2024 Home Apothecary Program

This 9-month herbal medicine program is a hands-on introduction to herbalism. Participants will tend a garden together, explore the basic concepts of herbalism, and make herbal preparations to bring home and to share with the Common Good community. The home apothecary program offers a unique opportunity to learn about using herbs while working directly with the plants and developing connection to the land and ecosystem we call home.

Mondays: Community herbalism theory and materia medica (lecture format)

Community herbalism refers to using easily-accessible plants within networks of friends, families, and other community groups. We will develop an understanding of community herbalism in the context of our cultures, histories, and personal relationships to plants. Topics include materia medica (how to use a wide variety of specific herbs); support for different body systems (immune, digestive, nervous, circulatory, endocrine, first aid); herbal energetics, actions, and organ affinities; and constitutional types. Classes will focus on plants that grow naturally in the DC area or can easily be cultivated by the beginning gardener. Each participant is encouraged to develop a relationship with a specific plant of their choosing through the 9 months of the program, and we will end with a plant-based ceremony to celebrate the relationships we have formed.

Saturdays: Gardening and apothecary (hands-on format)  

Saturdays will consist of hands-on experience tending a garden, harvesting, processing, and preparing herbs that we grow together. We will start seeds, plant perennials, tend the garden through the seasons, harvest a variety of different herbs, save seeds, and learn about readying the garden for winter. We'll also cover common weeds, basic botany, and explore ways to deepen our connections to the plants and ecosystems around us. With the herbs harvested from the garden, we will prepare a variety of dried herbs, tinctures, vinegars, teas, salves, and syrups together. Students will take home some of each of the herbs we prepare in class, building up a home apothecary over the growing season. Some of the prepared herbs will be shared with Common Good's community programs. Each student will be asked to commit to visiting the garden an additional two times during the season to do things like harvest plants, check on herbs that are drying, water, and other tasks as decided by the participants and instructor. Students may come during any of the times that the farm is open for volunteer sessions.

In order to make this program more accessible we are offering an option to take Saturday classes only or Monday classes only. Students are STRONGLY encouraged to participate in both-- materials from each class will build on the other, and the information from both sessions will be presented as an entire class. While some information will be reinforced in both classes, general topics presented in Saturday classes won't be repeated in Monday sessions, and vice versa.

Scholarships:

Please email Kailasa Aqeel at kailasa@commongoodcityfarm.org if you have any questions about this program. Two full scholarships are available for income qualifying residents. To apply, fill out this form: https://forms.gle/xsXs6VNc24TC3rcH9

In addition to the two full scholarships, we will be offering the combined course on a sliding fee scale.

The details:

Classes will meet at Common Good City Farm. Classes will be outside on the farm, rain or shine (there is a pavilion on-site for shelter). In case of inclement weather, the class may be moved to St. George's Church or the Josephine Butler Parks Center and students will be notified by the instructor. 

Monday sessions will meet at Common Good City Farm, with Zoom as a back-up option. 

Class will be held on the following dates:

Saturdays 1:30 - 5:30 pm

• March 23
• April 27
• May 18
• June 29
• July 20
• September 7
• October 5
• November 9 

Mondays 6 - 8 pm

• April 8
• May 6
• June 10
• July 8
• September 16
• October 21
• November 18

By registering for the program I understand that at this event or related activities I may be photographed or video recorded. I agree to allow the event holders, producers, sponsors, organizers, and/or assigns to use my photo, video, voice recording or film likeness to be used for any legitimate purpose.

I agree to follow Common Good City Farm’s COVID-19 Policy & Code of Conduct.

Note about the Sliding Fee Scale:

A sliding fee scale is a tool for building economic justice, and it requires your active participation. If a sliding scale is implemented effectively, everyone pays a similar percentage of their income for the same products or services. A wide range of payment options across the scale promotes broader accessibility, while insuring fair compensation to the producer. Paying according to one’s available resources creates a more equitable system for pricing of products and services.

Sliding scales are often based on individual income levels, with people of higher incomes paying more. However, many factors complicate and affect our financial status. Some groups of people have costs that the larger population does not. Others have access to resources that are not always reflected in their lifestyle choices and income levels. Please consider both your class background and earning power when choosing your share payment. For more information, please see Little Red Bird Botanicals' website: http://www.littleredbirdbotanicals.com/consultation-fees/.