August Field Workshop

[Guest guest]

I thought some of you might be interested in this program in August.

Ann

 

 

 

In the Garden With Robert Newman

 

Field Program for Practitioners of Oriental Medicine

 

August 26-28, 2005

 

(8 CEUs Pending NCCAOM)

 

What are the implications – for us, our practices, and the health of our

patients -- of growing Asian medicinal plants in North America? When a plant is

cultivated outside its native range, what happens to its medicinal properties?

Can practitioners learn to understand this problem in practical terms that will

help them become better judges of herbal quality?

 

Ways to think about these and related questions will be taught in a weekend

program at the High Falls Gardens field at Hillview Farm, located on the eastern

side of New York’s Hudson Valley. Our main instructor will be Robert Newman,

L.Ac., M.S.T.C.M., a self-taught botanical expert who has studied Asian

medicinal plants growing in many different settings in China and the U.S.

 

Program Contents

 

Program participants will be introduced to the following subject areas, with

ample opportunities to view, photograph, handle, taste and smell the related

plant material.

 

· Where Plants Grow. The habitat preferred by a plant species is

sometimes a clue to its medicinal properties. Participants will learn how

ecosystems and cultivation practices affect plant morphology, nutritional value

and other properties.

 

· Practice in Pattern Recognition. Participants will learn some family

characteristics common to familiar food plants as well as the medicinal species

of the east and west.

 

· Species Identification. Participants will learn some of the common

mistakes or substitutions in the dried, imported plant material. In addition,

they will be introduced to methods that botanists use to identify plant species.

 

· Plant Morphology and Medicine. A plant’s shape, metamorphosis and

behavior can indicate its medicinal actions. Participants will practice

applying the Law of Correspondences, Yin/Yang and Five Element to plants in the

field as a means of understanding taste, nature and properties.

 

· Reference Materials. Participants will be supplied with a list of

botanical references including books and websites to support ongoing herbal

studies.

 

Setting

 

High Falls Gardens (HFG) is a farm-based educational organization with an

eight-year-old garden of Asian medicinal plants located in a rural area known as

a center for progressive agriculture and nature study. Advised by a board of

senior professors and practitioners in both Oriental medicine and agriculture,

HFG offers programs in botanical studies for practitioners and leads efforts to

cultivate Asian medicinal plants in the U.S.

 

The overall goal of field studies for herbal practitioners and teachers of

herbal studies in Oriental medicine is to provide the contextual framework that

develops participants’ knowledge of medicinal plants. Programs offer models of

investigation, opportunities to observe medicinal plants in the wild and in

cultivation, and the guidance of highly experienced instructors. The format

includes written materials, photos, lectures, discussion, and farm tours.

 

Schedule

 

Deadline for deposit (reservations closed) Aug. 12, 2005 (Balance due upon

arrival Aug. 26)

 

Arrival in Columbia County Aug. 26

Evening

 

Program at Hillview Farm field Aug. 27

9:30 am to 1:00 pm

 

Lunch at Hillview Farm field Aug. 27

1:00 pm to 2:30 pm

 

Tour, The Healing Plant Garden Aug. 27

4:00 pm to 5:30 pm

 

Dinner and discussion Aug. 27

7:00 pm to 8:30 pm

 

Continued program at Hillview Aug. 28

9:30 am to 12:30 pm

 

Terms

 

Limited to 15 participants.

 

Tuition: $295 (incl. one lunch, one dinner and course materials.

 

Deposit: $50 (nonrefundable) to reserve a place, must be received by

August 12th. In the event of over-subscription, the first fifteen deposits

received will determine admission.

 

Housing: Local hotels (list provided upon registration).

 

Bunkroom option for $20 per night at Hawthorne Valley Main House (details and

directions provided upon registration).

 

Instructors

 

Robert Newman, L.Ac., M.S.T.C.M., is one of the leading experts in Asian

medicinal plant identification in the U.S. As a student at American College of

TCM in San Francisco he developed the herb garden there, at one point collecting

over 700 species in seeds and plants. Having traveled extensively in China, he

served as curator of the medicinal plant garden at Nanjing Institute of Botany

in 1997-98 and still maintains connections with botanical and herbal colleagues

in various provinces. Recently he has begun leading small groups on herb tours

to specific regions of China. Robert teaches at Yo San University of TCM in Los

Angeles, and Emperor’s College of Traditional Oriental Medicine in Santa Monica

where he also supervises the clinic. Currently staff acupuncturist at Tarzana

Medical Center, he maintains a private practice in Sherman Oaks, CA.

 

 

 

Jean Giblette is the director of High Falls Gardens (HFG), a farm-based

nonprofit educational organization which has pioneered the field cultivation of

Chinese medicinal plants in the North America. She works with networks of

practitioners of herbal medicine, farmers, plant conservators and a board of

senior advisors to study the plants. In 2001, Jean and Robert Newman co-founded

the Student Gardens program for the U.S. colleges of Oriental medicine, which

has developed into an array of programs to support of herbal studies. Jean

lectures, writes and publishes a newsletter concerning HFG activities, and

serves as coordinator of the steering committee of the Medicinal Herb

Consortium. She has a professional background in health administration and

research, and since 1994 has studied traditional Oriental medicine with Jeffrey

C. Yuen in New York City.

 

 

Jean Giblette, Director

HIGH FALLS GARDENS

Box 125 Philmont NY 12565 USA

518-672-7365

hfg