Culinary Delights for Kids with Spoonful Herbals: Spring Greens

Celebrate early spring by learning about 3 common spring medicinal herbs: nettles, mustard greens and dandelion leaf through song and puppet play!  Using the practices of the honorable harvest, participants will process plants into a delicious nutrient dense pesto.  

Instructor: Mary Goggin was born on the traditional homelands of the Nissenan people, in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California. Her childhood was spent climbing oaks, swimming in rivers, hiking in alpine forests and gardening with her family.  Mary attended Humboldt State University where she achieved a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology with an emphasis in Child Development and social/behavioral sciences. She has 8 years of experience working with children and their families;most recently on the traditional homelands of the Abenaki at Burlington Forest Preschool (Ethan Allen Homestead). Her pedagogical approach to teaching has been shaped by Waldorf, play and nature based education practices and is uniquely distinguished by her deep love and reverence for the animism of the natural world. In 2022, Mary studied local ecology under the mentorship of Alicia Daniels and Laura Edmonds in the Vermont Master Naturalist program and Katherine Elmer and Kara Buchanan in the Spoonful Herbals apprenticeship which she found to be most fulfilling!  Mary enjoys gardening, walks in the woods, reading, cooking and textile handwork such as crochet, felting, embroidery, etc. As the new Youth and Family Programs Coordinator, she is thrilled to be part of the Spoonful Herbals’ community and looks forward to the coming season of growth and discovery alongside children and their families.

Spoonful Herbals is the collaborative effort of community herbalists and educators Katherine Elmer and Kara Buchanan. Spoonful offers an annual Herbal CSA, which includes 3 seasonal herbal self-care packages: each providing 4-5 varied formulas, with detailed educational guidance about the plant ingredients and their uses, and educational events for members, all for $150, with convenient share pickup at Railyard Apothecary. Spoonful also runs a 6-month Community Herbalism Apprenticeship program where students learn how to identify, harvest, and create remedies from native and locally-grown medicinal herbs. Spoonful’s Herb Mob program engages volunteers to bring locally harvested (gleaned) medicinal plants into our apothecary from local organic farms and green spaces such as Shelburne Farms. www.spoonfulherbals.org