Apprenticeship

Our Community Herbalism Apprenticeship Program will return in 2025.

Details and applications will be available in February. Contact us if you plan to apply for the Apprenticeship and use VSAC funding (funding is limited, apply ASAP!).

Sign up for our mailing list and check in on our Workshop and Events page to learn more.

Grow your WELLNESS SOVEREIGNTY! Gain the confidence and skills to identify and make medicine from the locally and seasonally abundant healing plants of our region.

Our Community Herbalism Apprenticeship Program focuses on learning the region’s native and locally grown plants while producing high quality plant medicine for the local community. This 6-month, hands-on introductory learning opportunity meets for 150 hours throughout the program. Classes will meet once weekly, on Wednesdays, from May through end of October from 3-7pm, with participants engaging in gardening, wildcrafting, community service and herbal medicine-making. Participants should expect regular reading and reflection assignments outside of class, and to make time to practice harvesting and medicine-making techniques at home. Most of the time together will be spent outside in fields, forests and gardens throughout the Burlington area (including both urban and rural ecosystems).

We strive to provide a genuine and joyful experience with the plants which promotes culinary, medicinal and spiritual curiosity & creativity, fosters a collaborative community of learners, emphasizes ecological stewardship and supports our social justice mission through the practice of heartful community herbalism in Place (in Abenaki territory of N’Dakinna in the Bedabog watershed). The greatest teachers are the plants themselves, and learning through direct experience and experimentation with them will be prioritized over a more lecture-driven teaching approach of therapeutic or clinical uses. Apprentices will be encouraged to identify opportunities in our community to enhance access to plant medicine for all community members, and are supported to develop an independent study focus specific to their particular interests in plant medicine and herbal justice.

Participants Will:

learn to identify seasonal, local Vermont medicinal plants in fields, forests, urban landscapes and gardens

engage in a deep and meaningful way with the plants themselves, to learn their natures, needs, strengths and gifts
build a personal practice of honorable harvest and reciprocal relationship with your plant teachers
make herbal preparations of all kinds
understand basic herbal therapeutics as they relate to the body’s organ systems
creatively incorporate herbs into your lifestyle, personal care and culinary creations
practice techniques for organically growing medicinals from seed to harvest
garden for local pollinators and get an introduction to beekeeping basics
be introduced to a variety of local herbal practitioners, farmers and resources
build a collaborative local community of fellow budding herbalists
share hand-crafted herbal remedies through community mutual aid networks in alignment with our herbal justice mission

contribute to a resilient community herbalism system in the Burlington area
explore issues of social justice and cultural respect within herbal medicine
explore an independent project of personal interest with support from the group and instructors
be part of an online learning platform, providing a variety of supporting materials, resources, at-home learning opportunities and connection to fellow participants and teachers
have the option to participate in weekly group garden and harvest efforts
have the option to attend extra field trips, workshops and community service efforts
have regular opportunities to take home plants and harvests for your own use
explore important considerations around social justice in herbal medicine; including current barriers in health care and educational access
consider the historical and ongoing suppression and cultural appropriation of the herbal knowledge of enslaved Africans and indigenous peoples of this land, and acknowledge the impacts of the loss of european wise women (and european folk healing knowledge) during the witch burning times.

Practicum Hours:

Working for and alongside an herbalist is the traditional method of apprenticeship and an essential component of the hands-on, experiential learning that is the foundation of our program.

All apprentices must complete a minimum of 8-10 practicum hours per month (or 50 hours prior to November graduation).

Things you might find yourself doing during Practicum hours include gardening, harvesting, medicine-making, and/or cleaning up after classes.

Two core texts read and referenced throughout the course include:

Braiding Sweetgrass, Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Body Into Balance, An Herbal Guide to Holistic Self-Care by Maria Noel Groves

This class will be facilitated by Katherine Elmer with herbalists from around the region. Spoonful Herbals shares a deep love and reverence for the plants and the wild and not-so-wild places they live, and for the amazing resilience and innate knowledge of the human body. We find great joy in sharing our knowledge of the plants and our herbal creations with community near and far.

Katherine and many of our teachers identify as cis, femme, white settlers, and are predominantly trained in the Western herbal tradition. We are committed to diversifying the perspectives on herbalism in this program, and do so though readings, guest speakers and critical examination of biases. Our programming is open and inclusive to all aspiring herbalists. We recognize that the lens of our teachings come through our Celtic, white settler ancestors and (critically) Eurocentric herbalism training, therefore we assign learning materials from Queer and BIPOC authors and often invite guest educators to our weekly gatherings in an attempt to offer herbalism from a variety of perspectives.

Learn About the Facilitators

2025 Program Details

Application

Applications coming soon!

There is a $50 application fee (non-refundable and applied towards total tuition after acceptance)

Applications are accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis. After submitting your application and $50 fee, you will be invited to schedule an interview with the program facilitators.

Tuition

The cost of the program is $2272.
(Upon acceptance, a $222 non-refundable deposit will be required to secure your place in the program.)

The remaining balance of the tuition ($2000) is due by May 1st unless you request to work out another payment plan with us IN ADVANCE.
(Payment plans available upon request with an additional 10% fee!)

Financial assistance is available for eligible students while funds last through VSAC’s Vermont Non-Degree Grant. Apply early as funds are first-come first served and often run out by February or March. You do not need to be accepted into our program before applying for VSAC assistance.

For more information and to apply, visit VSAC.

Schedule

We will meet weekly, May 7th to October 29th on Wednesday afternoons from 3-7 pm.

Apprentices must complete a minimum of 8-10 practicum hours per month (or 50 hours prior to November graduation).

Total program hours: 150

Please feel free to email us with further questions.

Reflections from Past Apprentices

“Apprenticing with Kara and Katherine is one of the best decisions I’ve made, and it has been incredibly impactful. The relationships with plants they hold are in balance with reverence to plants as teachers and friends. They carry the messages of community herbalism with concerted strategies and with innate grace. Kara and Katherine instill principles of the Good Harvest and embody the heart of herbalism. This apprenticeship has deepened my work with plants from all angles, and I’m incredibly grateful.”

“Katherine and Kara held so much space for us and we were able to cultivate a powerful, nurturing, tender community of budding herbalists in community with our plant allies. I’m not the same person I was when I began this apprenticeship, thank goodness!! I am so thankful for the lessons in abundance, joy, sharing, and reciprocity and the ability to show up as my full self with a beginner’s mind in the presence of loving, magical beings.”

“Kara and Katherine are generosity in motion! They welcomed us into their world, sharing their wide ranging herbalism experience and introducing us to local plants and allies in a way that was respectful and joyful. Together their work has so many ripples, and through it all, they hold community at the center.”