The Living Apothecary: Garden-Based Herbalism & Clinical Application

Grow it. Harvest it. Heal with it.

An 8-week immersive summer course taught by herbalist Sara Woods. Students grow, harvest, and prepare medicinal plants — then learn the science behind why they work. From soil microbiome to clinical protocol, this course bridges the living garden with evidence-based herbalism.

Start Data TBA (July 2026) Time/Day TBA

Course Description

Most herbal education begins in a classroom. This one begins in the garden.

The Living Apothecary is an 8-week summer course with Sara Woods that treats the herb garden not as decoration but as a working pharmacy. Each week, students engage with specific plants across their full life cycle — from soil preparation and ethical harvesting through medicine-making and therapeutic application — while building a rigorous scientific foundation in phytochemistry, pharmacological action, and safety.

This is hands-on learning with intellectual depth. Week by week, students move through nervine allies and adaptogens, digestive bitters and liver herbs, immune-modulating plants, wound healers, women's tonics, and respiratory support — arriving at the final week with the skills to build a complete personalized herbal protocol. The capstone project is a Living Apothecary Plan the student actually uses.

Sara brings both clinical experience and a deep naturalist sensibility to the material. The course suits practitioners who want a stronger herbal foundation, serious home herbalists ready to move beyond the basics, and anyone who has ever wanted to know not just which plant to use but why it works and how to grow it themselves.

What you will leave with: Plant identification, ethical wildcrafting and harvest timing, fresh and dried medicine-making (teas, tinctures, oils, salves, syrups, oxymels), an understanding of the phytochemical families behind therapeutic action, and a completed Living Apothecary Plan tailored to your own health needs.

Format: 8 weeks | Live Zoom + recorded demonstrations | Summer cohort