker Bio: Eva Nyrie Garrett is a Master Herbalist, Naturopath, Educator, Author, and community wellness leader rooted in North Minneapolis. Her journey didn’t begin in a classroom, it began in lived experience: growing up in survival mode, growing food in her backyard, serving families through Appetite for Change, and learning from elders and the land itself. Through years of study, practice, and service, she deepened her knowledge of herbal medicine and built Natural Me Apothecary as a space where culture, community, and healing come together.
6:30 pm – 7:00 pm Tea & Social, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm Meeting
Speaker Bio:
April Smith, She/Her is an enrolled member of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe. She is also an Indigenous Educator and Facilitator, an Herbalist from Cornell University, a curriculum designer. April’s work is rooted in Anishinaabe cultural education and nutrition, Indigenous Food Sovereignty, and Herbalism. With over 17 years of experience designing and facilitating learning experiences for communities and organizations, April brings a unique approach that blends Anishinaabe foodways with modern wellness practices. Her work is grounded in reciprocity, sustainability, and respect for ancestral knowledge. She teaches that food is medicine and that every ingredient has a story, one that connects us all through shared humility and care for Mother Earth.
Join us for a fun evening at Lake Monster Brewing in St. Paul to share plants from our gardens, seedlings or splitting some of your own. We’ll reserve a table. Look for a sign with NCHG!
Note: Please also follow UMN Extension guidelines to prevent the spread of jumping worms: https://extension.umn.edu/identify-invasive-species/jumping-worms#plant-sale-recommendations-to-reduce-jumping-worm-spread-1883165 – This has never been an issue reported at our previous plant swaps so let’s keep it that way! See you all there!
6:30 pm – 7:00 pm Tea & Social, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm Meeting
What is fasting and how does it work? In the oldest written records, fasting emerged as a religious practice. How has fasting which began as a religious practice become a therapy that people look to for detoxification, rejuvenation and weight loss? What are the benefits, drawbacks and dangers of fasting? When we talk about detoxing, what is really meant? Where are toxins stored in the body? What cells, tissues, and organs sequester toxins like the persistent organic pollutants (POPs), the toxic human-made chemicals that persist in the environment and have now become common place? Can fasting target specific organs? Which organs are the best to detoxify? Which herbs can be used to facilitate and support detoxification? Are herbs enough? What are the controversies surrounding the use of internal baths that use water alone, are aided by herbs or other substances? So many questions! This presentation will address all of these important topics and engage the audience around their own personal experiences of fasting.
Speaker Bio:
Sal is a licensed acupuncturist registered by the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice and certified by the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM). He completed his training in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) at the Academy of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine in Roseville, Minnesota. He is also a certified practitioner of Shiatsu and is skilled in the arts of cupping, moxibustion and auricular (ear) therapy. Sal’s post-graduate work involved a series of mentorships with Five-Element and Japanese style acupuncture practitioners. Five Element method of acupuncture is practiced in his clinic. Additionally, Sal utilizes Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in his treatments if indicated. Clinical experiences include treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder, chronic pain including neuropathy and degenerative joint disease, pre and post operable conditions, palliative care, and supportive therapy for patients with cancer. Other conditions he has treated include symptoms associated with menopause, autoimmune, allergies and disorders.
6:30 pm – 7:00 pm Tea & Social, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm Meeting
Please join us for an engaging trio of local herbalists sharing on topics that are relevant, timely, and close to their heart, in the theme of “You are Beautiful. Keep Going.”
- Erica Fargione, faculty, Minneapolis College Herbal Studies program: Grounding Through Our Sense of Taste: This will be a grounding, inspiring, nourishing presentation with foods to sample, and discussion around our sense of taste and the different ways it affects each of us.
- Kelsey Hendershott, Heavy Meadow Healing and Treehouse Teabar: Herbalism as Empowerment.
- Aubrey Sol, Clinical Herbalist: Nourishing Medicine: How can we find our own nourishment by reflecting on connections with the self, our communities, and Earth? Using the medicines of Reishi and Cedar, we will explore how to ground and strengthen ourselves so we can further aid in grounding and strengthening our communities when it is needed most. When we prioritize relationships with our medicine, we are able to harness great power.
Speaker Bios:
Erica Fargione is an award winning faculty at Minneapolis College, formerly MCTC. The program she started in 2006 has expanded into both a certificate and diploma award in Herbal Studies. The Herbal Studies program is still the only award program in the US at a public institution, offering financial aid and all the benefits of being at a community college. She is happy to be a steward of the most diverse Herbal Studies program in the nation. All our ancestors used herbs, and all of us get to reclaim the apothecary that is this world.
Kelsey Hendershott is a community herbalist, forager, and educator devoted to reconnecting people with plants and one another. In 2025, she graduated from the Herbal Studies Program at MCTC, earning both a certificate and diploma in Herbal Studies, and continues to immerse herself in the study of plants and people. She is the owner of Treehouse Tea Club, a community lounge offering complimentary herbal beverages—mostly foraged and community-grown—while hosting foraging walks and herbal workshops that cultivate connection and collective healing. Kelsey is also the founder of Heavy Meadow Healing and holds an AAS in Massage Therapy and a 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training completed in Rishikesh, India. Her work is rooted in health sovereignty, holistic care, and building resilient community through plant medicine.
Aubrey Sol is a Clinical Herbalist located in White Bear Lake, Minnesota. She has been practicing herbal medicine since 2021 and graduated from Minneapolis College in 2025 with a certificate and a diploma in Herbal Studies. Her work is rooted in connecting people and plants through medicine by crafting herbal treatments to gently bring the mind, body, and spirit to balance.
6:30 pm – 7:00 pm Tea & Social, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm Meeting
Speaker Bio: Tegan is the founder of The Medicine Objective and, most recently, Star Woman Apothecary. Her relationship with plants has been lifelong. She grows and forages in the summer and remedies in the winter. With a professional and educational background in biomedicine, behavioral therapy, and clinical research, she now serves a broader ecosystem, working closer to nature and more deeply embedded in community. Her work centers on holistic education for healthcare professionals, community-based care, participatory health research, and supporting people in reclaiming the knowledge to care for themselves through plant medicine.
Description: Tegan will share lessons from her healing journey and decolonization of self, work, and relationships through her relationships with plants as relatives and teachers. Participants will be invited into collective reflection and dialogue on ecosystem perspectives and how we engage with plant life in our lives and work.
Event Description: Join us for our annual Silent Auction and Fundraiser! Social hour and auction bidding begins at 6:00. We’ll enjoy refreshments and at 7:00 there will be a fun presentation from beloved local herbalist Jessie Belden. This will be a night of connection and discussion around the many facets of being an herbalist in today’s world. There are an infinite amount of paths available to you as an herbalist. What are some current challenges, pitfalls, triumphs and most importantly, herbal allies we can encounter on our journey? Gratefully, the plants are our guides and support us to illuminate our way forward as we walk this path of flowers together.
Speaker Bio: Jessie Belden is a mother, herbalist, and farmer currently living in western Wisconsin. She has been a student of the plants all her life, but formally for the last nearly two decades. Jessie has followed her herbal calling down the paths of herbal product maker, clinician, brick-and-mortar apothecary owner, teacher, and most unsuccessfully, herb grower! All while mothering her 4 wild children along the way. Ultimately, dancing with the plants along her unique herbal path has been one of the greatest joys of her life.
DESCRIPTION: This presentation will be grounded in the idea that grieving is an integral part of being human. Through this lens we will talk about the different times that grief appears in a person’s life and the many ways that plants can be supportive in those times. We will discuss acute trauma and loss and gentle approaches to offering care with herbs during those times. We’ll also talk about recognizing and tending grief in more ordinary times. Throughout our time together, we’ll be naming and honoring some of the many plants who offer particular support for grief, while also welcoming the medicine that any plant can offer.
BIO: Emily Pearson Ryan has spent her whole life an hour’s walk from the Mississippi. A long-time gardener and lover of plant medicine, she began studying with herbalist Lise Wolff in 2020, and the work has claimed her since.
Emily currently sees clients for consults, teaches classes, and leads plant walks. She loves collaborating with other plant lovers she meets in her work, and offers care in times of birth and death.
She lives in a raucous, art-filled South Minneapolis home with her partner and three kids, and continues to learn.
DESCRIPTION: Buried emotional and physiological responses can get in the way of many treatments for many conditions. So it becomes important to understand how a psyche can structure itself around survival strategies that protect us from unbearable feelings of helplessness, hopelessness and powerlessness, because they also prevent us and our clients from accessing our full vitality and personal treasure chest. In this class we will map out structures in the psyche defined in IOPT (Identity-oriented psychotrauma therapy) and how we might use that map to approach custom, trauma-informed, flower essence blending to support deeper, fuller healing processes.
SPEAKER BIO: Loey has been professionally accredited through SEDIBAC (Catalonia Society for the Study and Diffusion of Dr. Bach’s Therapy), and is the English translator of Pablo Noriega’s book, Bach Flower Essences and Chinese Medicine (Inner Traditions, 2016). Loey is a NCCAOM PDA provider #172473, course contributor at A New Possibility, and lectured at the IV and VI SEDIBAC/SEFLOR conferences in Barcelona, Spain, at metro-area universities, a national flower essence conference and podcast, and for professional and community groups in the Twin Cities (including twice or thrice NCHG) since 2011. Loey provided professional training in clinical flower essence therapy to other integrative providers (acupuncturists, social workers and psychologists, herbalists, nurse practitioners, birth and death doulas, body workers…) in her annual 9-month flower essence foundations training course (2017-2022). Loey studied Clinical Integrative Flower Essence Therapy and related coursework at various institutes in Barcelona (ISMET, SEDIBAC, Aula Bach, and Institut Anthemon), in the U.S., and internationally, since 2009. She trained in IOPT (Identity-oriented Psychotrauma Therapy), based in Family Constellations, with Jamie Kirdain, student of Bert Hellinger and Franz Ruppert. Loey has studied Western herbal medicine in San Francisco CA with Adam Seller, student of Michael Moore, and earned her Bachelor’s degree in Spanish and fine art from the University of Wisconsin in 1996. She works with clients in private practice.
DESCRIPTION: We will discuss how in Ayurveda, fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum), or methi, is a key medicinal plant used for its warming and nourishing properties to balance doshas. It is particularly prized for its ability to improve digestion, support women’s health, and regulate metabolic functions. We will learn how to incorporate fenugreek in our diet while sipping on fenugreek tea and sampling some fenugreek Indian flat bread.
SPEAKER BIO: Nalini started teaching Ayurvedic cooking 22 years ago. She began her career as a culinary instructor at the Natural Gourmet Institute for Food and Health in NYC and later started her own company, Route to India LLC where she now offers cooking classes rooted in Ayurveda. She also makes a fun, crunchy, good-for-you ayurvedic snack, YOGA POPS made from water lily seeds available at Kowolskis, Wedge, Lakewinds Co-ops and select Target stores around the country.
Nalini has been a speaker at a range of institutions including San Francisco Asian Art Museum, Rubin Museum of Art, Princeton University, and the United Nations. Nalini was the recipient of the James Beard Foundation Women In Culinary Leadership Grant program which brought her to Minneapolis first in 2017. Currently she is also in the process of building a yoga retreat and culinary school in Maple Plain, MN which should be open later this Fall.
DESCRIPTION: Join us at The Lamb Shoppe & Wellness Center for a guided walk through our vibrant medicinal gardens and wild spaces. Explore a rich variety of cultivated herbs, native plants, wild edibles, and healing flowers growing right on the farm. We’ll talk plants, share stories, and connect with the land—one leaf at a time. Whether you’re a plant lover, a curious beginner, or a seasoned herbalist, you’ll come away inspired by nature’s abundance and wisdom. Herbal teas will be provided!
SPEAKER BIO: Connie Karstens is a clinical herbalist and holistic health educator with a strong foundation in both science and traditional healing. With over 20 years of focused herbal medicine training and clinical experience, Connie combines deep knowledge of plant medicine with a practical, client-centered approach to wellness. Her extensive herbal education includes advanced clinical training, apprenticeships, specialized coursework in diagnostic skills, flower essence therapy, wild edibles, and therapeutic nutrition—drawing on both modern and time-honored practices. Since 2005, Connie has maintained a thriving clinical practice where she works with clients of all ages to create personalized wellness plans rooted in herbal medicine, whole foods, and sustainable lifestyle choices. She prepares many of her own remedies using locally gathered plants, crafting tinctures and herbal blends from the fields and forests of the 180-acre regenerative farm with her husband. As co-owner of The Lamb Shoppe & Wellness Center, Connie has helped build a unique integrative wellness space that includes a health food store, herbal apothecary, and collaborative team of holistic practitioners. She offers one-on-one consultations, teaches hands-on workshops, and leads educational classes on topics such as herbal medicine, nutrition, flower essences, and natural health. Grounded in nature, backed by science, and shaped by decades of experience, Connie is committed to helping others restore balance, build resilience, and reconnect with the healing power of plants.
DESCRIPTION: This talk delves into the rich tradition of Hmong herbal medicine, highlighting key medicinal plants and their applications. It also explores the intricate process of documenting these herbs, including the use of DNA sampling to preserve and verify their identity. Through this journey, we uncover the deep cultural knowledge embedded in Hmong healing practices and the scientific methods used to safeguard them for future generations.
SPEAKER BIO: Zongxee Lee is a Hmong herbalist, registered nurse, self-taught ethnobotanist, floral farmer, photographer, and author. Rooted in a lineage of Hmong herbalists and shamans, she self-published “30 Days of Purification” in 2016, a postpartum guide highlighting traditional Hmong plant medicine. She is the founder of Zooxis Conservatory and Botanical Garden LLC, a cultural and botanical initiative focused on researching DNA sequence of Hmong postpartum herbs, preserving, and educating about Hmong medicinal plants and holistic healing practices. Her work has been featured at national conferences and universities, bridging ancestral wisdom with modern wellness.
Alongside her mother, Mayyia Lee, and sister, Mhonpaj Lee, Zongxee helped launch Minnesota’s first culturally-based healing meals using traditional Hmong herbs, offering integrative care to patients. Through workshops, public exhibits, and seed-to-bloom storytelling, she continues to inspire communities to reconnect with healing tradition, plant by plant, story by story.
DESCRIPTION: Tree identification with a fun(gi) twist! Learn fun (and sometimes silly) tips and tricks to identifying trees native to the metro area using bark, twigs, leaves, and diseases. While we won’t be focusing on mushroom identification, we will mention which mushrooms like to grow with the trees we are discussing.
SPEAKER BIO: Jaime Rockney, known as “Chick of the Woods,” is a foraging educator with a deep passion for the forest and fungi. Since discovering her love for foraging in 2008, she has been on a mission to inspire others to appreciate the wonders of nature. In 2019, she founded Chick of the Woods Foraging, LLC, and shortly after turned her passion into a full-time career, teaching others about wild mushrooms, berries, plants, and trees. Jaime is an active member of the Minnesota Mycological Society, Wisconsin Mycological Society, and the North American Mycological Association and holds three certifications for mushroom identification and sales. Through her classes and events, she empowers others to forage with confidence while fostering a deep respect for the forest’s rich biodiversity. Learn more about Jaime and her classes on Facebook (@chickofthewoods), Instagram (@chick.of.the.woods), or her website at www.chickofthewoods.com
DESCRIPTION: Minnesota’s native landscape is home to an abundance of medicinal plants, and Bee Balm, Blue Vervain, and Yarrow stand out as three of the most remarkable. Join clinical herbalist Ashley Elenbaas, M.Sc., RH(AHG), as she shares her expertise in cultivating, crafting remedies from, and working with these powerful herbs in her practice. This workshop will delve into the rich mythology, traditional wisdom, and the doctrine of signatures associated with these plants, alongside Ashley’s personal insights and experiences. Participants will also have the opportunity to taste herbal samples, deepening their connection to the plants through a hands-on, sensory experience.
SPEAKER BIO: Ashley Elenbaas is a clinical herbalist, educator, and passionate advocate for plant-based healing. With a Master of Science degree in herbal medicine and certification as a Registered Herbalist with the American Herbalists Guild (RH(AHG)), Ashley has dedicated her career to blending traditional plant wisdom with modern clinical applications. She draws from years of experience working directly with clients, teaching herbal medicine, and creating personalized remedies that support holistic health. Ashley is known for her engaging workshops, where she weaves together the science, mythology, and energetics of plants to inspire a deeper connection to the natural world. Through her work, she strives to empower individuals to integrate herbal healing into their daily lives with intention and respect for nature’s gifts.
DESCRIPTION: From teas, tinctures, capsules, and salves, botanical products manufacturers face a daunting and unique regulatory landscape in the US. In this discussion, I’ll break down the federal regulations governing each type of product and provide clarification on how FDA views these products and their current thinking on requirements for testing, manufacturing, and labeling.
SPEAKER BIO:After graduating from college with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, Anne began a long career in medical device and pharmaceutical manufacturing when she accepted a position in Engineering at Abbott Critical Care in Salt Lake City. Throughout the next 25 years, she wore many hats at various companies, starting with manufacturing engineering technician and filtering through quality engineer, quality auditor, validation engineer, quality manager, and eventually consultant. Speaking “GMP” became second nature. She left that world behind as an obsession with herbal medicine began 10 years ago and became consumed with learning, making products, wildcrafting, and growing plant allies. As a member of the American Herbalists Guild, she co-founded the Herbal Research chapter for individuals to share studies and scientific observations pertaining to plant medicine. With the skyrocketing interest in alternative therapies, and FDA’s increased scrutiny over the production and marketing of products, she recognized a need to assist small herbal product companies navigate 21 CFR 111, cGMP requirements for Dietary Supplements, and she launched cOMPliants, LLC to provide this service remotely from her farm in Bay City, WI where she shares 60 acres with horses, dogs, cats, chickens, and many, many plants.
DESCRIPTION: Jane Hawley Stevens will speak on aligning growers with the power that is present. Planetary influences have been used in agriculture since the beginning of time. The first simple rule observed is the Full Moon raises the high tide. This influence also happens below the Earth’s surface, influencing planting times, with the fluctuating water table. Add the Elements of Fire, Earth, Air, and Water brought through planetary cycles and you have an easy guide for time-saving and effective planting, harvesting, and cultivation created by these cycles.
SPEAKER BIO: Jane Hawley Stevens was MOSES/Marbleseed Organic Farmer of the Year in 2020. She has specialized in herbs since 1982 and has been certified organic since 1989. She grows herbs to use in her line of herbal wellness, Four Elements Organic Herbals on her farm in Wisconsin. Her recent book, featured by NCHG, is “The Celestial Garden, Growing Herbs, Vegetables, and Flowers in Sync with the Moon and Zodiac.” Visit her website to learn more.
DESCRIPTION: Winter is the perfect time to slow down, turn inward, and nurture ourselves with intentional self-care. This workshop offers simple yet powerful techniques to regulate the nervous system, support lymphatic flow, and explore the benefits of self-massage. Together, we’ll dive into the art of making and using herb-infused oils, exploring different carrier oils and their therapeutic properties. You’ll also learn self-massage techniques and breathwork practices to enhance relaxation and well-being. As a hands-on Make & Take experience, each participant will create a personalized herbal oil blend to use during the workshop and take home for continued self-care.
ABOUT OUR SPEAKERS:
Betsy Nelson is a freelance food stylist, recipe developer, cooking teacher, Ayurvedic chef, and certified herbalist. Passionate about the connection between food and well-being, she blends creativity with holistic nutrition. With a BA in Psychology and Studio Arts from the University of Minnesota, Betsy sees cooking as both an art and a way to foster connection. She has studied Ayurveda, Western herbalism, and wellness coaching through the Mayo Clinic. She loves teaching cooking classes, incorporating healing foods and herbs, and leading foraging walks to explore nature’s bounty.
Annette Havlicek is a holistic healthcare practitioner specializing in herbal preparations and hands-on healing to restore balance in the body, mind, and spirit. With over 20 years of experience, Annette integrates diverse healing modalities, including massage therapy, yoga, meditation, and herbal medicine, to support the body’s innate ability to heal itself. Certified in multiple disciplines, Annette has studied a range of bodywork techniques, including Swedish massage, myofascial release, acupressure, reflexology, and aromatherapy. Her education in herbal medicine, spanning courses with renowned practitioners, has deepened her practice, and she also cultivates many of the herbs she uses in her work. In addition to her healthcare practice, Annette is a certified Prenatal, Birth, and Postpartum Doula, as well as a hypnobirthing practitioner, offering specialized support to women through the transition into motherhood. She continues to study the healing arts including homeopathy and enjoys gardening, homeschooling her children, and nurturing her family.
Description: This class will focus on formulas Erica has developed or found effective, utilizing them throughout 24 years of herbal practice and teaching. This class will discuss these trusted formulas, highlighting some principles of formulation, such as classic herbal pairs. Some herbs just work better together! You will leave with a few effective formulas in hand for a variety of issues and some basic understanding of the art of formulation for your own experimentation.
Speaker Bio: Erica Fargione is an award winning faculty at Minneapolis College, formerly MCTC. The program she started in 2006 has expanded into both a certificate and diploma award in Herbal Studies. The Herbal Studies program is still the only award program in the US at a public institution, offering financial aid and all the benefits of being at a community college. She is happy to be a steward of the most diverse Herbal Studies program in the nation. All our ancestors used herbs, and all of us get to reclaim the apothecary that is this world.
Erica Fargione
Description: It’s very easy to work with flower essences in a superficial manner, recommending some remedies on a “this flower is for this issue” basis, spending only a few minutes with the client. But as practitioners, we can do much better than this. When you grasp the notion of the energybody, both of the person and the flowers themselves, and how it evolves over time, a whole new perspective opens up. In particular, working with a person over long periods of time and seeing them through the major transitions of their life is a powerful way to expand your practice. I’m currently going through one of the most significant transition periods of my own life — retiring from the working life and opening up to a time of spiritual growth and personal healing. The insights this is giving me the past year or two has been quite illuminating. This process of “eldering” as I peel away layers and layers in my energybody accumulated over 50 years of living, often dramatic and sometimes painful, is leading to a fork in my spiritual path and a shift in my role as a healer. Walk with me as I pass on some of these insights and discover some new flower remedies for my own transition period. We can heal whole lives, not just a list of issues. We are all works in progress.
Speaker Bio: Martin Bulgerin has been active in the area of natural healing for 34 years, with an emphasis on flower essence therapy and a form of bodywork called Ortho-Bionomy. He is recognized as a local expert with flower essences, both via private consultations and teaching classes to budding practitioners on his particular approach to the field. In addition, he has created his own line of flower essences and other energetic remedies over the decades. He is currently in the process of writing an in depth book detailing his approach to working with flower essences.
Website: Martin can be reached by email at BPIguy@icloud.com
Martin Bulgerin
Description: A book, a teacher, a podcast, or a YouTube video says a particular herb is “for headaches.” Or even better, there is a list of herbs that are all “for headaches.” Do we use the whole list? Make a combo…based on what? Lise has treated headaches – and migraines – for 30 years, in practice. She will share her years of experience so that you can be more precise when helping yourself and others with this common, sometimes acute and sometimes chronic, malady.
Instructor Bio: Lise Wolff, MSc in Herbalism, RH-AHG, has been teaching and practicing drop dose herbalism in Minneapolis, Minnesota for the last 30 years. She harvests her pharmacy from weeds that grow prolifically and loves to share her knowledge with students of all levels. Her lectures are based on actual case histories, with a focus on actually using the herbs in real life.
Description: Different from our usual herbal-focused presentations, Charlie will be leading an interactive session around the concept of vibrational water. Attendees are encouraged to wear comfortable clothing and bring a cushion or other type of seat if they would like to sit on the floor with her. Chairs will still be available for those who do not want to sit on the floor. In Charlie’s words: I will share with the group how important the water we consume is for our vitality. How most of us are completely mineral deficient because our land is also mineral deficient, and that in general, we are a dehydrated society, which leads to much of our disease. I will demonstrate how to change the structure of water in a way that supports healing at the cellular level. We will do this as a group with meditation, sound, and intention. I will talk about others doing work in this field, including some that I have worked with personally. I will bring different kinds of water and sound devices to share the frequency shifts and we will do multiple proofings to confirm our work together. In 2000 I made vibrational water: I was working with scientists and chemists around the country and they were blown away by the efficacy of the product and how long it held its frequency. My product was featured on Good Morning America as “the must have,” going into the New Millennium. I was also featured in Vogue and Self magazines.
Speaker Bio: My Name is Charlie Wagner I am an alchemist in the natural world and life in general. I have studied under Lise Wolff in her Three Seasons program. I am a distiller, I distill essential oils and hydrosol. I formulate beauty products for the natural world around me and support small communities of growers and makers around the world. I have a passion for cooking, nutrition, wellness, and beauty. This has taken me all over the world to learn from masters and combine this wide range of interests into a formula for living a healthy, vibrant life. I love to learn, experiment, master, and ultimately share my experience and knowledge. Thank you for this opportunity.
Free for NCHG members to attend, or $10 per person for non-members.
Description: Peach leaves, twigs, and bark, are part of a comprehensive materia medica for many herbalists. Of course, the fruit is also just plain delicious and so refreshing! Come join us on a field trip to Stone Creek Farm to see the system that caused peach trees to fruit over the last 12 years, nine years successfully on this property using organic sustainable practices. NCHG board members can point out other wild herbs growing on the property along the way. Peaches may also be available for sale depending on the timing of certain trees.
Speaker Bio: Dan Sheild, Stone Creek Farm, is a farmer in Taylors Falls Minnesota specializing in growing stone fruit. Since 2010, Dan has successfully grown Peaches in the harshest conditions, surviving -35° with his cold weather peach protection system. With over 40 varieties of peaches in review, desiring to find a template for this region, his research makes growing peaches in the upper Midwest, a viable commercial consideration, bringing a new crop to Minnesota, and cutting 2000 miles off of the carbon footprint. His system lends itself toward organic growing in unthought of areas for a better future. Dan is a member of the Land Stewardship Project, Minnesota, fruit and vegetable growers association, North American Fruit Explorers, and a board member in the Organic Fruit Growers Association.
Dan Sheild
Description: In this presentation by a clinical herbalist in practice for 27 years, you will learn about the amazing healing potential of little-known, locally-sourced medicinal plants that are not typically available on the market. The speaker will share information on how to identify these plants (aided by color photos he has taken that will be projected as slides), where to find them, and how to harvest and prepare them for use. He will also relate experiences of how he has implemented these plants to help people to heal. Detailed descriptions, historical uses, and scientific studies on these plants are further available in the speaker’s three books on herbal medicine, (1) Edible & Medicinal Wild Plants of the Midwest, 3rd edition of 2020, (2) 300 Herbs: A Materia Medica & A Repertory, 2nd ed of 2020, and (3) Diary of a Country Herbalist, 2017. Matthew will have copies of these books available for signing and purchase after the presentation.
Speaker Bio: Matthew Alfs, MH, RH (AHG) is a clinical herbalist who has been in practice since 1997. He obtained his Master-Herbalist (M.H.) diploma from Wild Rose College of Natural Healing (Calgary, Ontario) and followed that up with training in Traditional Chinese Medicine at the American Academy of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine in MN. In 2002, he was awarded a peer-reviewed, Registered-Herbalist (RH) credential by the American Herbalists Guild for educational and clinical excellence, a status currently held by less than 300 persons in the entire country. After having practiced at the first integrative clinic on a medical campus, the Natural Care Center at Woodwinds, from 2001-2003, he founded an integrative-therapies clinic in 2004 (www.midwestherbsandhealing.com) that he directs to this day. Altogether, Matthew has seen almost 10,000 different clients, compassionately helping them along the way to vibrant health. He has also delivered over 300 lectures to a wide variety of institutions and associations (including many hospitals) and has taught herbal medicine at two different universities and two different colleges. In 2003, he founded his own school of herbal studies, Midwest School of Herbal Studies (www.midwestherbalstudies.com), an AHG Member School and a Partner in Education with United Plant Savers, based upon a 1500-page curriculum and two large books on herbal medicine (300 Herbs and Edible & Medicinal Wild Plants of the Midwest) that he wrote. He has also been featured on television and radio and has been published in over a dozen different journals and magazines, including Medical Herbalism, Journal of the American Herbalists Guild, Journal of Medicinal Plant Conservation, Herb Quarterly, Natural Products Review, and Journal of the American Chiropractic Association.
Matthew Alfs
Description: Join us on a plant walk through Theodore Wirth Park with Sam Thayer, to see what plants we can identify this time of year with both culinary and medicinal applications.
Speaker Bio: Samuel Thayer is an internationally recognized authority on edible wild plants who has been teaching workshops and classes for three decades. He is the author of four highly acclaimed, award-winning books on edible wild plants. His first book, The Forager’s Harvest, has sold over 250,000 copies. His most recent, Sam Thayer’s Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants of Eastern and Central North America, is the winner of the National Outdoor Book Award for best nature guide of 2023. Born in Wausau, Wisconsin, Samuel began gathering wild food in early childhood. At the age of 18 he built a log cabin and began pursuing his dream of homesteading, foraging, and studying Nature. Today he lives in Northern Wisconsin with his wife, Melissa, and their three children. Besides teaching and writing, Sam runs a small organic orchard featuring apples, native fruits and berries, and edible native ground covers; he also harvests wild rice, makes maple and birch syrup, and hickory nut oil.
Sam Thayer
Join us for a fun evening at Lake Monster Brewing in St Paul to share plants from our gardens, seedlings or splitting some of your plants. We’ll reserve a table. Look for a sign with NCHG!
WHEN: May 15 at 5:30PM
WHERE: Lake Monster Brewing
550 Vandalia St #160,
St Paul, MN 55114
Don’t forget to bring a sweater. It can get cold this time of year.
Ashley Byers
Olive Lewinski Albanese
I am Amy Sponaugle. I have been with North Country Herbalist Guild since 2019 and a board member since 2020.
Kathy Tran
Judit O’Keeffe
Rachel Zerby
Pam Broekemeier
Amy Daws
Emily Pearson Ryan
Carolyn Smith
Laura Shaw Sanden