Knowledge Share Description
Join us on the Summer Solstice for a full day of herbalism and natural building with Joshua Kwaku Asiedu and Antonia Estela Pérez. We will spend the day connecting with the plants of the Northeast while also learning about the art of natural building. Antonia will guide us in learning to identify plants, discuss the medicinal properties, and make herbal medicine to support you through the season ahead. Joshua will guide us in connecting with soil, clay and mud — identifying usable natural resources, understanding their building potential and joyfully creating something from scratch that can remain on the land. Join us for a day of celebration, grounding and learning at Herban Cura: Plants to the People Farm, situated in the Catskill Mountains in West Saugerties, New York in Lenape Territory. This immersive experience will allow you to reconnect with the earth, exploring the intersection between herbalism, spirituality, ecology and justice. Through hands-on learning of the plants, along with engaging conversations you'll deepening your relationship with the plants and the land.
Sample Schedule:
Friday, June 20th
Morning Session Part 1: Connecting with plants, ID, and discussions on herbalism.
Morning Session Part 2: Making Herbal Medicine
Lunch and Break
Afternoon Session Part 1: Natural Building
Afternoon Session Part 2: Fire and offerings
Flow of the day
Arrival: 9:30 am
Morning Session Part 1: 10:00 am - 11:00 pm
Morning Session Part 2: 11:00pm -12pm
Lunch: 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm
Afternoon Session Part 1 : 1:30 pm - 4:00 pm
Afternoon Session Part 2 : 4:30pm - 6pm
PLEASE NOTE: This is just a sample schedule, activities and flow of day may change
Takeaways:
Ancestral natural building
Learning to make different herbal remedies
West African Herbalism PDF Booklet
A delicious meal made from all local ingredients
Key Offerings
Natural Building:
You’ll learn how to use natural materials like clay, straw and found materials to build beautiful structures.
Herbal Medicine:
Spend time connecting with the plants and discover the healing power of nature. This workshop will emphasize the importance of knowing the plants to our bioregion, especially in the face of a changing climate. Learn how these plants support our resiliency and how we can integrate them into our health and wellness practices. We will also make some herbal remedies you can take home
Solstice Highlights:
Solstice Celebration: Celebrate the solstice with special activities. These offerings will help us attune to the energy of the summer season and fortify us for the cycle ahead
Hands-on Opportunities: This immersion is packed with opportunities to deepen our relationships with plants, to explore and connect more intimately with the earth through clay, and to engage in important collective discussions.
Waterfall time: To honor the transition into the summer solstice, we will cleanse ourselves in the waterfall with herbs that we harvest from the land.
This immersion is designed for those looking to deepen their connection with nature, learn hands-on herbalism skills, and embrace the principles of sustainability and spirituality. Our workshops encourage participants to reconnect with their senses and tap into the wisdom of the plants
Important Information:
Meals: Lunch will be provided
Accommodations: This is a one day offering. Participants are responsible for finding their own accommodations.
Cost
Sliding Scale: $250 - $650
Material costs are included in the price.
Our Sliding Scale is meant to make these offerings as accessible as possible while also honoring all of the labor and resources that have gone into the preparation and facilitation. Please reference this sliding scale resource to support you choosing the amount that best reflects your resources and capacity.
Only 20 spaces available
This solstice gathering will leave you feeling renewed, grounded, and deeply connected to both nature and ancestral wisdom. Secure your spot today!
We do not offer refunds, please make sure you have read everything carefully before registering. Thank you!
Facilitators
Joshua Kwaku Asiedu hails from Ghana, West Africa. With over a decade of travel across Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Oceania, Joshua has immersed himself in indigenous and rural communities, learning traditional knowledge and practices. He now lives on ancestral land in Ghana, where he has developed a thriving mini ecovillage, built by hand, with sustainable infrastructures such as a hand-dug water well and a hand-built clay home. Joshua has been hosting educational events and holistic retreats for the past five years, sharing his deep knowledge of ancestral living with people worldwide.
Antonia Estela Pérez is a Chilean-American clinical herbalist, gardener, educator, community organizer, and founder. Born and raised in New York City, in a first-generation household which nurtured the values and principles of nature appreciation, land stewardship, interdisciplinary education, and social justice—Antonia’s lifelong passion for herbs and plant medicine helps to bridge the relationships between rural and urban spaces. Antonia combines a decade of experience studying and working with plant medicine, with her studies in environmental and urban studies at Bard College, Clinical Herbalism at Arborvitae School of Traditional Herbal Medicine, and learning with herbalists and elders throughout Central and South America. Antonia facilitates workshops and produces events as the co-founder of NY-based collective—Brujas—and as founder of Herban Cura: An herbal medicine and education project which centers the knowledge and stories of Indigenous, Black, Queer and Trans communities. Antonia’s work is rooted in her passion for sharing knowledge that interrupts notions of individualism and separatism from nature to grow towards collaborative and symbiotic communities.
Herban Cura: Plants to the People Farm is both a school and a sanctuary, dedicated to supporting our community in deepening its relationship with plants and the land. We focus on cultivating medicinal herbs, diasporic and native ancestral seeds, fruit and nut trees, and wetland restoration. By learning and sharing skills, we believe we strengthen our community ties and build climate resiliency. Plants to the People Farm resides on Lenape Territory.