2026 Medicinal Plant Walks
with Chicago herbalist, Alex Williams
Acquaint yourself with the medicinal and edible plants of our bioregion – join myself and fellow plant lovers to explore all of the wonderful medicinal & edible plants at various locations throughout Chicago!
At these walks you'll have the opportunity to connect with plants, learn about ethical foraging and wildcrafting, deepen your ecological awareness of our unique and beautiful bioregion, and gain a better understanding of how to utilize our local plants and mushrooms for food or medicine from the perspective of a clinical herbalist.
We will discover different plants (and some mushrooms) at different times during the year and at different locations, so feel free to come to more than one, as you will learn new things each time!
We will finish off our plant walk with a general Q&A at the conclusion of each walk.
~ There are only 15 spots available per walk ~
Solidarity Pricing:
To make this opportunity accessible for as many folks as possible, we offer 4 spots at each plant walk at 50% off the full cost of the plant walk (excluding guest or co-led plant walks). Generally these spots are reserved for low-income or BIPOC folks. Please refer to First Curve’s Sliding Scale Guide to see if it’s appropriate for you to claim one of these spots.
The remaining spots are ‘Pay What You Can’ starting at $30
If you have the means, and would like to support our ongoing efforts to provide more accessible learning opportunities, we encourage you to pay up to $50 for the plant walk.
sign up!
sign up!
~ 2026 Dates Coming Soon ~
note the ‘RSVP’ links won’t work below until I publish the 2026 dates
Saturday, June 21, 2025
1:00 - 3:00 pm
Patchwork Farm
Discover a wonderful refuge of medicinal plants with fellow nature enthusiasts on an afternoon walk at Chicago Patchwork Farm, located in the heart of Humboldt Park. Thanks to the efforts of devoted farmers and volunteers, the Chicago Ave location boasts a diverse range of medicinal plants and natives to connect with. This provides us with a unique opportunity to explore the various health benefits they offer while meeting each of these beneficial plants in person.
Saturday, August 2, 2025
11:00 am - 1:00 pm
Humboldt Park
A wonderful place to explore tons of Chicago Region natives that are typically found across diverse ecosystems within a very short walk. Prairie, wetland, and aquatic plants nestled underneath willows, alders, and cottonwoods. Much to explore here and likely very close to your front stoop!
Saturday, August 20, 2025
6:00 - 8:00 pm
Montrose Bird Sanctuary
Join us for a laid back evening walk through the Montrose Bird Sanctuary.
For this walk, I am joined by the delightful Natalie Ann Evans – forager, educator, and doula, for a deeper exploration of the edible plants of our bioregion, with a little bit of the medicinal uses of plants from myself!
Saturday, August 23, 2025
11:00 am - 1:00 pm
Horner Park
From industrial corridor hosting brick manufacturers, to riverside garbage dump, to oak savanna restoration, Horner Park has had a very unique history of landscape changes over the course of the last century.
Fortunately, thanks to efforts by the Chicago District US Army Corps of Engineers, Chicago Park District, and Friends of The Chicago River (among others), we now have a beautiful native plant restoration along the river, native medicinal and edible plants are found in abundance.
The paths are narrow though so be prepared for a close and cozy plant walk :)
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Patchwork Farm – 2825 W Chicago Ave, Chicago, IL 60622. Generally, we meet in the ‘People Patch’ on the East end of the farm. The farm is small, so you should be able to find us! – click the link for the precise location.
Humboldt Park – Meet in the grass near the parking lot of the Humboldt Park Field House (1440 N Humboldt Blvd, Chicago, IL 60647). Click the link above for precise location.
Horner Park – 2741 W Montrose Ave, Chicago, IL 60618 – click the link for the precise meeting location.
For all locations, try to arrive a few minutes early so we can start on time.
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Patchwork Farm – Street parking is available on Chicago Ave, but can be limited at times. Please arrive early to ensure you find a spot.
Humboldt Park – There is a small parking lot at the field house and if full people typically park on the street leading into the parking lot which never seems to be an issue. There is also spillover parking at the boat house just down the street. Street parking is also available at this location surrounding the park.
Horner Park – Street parking is available at this location on California Ave. There are also parking lots within the park just off of California Ave. Parking lot and street parking can be very full on weekends so make sure to arrive early to find parking.
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Patchwork Farm – There is a compost toilet that is quite rustic (but not too shabby) at the rear of the farm available for use by all participants.
Humboldt Park – There are restrooms located in the fieldhouse across the parking lot from our initial meeting spot.
Horner Park – There are restrooms located in the Horner Park fieldhouse at the northwest corner of the park, a quick walk from our initial meeting spot.
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See ‘Considerations for Plant Walks’ link above.
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For the most up-to-date information regarding the plant walk, please return to this webpage. You will also receive a reminder prior to the date of the plant walk. Please add alex@greenspell.org to your contacts so emails related to the plant walk don't get sent to your spam folder.
You can reach out to me via email with any questions prior to the start of the plant walk, but I won’t be reachable once the plant walk begins.
