Herbalism Apprenticeship

Engage with plants, build a relationship with plants, and learn to use plants for personal, family, and community healing

The Urban Growers Collective Community Herbalism Apprenticeship offers the opportunity for participants to engage with plants; to build a relationship with plants; and, ultimately, to use plants for personal, family, and community healing.

  • The program is for: People interested in the practice and field of herbalism from seed to remedy

  • Program goal: Gaining herbalism knowledge focused on self healing, family healing and communal healing

  • Curriculum includes: Seeding, planting and transplanting, nurturing, harvesting, processing, preserving, and collecting seeds. Participants also learn to identify and observe the wild plants “volunteering” alongside those intentionally planted. 

  • Program length: 100 hours. This hybrid, in-person and virtual program includes opportunities to engage with herbs on UGC farms and in-person and virtual workshops.

Annual tuition: Sliding scale from $500 to $1,500, with a $100 materials fee

Together, we will learn to :

  • Identify wild and cultivated plants in all stages of growth

  • Tend plants for healthy propagation and appropriate maintenance

  • Harvest plants for use; understand best practices in harvesting wild and cultivated plants

  • Make herbal preparations

  • Learn core concepts of herbalism

  • Track current and past herbal trends

  • Create a materia medica based on observation and reputable resources

  • Learn herbal actions

  • Build a community committed to using herbs

  • Understand body systems

  • Explore non-Western herbal traditions

  • Examine political impact and roots of herbalism

  • Explore spiritual herbalism

  • Learn cultural roots of herbalism

  • Explore spiritual dimensions of herbalism

If you have further questions, please contact programming@urbangrowerscollective.org

Applications for the 2024 Herbalism Apprenticeship Program are now closed. Submit the form below to join our waiting list and be the first to know when applications open in 2025.

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We give priority to applicants who have been involved with UGC in some way — such as visiting our South Chicago Farm, attending a tour or herb walk, or volunteering.