Over twenty budding herbalists gathered for Herb Day celebrations at the Portland, Oregon campus of the Australasian College of Health Sciences on October 13th. It was a crisp, sunny fall day and the herb identification walks in the ACHS Botanical garden on Hood Avenue and alongside the Willamette River were informative and enjoyable. The riverside walk revealed a wealth of wild botanicals, including red clover, plantain, wild carrot and dandelion. ACHS instructor, herbalist and Ayurvedic specialist Gia vonKarl demonstrated how to prepare a cough syrup. Gia formulated a blend just for Herb Day and attendees took home a sample. The formula and preparation instructions with all the herbs and additional ingredients are available as a kit from the College Store the Apothecary Shoppe. Other lectures and demonstrations included - How to Prepare a Tincture, The Top Ten Herbs You Need to Know, and a slide show of the Summer School in Greece. Free downloadable PDF's of the lectures are available by emailing achs@achs.edu. We all had a lot of fun making new friends and celebrating our joy and interest in herbs and herbal medicine.
