Medicinal Plants of Farm Field and Forest

Medicinal Plants of Farm Field and Forest 

with Guest Instructor Alex Klein

Saturday, May 28, 2022     3-5 p.m.

$20 per participant

Join guest instructor Alex Klein, local herbalist and arborist, for a late afternoon walk around the farm to discover the bounty of medicinal plants. 

Participants will explore the herbs growning at the farm and those sprouting up of their own accord as weeds or forest understory. You may be surprised to find just how many useful medicinal herbs are common to our local landscape! While on the walk, Alex will discuss historic and modern uses of these herbs, the spectrum between poison, medicine, and food, how to harvest ethically and safely, and how to process and use some of these plants for home healing.

This workshop is geared towards adult learning, but learners of all ages are welcome to attend.  Youth 18 and under must attend with a parent or guardian.

THIS PROGRAM WILL BE HELD RAIN OR SHINE!

In the event of rain, we will take shelter in the breezy cottage overlooking the farm for tea making, tasting, exploring various forms of medicinal herbs, including a presentation and Q/A with Alex.   Please be prepared to mask-up as needed. 

See Waltham City Recomendations and Current City Wide Mask Advisory HERE. 

A Note From Guest Instructor, Alex Klein

Hi, I'm Alex Klein and I am an intermediary between people and plants. After beginning my work as a landscaper in Boston and New York, my desire to connect to nature more meaningfully changed my perspective on plants from something mostly aesthetic to something directly useful to me and the people around me. I have since botanized and wildcrafted up and down the East Coast, getting to know well the flora of the region, as well as the historical and modern uses of hundreds of food and medicine plants. Along the way, I trained as a clinical herbalist at the Northeast School of Botanical Medicine and the Ithaca Free Clinic, where I apprenticed under 7Song. My passion for herbal medicine led me to do herbal First Aid, volunteering my time at Asheville Street Feet, a free Foot Clinic for those in need, and at various wilderness gatherings. I currently practice as an herbalist in Boston, striving to use in my practice only plants I have gathered myself or grown in my garden. For my day job, I am an Arborist at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Watertown.     Learn more about Alex and his work HERE!

* This program will take place outdoors. Hiking boots or comfortable, waterproof shoes, long socks, and tightly woven pants are recomended for those attending this workshop. Participants will walk the farm and explore some of the woodland border surrounding the paths, through typical woodland understory.  

* Please feel free to bring insect spray. We will provide an essential-oil bug repellant for those who wish to use it on-site. Please apply chemical-based sprays in an open area in the parking lot away from the plants and humans on the farm, or spray before you arrive. 

* This will be a COVID-safe event. Registrants will receive more information about this workshop, how to prepare, and updates on COVID safety guidelines for programs in the WFCF Learning Garden closer to the date of this workshop.

See Current Waltham City - Wide Mask Advisory and Current Covid Recomendations HERE.