17 oct 2026
Plants, in their steadfast commitment to place, can teach us how to move with the seasonal cycles and how to heal our inner and outer landscapes.
Exploring the Medicine of Winter
Learning to live in right relationship with the natural world is a foundational tenet and natural outpouring of Zen practice. In herbal medicine, paying close attention to the seasonal cycles in our own backyards opens a window for understanding individual and community health.
In this afternoon workshop, participants will enjoy an introduction to local plant medicine as they explore the season of winter and the plants that can accompany us through this time of year. Following a short walk through the temple grounds, participants will have a chance to make winter remedies to take home, including fire cider and elderberry syrup. We will end our afternoon with tea and a tasting session. Together, we will gain a deeper understanding of this time in the Wheel of the Year and the remedies and practices that can support us through this season.
Medicine and sickness cure each other. The whole earth is medicine. What is your self?
—Zen Master Ummon
What You Will Learn
Participants will gain a basic understanding of local plant medicine and how to work with the Wheel of the Year. Everyone will leave with a booklet with information about this phase in the Wheel of the Year, instructions for preparing winter remedies, and the herbs that can support us during this season.
Schedule
- 01:30 — Welcome and Tea
- 01:45 — Introduction to Local Plant Medicine and the Wheel of the Year
- 02:15 — Walk through the temple grounds
- 02:45 — Making winter remedies
- 03:30-5:00 — Refreshments, tastings, and sharing
Instructor—Aylie Baker
Aylie feels fortunate that over the years she has been able to learn about gardening from Zen Center members while working in the Center’s flower and vegetable gardens. She received herbal training as an apprentice of Spoonful Herbals, led by Kara Buchanan and Katherine Elmer, and as a clinical intern at the Vermont Center for Integrative Herbalism in Plainfield, Vermont, under the guidance of Betzy Bancroft, Larken Bunce, Kristin Henningsen, Linden DeVoil, and Julie Mitchell. She is also mentored by her mother, Caroline, a gardener and retired nurse, and herbalist, Deb Soule, with whom she worked for two seasons as a gardener at the biodynamic herb farm and pollinator sanctuary, Avena Botanicals in Rockport, Maine.