Sun. Dec 3, 2017 Workshop Series: “Preparedness Equals Resilience”.

10am to 12pm  Woods Wise: Safety for Wildcrafters — Heron Brae

Have you ever been scared to venture off-trail because you worried you might get lost in the woods? Maybe you actually have gotten turned around but managed to get back to a known area by guesswork or chance. Maybe you have had a serious scare with getting lost, or know someone who has.

Being “woods wise” means knowing your landscape and using your awareness to get around and take care of yourself in an unknown situation in the woods. The skills of staying alive in the field are sometimes assumed to be common sense, but most of us don’t know the basic steps to keep ourselves safe in dire situations. In this workshop we will discuss the practical applications of orienting to your location, navigation without map and compass, gear and tools to be prepared, and how to seek shelter if you do have to face spending a night in the woods.

Heron Brae is an Oregon-born botanist, folk herbalist, and rewilder. She has studied the magic, art, and science of wild plants and landscapes since 1997, and holds a BS in botany and ecology from the Evergreen State College. She teaches programs in botany, herbalism, wildcrafting, and wild food tending at the  Columbines School of Botanical Studies  in Eugene.

Early on, she studied awareness and navigation at the Wilderness Awareness School, and has since traveled and lived for five years as a wild tender on undeveloped land.  As a teacher of field classes at the Columbines School, she has trained many students in forest awareness and navigation. 

12pm to 1pm  Lunch – To keep cost low a simple lunch of vegetarian soup,salad, and cornbread is offered. If you have dietary restrictions, please bring your own lunch.

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1:00 – 2:30 pm

Garden Medicine: Top Herbs for Community Resilience and Emergency Preparedness

When a natural or political disaster hits, how will you take care of your own? In such situations, herbalists can expect to be on the front lines of health care. And just as people grew food-based “victory gardens” during wartime, herbalists can prepare with medicinal gardens to bolster self sufficiency and community resilience. The first half of this class puts forward criteria for prioritizing plantings on the home and community level. We’ll consider Permaculture principles, abundance and growth needs of different medicinal plants, common regional and emergency health needs, mapping and community organizing to avoid redundancy, and how to plug in if you don’t have garden space of your own. In the second half we’ll discuss specific medicinal plants for these purposes, including how to grow them and how to use them. While most examples will be based on what grows well in the Pacific Northwest, the concepts and many herbs will be applicable to other bioregions.

Orna Izakson ND is a writer, gardener, herbalist and naturopathic physician in Portland, Oregon. She runs Celilo Natural Health Center in Northeast Portland, is Lead Physician of the Traditional Roots Institute at National University of Natural Medicine, and is on the board of advisors of the Herbal Anthropology Project. Orna is an award‐winning environmental journalist who worked as both a staff reporter and freelance correspondent for newspapers, magazines and online media. Her love for wild places brought her to the plants, for whom she now endeavors to speak.

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2:30-2:45 Break

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2:45 pm to 4pm   Making Your Integrative Medicine “Go” Bag  –  A well stocked first aid kit is important to prepared for natural disasters, unexpected travel, or everyday emergencies. We will discuss what herbs, or homeopathics, flower essences, or other natural remedies you may also want to include. This workshop will focus on how to build and store your own practical first kit based on the integrated medicine approach. Facilitated by Daphne Singingtree, a lifelong “prepper” who sees a paradigm shift approaching, while disaster big or small can strike any time, if the “shift” hits the fan, she has band aids not bullets, prepares to not just to survive but to serve. Daphne shares her wealth of knowledge, as well as examples of her gear that was used to set up the Zaniyan Wellness station at the Rosebud (Sicangu) camp which served thousands during the Standing Rock Protests. Please feel free to bring your own “go” bags to share.