Grant Reports

Center For Healing Arts Herb & Eco School

The two outdoor plant education projects that we have been able to focus our efforts on include the “Moonlodge Medicine Trail” and the “Medicine Wheel Teaching Garden” on our 40-acre sanctuary.  In April, we re-groomed and nourished the winding Moonlodge Trail, while monitoring the black cohosh, wild ginger and goldenseal plants that are part of a national monitoring project.  Additionally, we were able to conduct 3 ‘official’ ‘plant identification walks’ and presentations that were open to both our herbalism students and the public.  One of the first took place on Earth Day and numerous formal and informal walks have taken place through the present date.  In addition to these, we were able to utilize a portion of the UpS grant for cedar stakes and plant identification signs.  One of our Master Herbalism students, Kathy Miller, has digitally photographed many native woodland plant medicinals and created new signs for that trail, as well. The Moonlodge itself has been completed entirely by recycled and donated materials, with the help of an all-volunteer team.  Monthly gatherings have taken place there since February of 2005.  It has also been an ideal spot for our “Plant Spirit Medicine” workshops!

We have utilized $300 of the UpS grant toward purchases of additional native plants that now grow along the educational Medicine Trail and in the creative Medicine Wheel Teaching Garden.  Some of these new plant ‘babies’ have included black cohosh, blue cohosh, bloodroot, lobelia, blue flag, sweetgrass, goldenseal, native ginseng, Jack-in-the pulpit, wild sarsaparilla and some additional cedars.  We could not have made these additional purchases for educational and cultivation purposes without your help! Along the lines of native sweetgrass…we are wondering if any UpS members knows of any expert growers who could guide us in cultivating a larger garden of this.  (One such crop failed in 2002-4)

Finally, $150 of the UpS grant money was used for the printing of several of our resource materials, specifically our “Plant Rescue” literature and our “Wild Earth Walk” booklet.  The “Wild Earth Walk” booklet has been designed in 2 formats—one for purchase and the other free as a plant identification guide for those who visit our sanctuary.  Both versions include statements explaining the vision, mission and contact information for the United Plant Savers organization. We hope this will help promote the cause!

Two additional events that we were able to host in autumn 2005 were the  'Plant Spirit Medicine Intensive" weekend where participants deeply engaged in 3 days of learning about the medicinal and spiritual properties of native plants and the final plant ID walk of the autumn entitled, "The Tradition of Trees". These learning opportunities took in the Medicine Wheel, the UpS sanctuary trails and our Moon Lodge.  
Once again…MANY THANKS for the opportunities afforded us by this UpS “Take Action!” grant.  Please let us know if there is anything else that you may need from us in the future. It was a delightful year for the plants and people of the north!