Year Two: Community Herbalism Intensive
A deep dive into the practical applications of herbs across various body systems – intended for serious students of herbalism as a stepping stone toward becoming a full-time clinical herbalist, or to provide a solid foundation for aspiring community herbalists.
This second year course is open to students who have completed the Greenspell ‘Foundations in Bioregional Herbalism’ course (or comparable study elsewhere). In this course, we work together to build upon the foundation established in the ‘Foundations’ course, toward a deeper exploration of the human body, pathophysiology, and a more nuanced application of herbs across various body systems.
We focus on actions & energetics in western herbalism, in-depth study of body systems, protocol development and case study, materia medica, apothecary management, and basic phytochemistry related to the use of herbs to support individual and community well-being & resilience.
By exploring herbalism from these different perspectives, we will come to a deeper and more practical understanding of the use of herbs than the common association of “use this herb for that ailment”. Working beyond this approach, we will rediscover the overlapping ecologies of organ systems, body, and earth and begin to relearn the power of herbs and fungi as ‘healers of all life on earth’.
The 2026 course is now full – join the waitlist for the 2027 cohort below!
Join the Waitlist
Applications will open up in November 2026 for the 2027 cohort.
Spots are limited, so be sure to add yourself to the waitlist and you’ll be notified when applications open up for future years!
Curriculum Overview
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Picking up where we left off in the first year program, we dive more deeply into the herbal actions & energetics of Western Herbalism for a more practical and applied approach to working with herbs in a healing capacity.
We explore the six tissue states introduced in the Year One ‘Foundations’ course across a wider variety of contexts and body systems, allowing us to develop a deeper understanding of how the four humors and constitutional types inform the pathophysiological manifestations in the body and our approach in addressing these conditions that arise as a result.
In our exploration of herbs and how they impart their influence within the body, we connect herbal actions to tissue states and the phytochemical constituents that inform the herbal actions that orient the body towards healing, balance, and vitality.
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We dive into some key body & organ systems*, including the Liver, Cardiovascular, Respiratory, Urinary, Generative / Reproductive, Structural / Musculoskeletal.
We also explore key physiological processes including inflammation, metabolism, and the various manifestations of pain along with herbs that are supportive of or therapeutic to these processes.
*We cover the digestive, immune, and neuroendocrine systems in the First Year program, but will touch on them in this class as well since they overlap significantly with the systems explored more deeply in this course.
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We will discuss real-life examples of common health issues related to our explorations of the body systems, and work together to create a holistic herbal protocol to support the healing process for our imaginary ‘client’. We will often compare the protocols we create together in class with actual protocols I have made for clients with similar concerns in my private practice.
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Exploration of pulse and tongue assessment along with recommendations for reading the body as a whole.
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Overview of herbs that excel in addressing a variety of health conditions, along with a discussion of their additional virtues and energetics, how their ecological context informs their healing attributes and why you may choose one herb over another based upon the tissue state presentation and constitution of the person you are hoping to support.
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Gain a better understanding of how herbs actually work to support healing in the body by looking closely at some key herbal constituents that are widely found in the herbal preparations that herbalists employ in practice. The deeper one understands the phytochemistry of herbal medicines, the more one comes to understand that science and magic are not mutually exclusive.
By deepening our understanding of herbal constituents, polarity, solubility, and extraction, we can also develop confidence in the efficacy of the herbal preparations we make to support our community.
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Record keeping, systems, and processes for managing a growing apothecary.
Equipment
Storage considerations
Record keeping and batch tracking
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Through occasional ‘field days’ we will go out to various Chicago parks and hone our Plant ID skills together.
Field Days are somewhat different from Plant Walks in the First Year ‘Foundations Course’ – on Field Days we are utilizing field guides, keys, and other tools to develop our plant ID skills rather than focusing on the medicinal uses of plants we encounter (which is covered in the first year plant walks.
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Hone your skills in a specific realm of herbalism or ecology that is of particular interest to you, either alone or in a small group. At the end of the course, you will have the opportunity to present your project with your fellow students, or if you feel called, to present as a workshop or class at our end of year open house!
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There are instances where I receive fresh herb orders, go out and harvest herbs from the garden or elsewhere, or have some large apothecary projects that need tending to. I will always reach out to second year students first for support and help with these tasks, allowing you to gain more hands on experience working with herbs and making herbal medicine preparations. I may reach out anywhere from a day or two in advance to day of when opportunities arise – as such, these opportunities are 100% optional.
You are also welcome to participate in our Herbal Mutual Aid group which meets on a monthly basis.
Additional Learning Opportunities
Class Project & Open House
All current Greenspell students work together to plan and organize the Greenspell Annual Open House, which offers accessible, sliding-scale herbal preparations and learning opportunities to our Chicago Community. The Open House is typically held in October or November and acts as the culmination of our learning efforts throughout the duration of the course.
Students from both the Year 1 and Year 2 programs work together to curate, formulate, and prepare a selection of herbal preparations intended to support our community through the transition into colder months.
In past years, students have worked together to create a ‘zine’ to share our learnings and insights with our community. This is always a possibility, but requires the initiative of students to step up to make this happen!
Supplemental Online Community & Learning through the Greenspell Virtual Garden
Greenspell is about building relationship–with plants & fungi, with our bodies, with the earth, and especially with all the wonderful humans who learn and grow together over the course of this program.
So, I created a dedicated online community through an application called Heartbeat, where you'll be able to communicate, collaborate, & connect with other students from Greenspell outside of class. If you're familiar with slack or discord, it's kind of like that, but just for students of Greenspell (and more fun and less workplace-ey).
I will also frequently share articles and readings from the Greenspell Virtual Garden, which contains hundreds of pages of free content related to herbalism, ecology, and foraging.
At the end of the course, students will be added to the wider Greenspell online community (which includes alumni of past Greenspell Course years), which I encourage you to visit for years to come to reconnect and ask all herbalism, foraging, and ecology questions you may have!
Students who participate in the course have lifetime access to the online areas of this course, which will continue to be updated as the course evolves.
2027 Class Dates – TBD
While we are still far out from 2027’s class, if you are interested and want to plan ahead, classes will be held on a weekday evening every other week from March - October.
It is likely this evening will be every other Tuesday from 6:00 pm - 9:15 pm starting March 2, 2027 through the end of October of 2027 – but these dates won’t be confirmed until October of 2026.
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All classes will be held indoors at our apothecary and classroom in West Town (333 N Oakley Blvd, Unit 101, Chicago IL 60612), with the exception of Field Days which will be held outdoors at various city parks or forest preserves throughout the Chicagoland area.
Make sure you are able to secure transportation to these areas. I will do my best to facilitate carpooling of students within the class, but ultimately, traveling to these locations is up to you. Budget for gas and time accordingly.
All meetings will begin and end promptly at the starting and end time.
If a class will be held at a location other than the locations listed above, you will be given several weeks notice.
For field days, we meet rain or shine, so be prepared for exposure to the elements! In the event of extreme weather, field days may be cancelled. I do my best to offer make-up field days, but it may not be possible.
Be sure to read the Intensive FAQ linked below for all additional details and commonly asked questions.
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Submit your application – using the link below – the application window will be open from mid-November 2026 through the end of January 2027. The application window may close earlier if the class fills up.
Acceptance – Shortly after you submit your application, you will be notified of your acceptance to the intensive. – Know that priority is given to folks who are confident they can commit to the entire program. ***
Submit your deposit – Upon acceptance to the program, you are asked to pay an initial $500 deposit which holds your spot in the program and counts toward the full cost of this program.
Submit your remaining balance or first payment – By the official start of the program (March 1, 2027), you may then either pay your remaining balance ($1000) or make your first installation payment (no later than 3/1/2027).
Submit remaining balance (if you didn’t already pay in full) – if you haven’t already paid in full, pay your second installment payment of $500 (no later than 6/1/2027).
Orientation – once you’ve submitted your remaining balance / first installation payment, you will gain access to the Year 2 Course in the Greenspell Online Community (which you should already have access to from the Year 1 course). Get to know these online aspects of the intensive a bit by navigating through the welcome & orientation sections of each.
*** You do not have to enroll in the Year 2 program immediately after finishing the Year 1 program – you are welcome to attend any subsequent year the course is offered as long as there are spots available. We prefer you are confident you can fully commit before applying. If you participated in, but were not consistent in attending / did not fully complete the Year One ‘Foundations’ course (i.e. missed more than one class weekend), it is not likely that you will be accepted into this program.
Each year’s cohort is limited to ~15 students to maintain a strong sense of community within the group.
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Submit your application – using the link below – the application window will be open from mid-November 2026 through the end of January 2027. The application window may close earlier if the class fills up.
Interview – After you apply, I will reach out to set up a time for a brief zoom interview so we can discuss details, get to know each other a bit, and field any questions you may have about the intensive.
Acceptance – Shortly after this interview, you will be notified of your acceptance to the intensive. – Know that priority is given to folks who are confident they can commit to the entire program.
Submit your deposit – Upon acceptance to the program, you are asked to pay an initial $500 deposit which holds your spot in the program and counts toward the full cost of this program.
Submit your remaining balance or first payment – By the official start of the program (March 1, 2027), you may then either pay your remaining balance ($1000) or make your first installation payment (no later than 3/1/2027).
Submit remaining balance (if you didn’t already pay in full) – if you haven’t already paid in full, pay your second installment payment of $500 (no later than 6/1/2027).
Orientation – once you’ve submitted your remaining balance / first installation payment, you will gain access to the Greenspell Online Community. Get to know these online aspects of the intensive a bit by navigating through the welcome & orientation sections of each.
Each year’s cohort is limited to ~15 students to maintain a strong sense of community within the group.
How to Enroll:
Year Two Intensive Cost
~ $1500 ~
The cost of this intensive is $1500. Upon acceptance to the program, you are asked to pay an initial $500 deposit which holds your spot in the program and counts toward the full cost of this program.
You may then either pay the remaining balance ($1000) by March 1st, 2027 or pay in two installments of $500 (first payment by March 1, 2027 and second payment by June 1, 2027).
58 hours in-class time
~40 hours out-of-class self-study
Before applying, make sure to read over the Intensive FAQ page for common questions and other important considerations.
Students who participate in the course have lifetime access to the online areas of this course, which will continue to be updated as the course evolves.
