Duration: Meets one weekend per month for 5 months. We are now offering individual weekends to students who cannot make the entire immersion.
Dates:
April 27-28, 2024 at Deception Pass State Park
May 18-19 in the Methow Valley in Eastern Washington
June 1-2 in SW Washington near Olympia
July 20-21 on the Olympic Peninsula
August 10-11 at Mount Baker
View detailed schedule here.
Cost: Each class weekend costs $250. You can take all 5 weekend courses for $1,200. Register at the bottom of this page.
Instructor: Gabe Garms. Reisha Beck will be a guest instructor on the second weekend.
Apprentice Instructor: Elisha Kllco
In this 5 month course, we’ll study Washington state’s native and naturalized plants by visiting every ecosystem it has to offer (desert, alpine, subalpine, montane, wetland and 2nd and old growth forests). We’ll go far beyond plant identification and cover edible, medicinal, utilitarian and wildlife enhancing uses as well. Our overall goal is to facilitate connection to the natural world through our relationship with plants. To get you to slow down and not only identify and use the plants around you, but understand what their role is in the overall ecosystem.
We’ll dive deep into permaculture and how it relates to plant communities found in the wild. Many permaculture curriculums emphasize how to design systems instead of focusing first on how to really observe them. In this class, we’ll put the focus on observation and really come to an understanding as to why certain plant communities grow together, which plants remediate and what a healthy ecosystem actually looks like. Only once we’ve come to this understanding can we really begin to understand how to design gardens and wild spaces.
For the last 9 years, this course has been a major component of the Ethnobotany Immersion program, another immersion program which met one weekend per month for 10 months. In 2024, we’ve decided consolidate the Ethnobotany Immersion into just the field trip component. In addition to the plant walks, we’ll have workshop sessions in the field that cover natural medicine making, harvesting and preparing wild foods, cordage making, natural dyes and plant propagation.
We’ll learn over 300 different plants throughout the duration of this course. Students who take the entire program also have access to free native and cultivated medicinal and perennial vegetable plants from our permaculture nursery (www.7layersnursery.com). We can deliver these to you on the field trips or you can pick them up from our farm during our second field trip to the Methow Valley. Each student will receive $150 worth of free plants and seeds. The tuition for the program also includes camping for the field trips
There will be at least 2 of the instructors at every class so that we can better accommodate students at different skill levels (so don't worry if you're either a beginner or someone who has some experience, because we cater to both). Class size will be capped at 13 this year so that you'll receive plenty of individual instruction.
NOTE: We won’t be wild harvesting on the vast majority of the trips that we go on due to many locations being in state and national parks and wildlife reserves. For the workshops that we’ll host during class, we' will wild harvest beforehand from separate locations. Many of the plants will be grown on our farm.
Here are some of the topics that will be covered:
Plant ID: Not only will we talk about identification during every part of the course, we'll also discuss guilds and relationships between certain plants and species which share their habitat.
Utilitarian uses of native and naturalized plants: fibers, dyes, baskets, cordage and primitive tools (fish hooks, burn bowls, utensils, cooking racks etc.)
Medicinal uses of plants. We’ll make medicines during a workshop session.
Wild foraging and edible plants.
Plant succession. Understanding of invasive plants and what role they are playing in the ecosystem.
Which plants can be used for remediation.
Wildlife attracting plant communities
Natural medicine making (tinctures, salves, teas)
Harvesting and preparing wild edibles
Natural dyes
Cordage making using nettle
Plant propagation
Register:
You can register for each of the individual weekends by clicking on the links for each location below:
Deception Pass Weekend - April 27-28 ($250)
Methow Valley Weekend - May 18-19 ($250)
SW Washington Weekend - June 1-2 ($250)
Olympic Peninsula Weekend - July 20-21 ($250)
Mount Baker Weekend - August 10-11 ($250)
If you have questions about the course or would like to sign up for the entire class, please contact Gabe at info@ravensroots.com and he’ll get back to you within 48 hours.
MATERIALS NEEDED FOR THIS COURSE:
Camera- phone camera is fine if it's a great one. We will be identifying many plants
Notebook and pen/pencil
Camping gear for car camping. Tent/sleeping bag