Home Herbal Pharmacy Pilot Course in Italy

Our Italian partner, Hyla, a nature studio based in Tuoro sul Trasimeno, Umbria, decided to hold the Home Herbal Pharmacy Pilot Course over two weekends, two months apart.

This allowed the 12 participants (strictly over 54, the project's target age group) to know and experience two different realities. From July 26 to 28, 2024, the first weekend took place in Roio, near L'Aquila and the Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga National Park, the heart of wild Abruzzo, a rugged and largely untouched region that is among the richest in plant biodiversity in Italy and the Mediterranean. The second weekend took place in Sant'Anatolia di Narco, in the verdant Umbria region, rich in water and herbal traditions. Here, the participants, guests of a real farmhouse, "Zafferano e dintorni," were able to experience the tight, seasonal rhythms of working the land.

The program was structured over two weekends, two months apart, allowing teachers to complete the standardized program, including the technical timeframes for maturing the infusions and drying the harvested herbs.

On the first weekend, in addition to classroom theory, an introduction to systematic botany and the use of plant identification keys, several workshops were held: natural dyeing, cooking with seasonal herbs, and making infusions with common medicinal plants such as St. John's Wort and yarrow. This was followed by plant identification walks in the splendid mountain scenery of Abruzzo, and ample sharing of memories and knowledge related to herbs.

During the second weekend, participants learned, through classroom, field, and laboratory sessions, how to independently make easy preparations: ointments, herbal teas, honeys, syrups, mother tinctures, and more. They also experimented with collecting plants to prepare some tasty recipes, propagating wild plants for home cultivation, and creating their own personal herbarium to ensure they never forget the plants they learned.

Instructors Marta Giampiccolo (anthropologist and plant food expert) and Daniela Tinti (botanist and plant communicator), who accompanied the participants during the first part of the course, which took place in L'Aquila in July, were joined by Roberta Bruni (naturopath and herbalist).