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Make Better Medicine: Art & Science of Botanical Tincturing – June 13-16, 2024
June 13, 2024 - June 16, 2024
Take your medicine making to the next level with traditional botanical sciences!
Delve into the arts & sciences of next-level Botanical Tincturing at Elderberry’s Farm in Paonia, Colorado.
TWO OPTIONS AVAILABLE:
Workshop bundle includes a four day hands-on in-person event + complimentary online class access
or
A four day hands-on in-person event offered at a discount
Make Better Medicine: The Art & Science of Botanical Tincturing
Our one & only in-person Make Better Medicine workshop of the year is coming up in less than two weeks away and we still have a few spaces open! While the workshop & online class bundle is awesome, we’re also offering a workshop-only option for a big discount.
Take your tincturing to the next level! This class is designed to help herbal medicine makers, apothecary owners, and clinical practitioners advance their skills in the art and science of crafting vibrant herbal tinctures (hydroethanolic extracts). By understanding principles of solubility and extraction that apply to specifically to tinctures, we can get the constituents we want in more concentrated, consistent products. We’ll explore different methods of tincturing including historical percolation and power maceration, and discover the pros & cons of each. We’ll also learn how to choose our ethanol % and make the perfect menstruum using the dilution equation & our custom Menstruum Math calculator (included). Expand your skills and techniques as we practice different ways to extract both fresh and dried herbs.
- Learn when to use different maceration & percolation techniques
- Practice making a great tincture in 20 minutes using either fresh or dried herbs in the Vitamix
- Experience power maceration using affordable, programmable, insulated home extractors to make potent tinctures within hours – similar to Eclectic preparations
- Learn to consistently calculate proportions, ratios, concentrations & ethanol percentages
- Practice with the Menstruum Math calculator and see how easy it is to make the perfect menstruua for your tinctures
- Explore the Michael Moore method of “Percolation for the People”
- Reproduce the historical methods of percolation used by pharmacists in the 1800s
BIPOC: One full scholarship is available, please email us for details
SCHEDULE
Below is a general outline of how the workshop flows. As we will be making multiple tinctures, there will be some day-to-day overlap and adaptive spontaneity. The in-person workshop includes access to the online class with a complete set of handouts & worksheets. You will have the opportunity to bring several of your finished creations home with you!
- Morning: arrive at Elderberry’s, set up camp / settle in, explore the farm & gardens & breathe some fresh mountain air … relax & unwind.
- Afternoon: casual orientation, tour the farm, lab & herb gardens. Begin set-up for projects in the medicine making lab. We will decide which projects to do first depending on the seasonal availability of ingredients.
- Because of the different amounts of time it takes for various projects, in reality there will be overlap and we will be working on different stages of several projects on all the days.
- 6 pm: Opening Circle & Potluck with Lisa & Kat’s presentation on The History of Botanical Tincturing
- Introduction to solubility of constituents, synergy, and the matrix effect
- How to choose and make your menstruum to maximize extraction of fresh or dried herbs
- Menstruum Math: make any EtOH % menstruum with the dilution or concentration equations
- Organic lunch with local foods, vegan or paleo, GF/DF options, etc.
- Comparing traditional macerations to other methods
- Concentration: initial extraction ratio vs. final concentration ratio
- Power macerations in the Vitamix and STX Infuzium
Friday we’ll meet 10 am-1 pm, and 3 pm-6 pm. Lunch & Siesta, 2 hours (1 pm-3 pm)
If conditions are good, we can have a celebration at the Firepit either Friday or Saturday evenings.
- Introduction to percolation & percolation math
- Practicing percolation: the Michael Moore method
- Organic lunch with local foods, vegan or paleo, GF/DF options, etc.
- Historical methods of percolation & botanical pharmacy
- Practice modern percolation based on Fenner’s Formulary methods
Saturday we’ll meet 10 am-1 pm, and 3 pm-6 pm. Lunch & Siesta, 2 hours (1 pm-3 pm)
If conditions are good, we can have a celebration at the Firepit either Friday or Saturday.
- Finishing up percolations & charting our results
- Pressing the macerated tinctures, calculating yield, charting results
- Comparing percolation to Vitamix to MBM: organoleptic evaluation, concentration, dosage, etc.
- Organic Lunch with Local Foods & GF DF options will be served!
- Finishing up all processes in time for closing circle & travel home
Sunday, we’ll meet from 10 am -1 pm, followed by lunch and closing circle. Anyone who can stay later on Sunday to help clean up the lab, we appreciate you! If you don’t need to leave on Sunday, you’re welcome to stay another night at the farm.
Botanical Tincturing Workshop
June 13-16, 2024
Sign up early!
This class is limited to 20 participants.
Lodging
Camping is free and included with your registration. Various indoor options are available at the farm or nearby (private or shared tiny house, hostel, AirBnB, studio apartment, tipis, yurt, etc.). Because options change with the season, we’ll send info upon request; generally, they range from $60-$100/night.
Registration
$450 includes all workshop activities & supplies, access to the corresponding online class materials, platform or meadow camping (with use of bathhouse), mid-day organic lunch & evening festivities.
Refund Policy
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Cancel one week or more before the workshop: full refund minus a $99 cancellation fee
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Cancel less than a week before the workshop: No refund, but your registration is transferable to another workshop or can be applied to future programs
Your teachers have more than 45 years of collective experience in these arts & are excited to share their knowledge!
Lisa Ganora
Online educator at HerbalConstituents.com, Director of Elderberry’s Farm, & founder of the Colorado School of Clinical Herbalism, Lisa has presented workshops & taught classes at numerous schools & conferences for more than 30 years. She began studying herbs in the Wise Woman Tradition back in 1986 & fell profoundly in love with medicinal plants & Earth-based healing. After practicing wildcrafting & medicine making with traditional herbalists from New England to the Southern Appalachians, she began creating herbal products & traveled the festival circuit with an herb booth & as a workshop presenter.
In 1997 Lisa decided to study botany, chemistry, & health sciences at the University of North Carolina, Asheville, where she graduated with highest honors & several awards in chemistry & biology. She is the author of Herbal Constituents, 2nd. Ed., a popular textbook for herbalists & practitioners, & teaches online classes on herbal constituents, advanced medicine making & phytochemistry.
Kat Martello
Kat Martello is the lead apprentice & co-creator at Elderberry’s. Working in the herbal supplements business motivated her to earn her B.S. in the Herbal Sciences program at Bastyr University. At Bastyr, Kat was the botanical lab steward, a medicinal herb gardener & researcher on Cannabis terpenes. Working in herbal apothecaries, she integrated FDA compliance, formulated herbal medicines & compounded naturopathic prescriptions.
While employed in an analytical lab, Kat wrote standard operating procedures & certificates of analysis, processed cannabis samples as a lab technician, & did business-to-business promotions. She is also a Licensed Massage Therapist, has abundant hands-on experience in microcurrent & photobiomodulation therapy & is certified as a nursing assistant.