Grass is for Cows. Herbs are for Man.

“He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth;” Psalm 104:14 Holy Bible

We are hosting Herb identification walks to help you

turn your cursed weeds into edible and medicinal herbs

and encourage you to grow less grass (or raise more cows).

Interested?

Is it a weed or an herb? Words Matter! Let’s define those words:

Weed “Any plant growing in cultivated ground to the injury of the desired vegetation, unsightly, useless, or injurious plant.”

Herb “A plant, whose parts are used for food, for medicinal purposes, or for their scent or flavor.”

(Definitions from Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary.)

Did you know that most native herbs (often called weeds) are more nutritious than cultivated garden plants? Studies have been done that prove it!

What if you knew which "weeds" to eat instead of cursing them while you pull them to help those delicate, harder to grow, lower nutrition garden plants grow?

Got an app on your phone that provides plant names? Great! But, you've likely already experienced how it can misidentify plants.

Since time is your most valuable asset, the best education is learning from the experience of other people's spent time. It's called time leverage!

Spend a couple hours with skilled foragers and leverage your learning time into hands-on knowledge.

class options:

Weeds to Herbs Plant ID walk on public lands.

This walk is free and will be lead by 2 or more local herbalists. Participants will walk along public trails in the Cedar Springs Downtown area and group identify native plants. Photos only NO picking on public trails & public lands. Expect to walk up to a mile for 45 to 90 minutes depending on class speed. Class starts downtown Cedar Springs at Perry's Place 90 N Main.

Weeds to Herbs Plant ID walk on private lands

(Limited Space - Make Reservation)

This walk is a paid class led by 2 local foraging herbalists.

Participants will walk in organically tended yard/field/pasture/swamp/woodlands over 30 acres available to identify native plants.

Participants will get to touch, feel, bruise, smell, and taste 20+ medicinal plants, with more emphasis on food and medicinal usage and personal attention to understanding positive identification markers than the public walks allow.

In a time when phone ID apps are super common, getting the opportunity to get real experience and positive identification is a value an error-prone app can't provide especially when you want to harvest for human use.

Private land class also give you the option to offer "You Pick" Herbs. Because fresh hand-picked is always better! More details including location will be set to those who pre-register. Class will be held within 5 miles of downtown cedar springs

Options:

Walk tour only $25

Walk tour + 1 bag to fill with herbs you harvest $40

Professional farm animal mini photo sessions also available for addl $40 Sheep, lambs, cows, cats, goats, and pasture scenery. Make an appointment at: [email protected] or call Kristen's Flashback Photography at 616-255-2484 to make an appointment. Appointments available during class times, you can do both while you are there. You can find more photos on their facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064601443106

Weeds to Herbs Practical Application in classroom

(Limited Space - Make Reservation)

This is a class for more details on how to use your harvested herbs. Participants will get instructions on harvest/storage/processing/medicinal usage methods to take the plants from yard to table, tea cup, or medicine chest. Tinctures/salves/teas and more will be discussed and demonstrated. You are welcome to bring the plants you harvested. We will help you get started using them. Class includes Salve-makers kit.

Class will be held at the Pamper Me Naturally Creative Studio Classroom 37 N Main st Cedar Springs, MI

*Regarding Reservations - The classes with more personal attention to herbal usage will always be limited in size, Private Lands and Classroom classes.

Please make a reservation asap.

If you can't attend the next class, make a date request reservation. Then in the comments section, list the time (morning/afternoon/evening) and the day of the week you are most available. We will try to schedule classes to accommodate those interested. If you have made a date request reservation you will be contacted and get first priority for the next open class spaces.

www.PamperMeNaturally.com/classes

Typically 60 to 90 minute classes.