Wild Indigo Herb Fest springs from a unique partnership of herbalists based in the Midwest region, Leah, Kristine, Sarah, Nicki and Celena. WIHF is a convergence of herbfolk who work with the diverse relationships in the natural world to engage plant people in the process of taking in information, transmitting it to community, and cultivating deeper relationships with the plants around us. WIHF celebrates herbalism through cross pollination by creating a space where, like worker bees transforming nectar into honey, knowledge and experience are shared so we can return to transform and nourish our communities.
This endeavor began with Kristine and Leah feeling like we needed a new place to celebrate and learn herbalism. Both of us made attempts that didn’t work for various reasons. So we got on the phone and decided, hey, we’re doing this. We see many regional herbal gatherings selling out as the national herbal community swells. This means there are more herb-curious people than ever who don’t realize that it takes more than a few classes to become an herbalist. We are hoping to engage people in a deeper learning process and celebration of natural healing with plants.
The first steps start with a place and a name. Kristine found the place, Terrapin Hill Farm, a venue with 300 acres and a history of hosting large festivals. We’ll do a spotlight story on Terrapin Hill in our next post.
Meanwhile, the name.
Kristine and Leah both decided to throw out the idea of using the region for a name. It’s often how many gatherings name themselves, plus this area is central to so many regions, Appalachia, the Ozarks, the Great Lakes, and the Midwest in general. This led to the inspiration of naming our gathering after a plant.
We scanned long lists of plants native to the region… green antelope horns, wild pink, Kentucky clover, aromatic aster… and then we came across wild indigo. (Angelic chorus please.)
Something about the color, the meaning of purple, its role in the environment and the many ways to befriend and work with wild indigo as dye, ink & medicine.
The Latin name is Baptisia australis. Baptisia means to dip or immerse, which relates to its use as a dye and evokes the world-wide traditions of water therapy and baptism. The word australis means of the south to differentiate it from Indigo, Indigofera tinctoria, native to Africa, Asia, and the Indian subcontinent.
What better name for a gathering could we come up with that means to wildly immerse ourselves in the purpleness of life.
The next step was to find more people. So Kristine and Leah tapped Nicki, Sarah, and Celena. And more importantly keynote speakers who could bring this all together into a educational celebration of cross-pollination. So this is who we are:
Sarah Hurt is a passionate herbalist with a deep connection to the natural world. As the founder of Sage and Spice Wellness Botanicals, she blends her knowledge and love for plants into bespoke herbal creations that nurture the body, mind and spirit. She is committed to sustainable practices and is enthusiastic about protecting the environment, animals and all members of the plant kingdom. Through her work, Sarah strives to connect others with Nature’s healing power, crafting each product with care, intention and reverence for Mother Earth.
Leah Wolfe, MPH, is an archetypal herbalist. You know the one, living at the edge of town with all the weird plants. Before Leah started the Trillium Center, an educational project with a United Plant Savers botanical sanctuary, she traveled to many environmental and political disasters as an herbal street medic. She combines this experience with a background in research, a love of folklore, and a full-bodied awe of nature to breathe a sense of mystery and levity into the educational experience.
Celena Chavez is a bridge builder, keeper of sacred space and wearer of many hats with a gusto for life. She’s your local community herbalist, doula, placenta encapsulation specialist, sisterhood circle space keeper and aspiring gardener. During some business hours you can find her as a nurse at an FQHC in Chicago while working towards her degree in Midwifery. Life is abundant and juicy!
Kristine Brown, RH(AHG), is helping parents teach their kids about herbalism, one herb at a time. Combining her knowledge as an herbalist and homeschooling mom, Kristine created the only children’s herbal curriculum that uses all four learning styles (visual, auditory, reading, and kinesthetic). She has taught classes for children locally and coordinated numerous herbal conference kids’ camps both locally and nationally. She is the writer and illustrator of the online children’s publication Herbal Roots zine and a membership offering, Herb Club. Teaching others about plants and drawing and sharing her knowledge with children—our future—is her passion.
Nicki Schneider, like one of her favorite wild plants, the yellow dock, is packed full of tradition, folklore and wit. Her presence is an offering of stewardship as a relationship, with the land and all its inhabitants, through seasonally based living, foraging, wild foods and reverence. She is an experience that can’t be easily articulated but felt and remembered. She offers a variety of classes and workshops out of her shared studio space, the Galactic Oasis in Lakewood, Ohio when she isn’t tending her medicine gardens, wrangling ducks or noodling on the banjo.
In our next update we’ll share more about the venue, Terrapin Hill Farm, and reveal our keynote speakers!
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