Registration is now open for the 2026 Ethnobotany Immersion. You must submit an application to be considered. You can apply by clicking the button at the bottom of this page. We will contact you within 48 hours of receiving the application.
Duration: Meets one weekend per month for 10 months. 10th month is a one day class
Course Dates: Begins March 7-8, 2026. Class time: Expect 8 hrs of class Saturday, and 6-8 hrs on Sunday
View all dates and schedule for the upcoming course here.
Cost: $2500 with a deposit of $250. There are only 15 spots available in each of the classes.
Instructors: Elisha Klco, Jeanette Wickell, Theo Hoss
Guest Instructors: Reisha Beck and Gabe Garms
The Course:
The Ethnobotany Immersion Course has been the flagship program here at Raven’s Roots for the last 11 years now and we couldn't be more excited to begin our 2026 cohort of ethnobotany classes. Our passion for plants, harvesting ethics, perennial food crops, utilitarian plant uses and natural medicines specifically, have driven us to spend countless hours in the field studying both Washington's native and naturalized plants and trees.
Over the course of the 10 months, we'll study plants at every stage of their growth cycle and how they interact with all of the other elements in the ecosystem around them (the soils/soil life, invertebrates, wildlife etc). We'll learn how to make plant based medicines, personal care products, baskets, primitive tools and how to preserve and store all of our food/medicine once it's been harvested.
The tuition for the program also includes camping for the field trips and materials for the medicines that you will be taking home from class. You will go home with tinctures, salves, fermentation starter cultures.
After being accepted for the immersion course, we will schedule a personal consultation with you to make sure that you're getting everything that you want and more out of the course. There aren't any pre-requisites and anyone can sign up. There will be at least 2 of the instructors at every class so that we can better accommodate students at different skill levels (so don't worry if you're either a beginner or someone who has some experience, because we cater to both). Class size will be capped at 15 this year so that you'll receive plenty of individual instruction.
Here are some of the topics that will be covered:
Harvest schedule: We'll go out in the field together throughout the 10 months and learn about the plants, and when to harvest them to make medicines and teas.
Plant ID: Not only will we talk about identification during every part of the course, we'll also discuss guilds and relationships between certain plants and species which share their habitat.
Natural medicine making. You'll learn what you need to build your own comprehensive natural medicine cabinet and how to use it.
Food Preservation: Fermentations and probiotics, teas, cooking herbs, drying.
Plant based soaps and lotions.
Growing your own medicinals and edibles in a permaculture environment. Wildlife attracting plant communities
Medicinal and edible mushrooms.
Making medicine and cooking with mushrooms.
Utilitarian uses of native and naturalized plants: fibers, dyes, baskets, cordage and primitive tools
Human physiology and herbalist terminologies.
Fermentation using wild ingredients and perennial vegetables. We’ll show you how to make traditional recipes from around the world using local ingredients.
Medicinal syrups, hydrosols, and infused vinegars.
Essentially, our goal is to give students a value significantly more than what they paid for in tuition. It's the least that we can do and we're intent on doing it.
Apply by clicking the button below and we will contact you within 48 hours via phone or email. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us directly at info@ravensroots.com. Hope to see you in March 2026!
Here are some pictures from Ethnobotany Immersion Courses:
