Upcoming Events
Cullowhee Native Plant Conference
Western Carolina University
One of the oldest native plant conferences in the country having just celebrated its 40th birthday! Always a highlight of the teaching schdule every year with enough high qulaity class offerings to make ones head spin!
https://www.wcu.edu/engage/professional-enrichment/conferences-and-community-classes/the-cullowhee-native-plant-conference/
Fee: Variable Pricing
Wild Herb Weekend
Valle Crucis Conference Center
The NC Herb Association is a non-profit growers association dedicated to educating people about herbs and their uses.
Join NCHA members each July to participate in an exciting weekend full of classes, workshops, and plant walks. Come learn from the experts about growing, using, selling, and sharing medicinal herbs. Learn about new growing practices for farmers, natural first-aid for the family, and incorporating herbs into delicious meals. Spend downtime conversing with vendors, attendees, and experts while enjoying the mountain vista. Classes include offerings for farmers, homesteaders, foragers, practitioners, and hobbyists. Connect with peers from across North Carolina and the Southeast!
My offerings will include two class room presentations with one focused on Challenges and Opportunities with Exotic Invasive plants and another on Aphrodisiac Formulation Consideration. Lastly for a me a plant walk centered on Food as Medicine will happen as well.
Registration at the following link. https://www.ncherbassociation.org/wildherbweekend2026
Fee: Variable Pricing
Southeastern Permaculture Gathering
The Patterson School
Come to our annual gathering at the beautiful Patterson School outside Lenoir, NC This is certainly one of my favorites of all time, even in a place and a life with many amazing events! i will most definitely be helping to facilitate a plant/mushroom walk and will also be working in the kitchen if you want to help make food for everybody. Almost all the meals are sourced locally or from participants of the gathering. Some of the best food experienced by many at any gathering bar none. An amazing outdoor sculpture park is another incredible component of this locale too. http://www.southeasternpermaculture.org/
Time: 8a.m. 7.31.26 - 4p.m. 8.2.26
Fee: Sliding Scale
American Herbalists Guild Annual Symposium
Blue Ridge Assembly
The 36th Annual American Herbalists Guild Symposium will take place August 14–16, 2026, at the historic YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly in the heart of the Southern Appalachian Mountains, just outside Asheville, NC. Surrounded by lush forests and the abundance of late summer in Appalachia, this year’s gathering invites herbalists from across the country to come together in celebration and community.
i will be offering two plant walks as part of this incredible conference at one of my favorite venues ever. One will be on Botany by Family: The Key to See and the other one will be on Woody Ethnobotany. See more details and register at the link below.
https://americanherbalistsguild.com/symposia/
Fee: Variable Pricing
Challenges and Opportunities with Exotic Invasive Plants
Mountain Gardens in Celo, NC
We will focus in this class on plant family patterns and what they indicate regarding identification and ethnobotanical application of exotic invasive plants for food, medicine and beauty. A big focus of the class will underpin the opportunities to employ these plants and effectively make use of a problem by turning it into a resource. We will take an in depth look at some of the prime exotic invasive plants occurring in the southeastern United States as well as a more general exotic invasive plant list of over 150 useful species from the region and unusual examples currently peculiar to Mtn Gardens. We will finish our time with a sampling of snacks and beverages embodying what Invasivorism looks like in an applied, delicious and efficient manner.
Time: 1 - 5 p.m.Fee: Sliding Scale
Great Lakes Herb Faire
Cedar Lake Outdoor Center outside Chelsea, MI
This is one of my favorite events ever attended of the over 100 experienced over the decades. Will update info once the schedule is announced.
https://www.greatlakesherbfaire.org/
Fee: Variable Pricing
Gullah Geechee Herbal Gathering
John's Island, South Carolina
Excited to finally attend this annual gathering. For one of the few times in my career in the last fifteen years my role will be solely as a student and at least not formally as a teacher. That said excited to absorb as much as possible of the wisdom of the elders that they care to share.
https://www.gullahgeecheeherbalgathering.com/
Fee: Variable Pricing
2026 U.S. National Plant Conservation Leadership Summit
Missouri Botanical Garden
A meeting of many of the executives of the best botanical institutions of the United States to focus on a unified plant conservation agenda and the sharing of research and best practices in the field annually. The non-profit United Plant Savers is part of this forum and has requested my participation.
Time:Fee: By invite only
Southeastern NC Herbal Conference
Old River Farm Burgaw, NC
The 3rd Annual SENC Herbal Conference
On November 7-8, 2026, join us in Burgaw, NC for the 3rd Annual Southeastern North Carolina Herbal Conference – where local herbalists and the herbal-curious come together for a day of celebration, education and community!
The 2026 SENC Herbal Conference will leave participants feeling connected, inspired, and equipped to continue supporting their community’s health – physically, emotionally, and economically.
Surround yourself with other passionate, enthusiastic people who are excited to learn from one another and celebrate the rich ecosystem we call home!
i will be offering a class on Prime Plant and Practices for Aphrodisiac Consideration and Formulation.
More information and registration at the following link https://sencherbalconference.com
Fee: Variable Pricing
Botany by Family: The Key to See
Sarah P. Duke Gardens in Durham, NC
Learning to notice plant family patterns can greatly aid in demystifying the “green wall” of plant species around us. Hundreds of thousands of species of flowering plants are known to global science, and these species have been grouped into over 400 flowering plant families. By learning the top 30 plant families growing around you, you will begin to recognize plants everywhere you go. After an indoor presentation on the major plant families common to the Southeastern US, reinforce your plant identification skills on a walk in the Gardens to observe family patterns in leaf, flower and fruit types. Discuss edibility, medicinality, craft, wildlife support and landscape beauty as you gain a more holistic understanding of the major plants comprising Southern US flora and their potential ecological and ethnobotanical applications.
Accessibility: This will be a small group program that takes place partially seated indoors and partially outdoors traveling on a combination of paved and unpaved paths with some uneven surfaces and moderate inclines.
Register at the link below
https://gardens.duke.edu/learn/adult-programs/
Fee: Variable Pricing