Wild Herbal Field Trip & Medicinal Plant Symposium 2023
What to know
This fieldtrip and symposium is for students, practitioners and teachers of the herbal arts. Our experienced guest specialists know, conserve and use plants.
Field Trip & Symposium Ticket Facts: *You may select tickets for either the Friday Field Trip and Saturday Symposium or Saturday Symposium and Sunday Field Trip. One Field Trip is offered only to those who attend the Symposium. The same Field Trip is offered on two days to minimize our impact in the forest and to improve teacher-to-student ratio.
Bus transportation to field trip destinations, picnic lunch and water will be provided. The woodland trails range from easy to moderately difficult. Participation is limited to physically fit people who can walk independently for up to three miles on sloped, slippery, uneven terrain. Wear hiking shoes or boots. Bring a walking stick and weather-appropriate apparel.
The symposium will take place on Saturday. Bring a wrap to be comfortable in the air conditioning of the White Oak Theater.
Schedule, Topics & Teachers
Wild Herbal Field Trip Friday, May 12 or Sunday, May 14, 2023*
8:00-8:45 Breakfast available, on your own, at the Skillet Restaurant
8:45 Orientation in the White Oak Theater inside the Visitor Center
9:00-6:00 Wild Herbal Field Trip Destination: Leatherwood Wilderness Water Falls & Ozark-St. Francis National Forest Trails (picnic lunch included)
Saturday, May 13, Medicinal Plant Symposium (*required for Field Trip participation)
8:00 Breakfast available on your own at the Skillet Restaurant
Meet in the White Oak Theater inside the Visitor Center
9:00-9:15 Welcome Announcement
9:15-10:00 The Ozark Folk Center State Park Celebrates its 50th Anniversary—My 1986 Committee of 100 Apprenticeship with Billy Joe Tatum, Jim Long, Steven Foster & Clarice Chitwood--Tina Marie Wilcox
10-10:30 Break and Stage Change
10:30-11:30 Ginger Medicine-Herb of the Year™ 2023 —Susan Belsinger
11:30-1:00 Herbal & Wild Foods Luncheon (included in workshop fee)
1:00-1:30 Visit Herbal Merchants, Plant Arbor & Craft Village
1:30-2:30 Wild Culinary—Rachel West
2:30-2:45 Break & Stage Change
2:45-3:45 Wild Plants for Gourmet Seasonings and Beverages—Bo Brown
3:45-4:00 Break & Stage Change
4:00-5:00 The Wonderful and Mighty Works of Plantain--Wendy Fargo
About Our Teachers
Bo Brown is a self-taught naturalist that has been teaching foraging and outdoor skills for over thirty years. Follow his various outdoor activities at www.firstearth.org.
Susan Belsinger teaches, lectures, and writes about gardening and cooking, and is a food writer, editor and photographer who has authored and edited over 25 books and hundreds of articles. Find Susan online at: www.susanbelsinger.com, https://www.instagram.com/cookinwithherbs/, https://www.facebook.com/susan.belsinger, and https://www.facebook.com/CreativeHerbalHome
Wendy Fargo Ed.S., M.H. works her ranch near Alpena, Arkansas and owns Crooked House Herbals.
Rachael West is the owner, lead instructor and founder of Eating the Ozarks. She is an expert forager, wild foods chef, certified herbalist and author of Wild Foraged, an educational culinary cookbook. She has taught wild foods in the Ozarks for the past decade working with television station KOLR-10 (biweekly Wednesdays), the Missouri Master Gardeners, various herbalist societies, homeschool groups, private land owners, local libraries, Springfield Community Gardens, Springfield Art Museum and more.
Tina Marie Wilcox has been the head gardener and herbalist at the Ozark Folk Center State Park’s Heritage Herb Garden in Mountain View, Arkansas since 1984. She cultivates the gardens, coordinates annual herb events and facilitates the production of herb seeds and plants for the park. She co-authored the reference book, the creative herbal home with Susan Belsinger. Tina's philosophy is based upon experiencing the joy of the process, perpetrating no harm and understanding life through play with plants and people. https://www.facebook.com/OzarkFolkCenterStatePark/