Saturday, May 22, 2021
10:00 AM - 2:00 PM

Tuition: $48 Materials: $3

Spring is a great time for wild salads- nutritious and delicious greens and flower parts abound. There are also fiddlehead ferns and marsh marigolds for cooked vegetables. In this class we’ll go hunting for these wild foods, learn about some others that aren’t yet ready for harvesting, and return to the school to cook up a small, deliciousl snack.

Come prepared to go outside with weather-appropriate clothing and footgear.

About the Instructor: Johnnie Hyde worked as an Outward Bound instructor for canoeing, winter dog sledding, camping and has guided private trips into the Boundary Waters. She has also worked as an EMT and a firefighter with the US Forest Service.

Wednesday, June 16, 2021
4:00 PM - 6:00 PM

Tuition: $25  Materials: $35

Did you know, growing on our birch trees is one of the most powerfully medicinal mushrooms in the world? Chaga has been highly studied and has been known to kill cancer cells, shrink tumors, and increase the body's ability to respond and adapt to stress, among it's multitude of other benefits.

In this class, we will learn how to identify, harvest, and utilize this medicinal powerhouse for both internal and external use. We will make some chaga preparations in class, and students will each go home with their own informational chaga handbook, including a recipe booklet with numerous chaga remedies and creative ways to use Minnesota's most treasured fungi.

The class fee includes a chaga kit assembled by Instructor Allison Austin of Birch Botanicals. The kit consists of chaga mushroom, materials for chaga tea, materials for a chaga tincture, a chaga identification guide, and recipes.

This class will be held in person with limited seats available. Masks should be worn and social distancing observed. In addition to adhering to CDC and Minnesota State guidelines, the Ely Folk School is monitoring local public health.

About the Instructor: Allison Austin has been practicing herbalism for over 13 years. Her passion for plants and herbal medicine began in middle school, and has continued to play a central role in her life ever since. She has studied under herbalists in Minnesota, California, Texas, and with Mayan elders in Guatemala.

Allison is passionate about bringing the traditional practices of herbalism to people in a practical and accessible way, encouraging people to utilize herbs in their local area in order to become more self-sustainable, taking charge of their own health.