Reconnect to your ancestral knowing with the plants
With training, community, and guidance, we can remember and reclaim our own herbal lineage.
Learn about botanical wisdom from Clinical Herbalists and lineage holders at Oshala Farm in Southern Oregon.
Connect with your purpose, immersed in Nature.
A retreat with a community of herbalists.
Ancestral Herbal Immersion Retreat + Midsummer Celebration
In-Person Immersion at Oshala Farm, Oregon, June 19-24
This is more than a course. It’s a sanctuary.
The Ancestral Herbal Program weaves online learning with a 6-day immersive retreat at Oshala Farm in Williams, Oregon. Surrounded by herbs in bloom, you’ll experience a full nervous system reset: digital detox, community meals, plant walks, first aid materia medica, Summer Solstic Celebration, herbal medicine making, traditional crafting, ceremony, and laughter under the stars.
What You’ll Experience:
Digital detox & nervous system reset - six days of nature, rest, and ritual
Rejuvenation - time to rest deeply, laugh, and celebrate joy with community
Nature-based healing - plant walks, harvests, and medicine-making on the farm
Deep meaning - ancestral ceremonies, storytelling, and ritual practices
Herbal Skill - to bring into your daily practice
Program Structure:
In-Person Immersion (40 hrs) — June 19–24, 2026 at Oshala Farm
Integration Circles (July–Sept) — online gatherings to carry wisdom home
Hybrid Tuition: $2600
Note: Children 5 and over are welcome with their parent/guardian by invitation, for an additional fee ($400). Please reach out to laura@landofverse.com, to discuss the retreat and your child’s needs.
Deepening our sense of wellbeing, we will be immersed in traditional crafts, storytelling, advanced herbal skill, traditional Swedish midsummer celebration, and deep connection with nature.
During this 6-day immersion, you will get 40 hours of instruction and connection with plants.
This is intentionally a digital detox retreat, helping each person land with the intention of learning, connecting, and recalibrating.
Food served will be based on nourishing, seasonal foods to support healthy hormone balance, and a strong body. We focus on ancestral foods in all of our gatherings, connecting deeper with the natural cycles of humans and nature. All meals include organic animal protein, and vegetarian options are available by request.
Connect in-person on a Regenerative Agriculture Herb Farm
Oshala Farm | Applegate, Oregon
Oshala Farm is a certified organic farm that uses regenerative, sustainable cultivation practices. We are stewards of the land farming with generations to come in mind.
Founded by herbalist, Elise and her husband, Jeff, Oshala blends the love of healing plants and stewarding land through organic and regenerative agriculture farming. Love is infused into this land, producing some of the most healing and potent herbs on the planet.
What is Regenerative Agriculture?
Regenerative agriculture is a holistic approach to farming and land management that aims to restore and improve the health of the soil, biodiversity, and ecosystems by working in harmony with natural systems, rather than against them. Its goal is to move beyond simply sustaining current conditions to actively rebuilding and restoring the land's ability to support life, focusing on outcomes like increased soil organic matter, improved water cycles, reduced reliance on synthetic inputs, and enhanced carbon sequestration.
During our stay at Oshala Farm, we will be connecting with the land, harvesting wild plants from around the farm.
We will take a tour of the farm to learn about how an operating farm works!
Accommodations include camping right next to a river, perfect for swimming and cooling off!
Tuition includes camp sites, all herbal materials, all meals. It does not include travel, tents nor gear.
Agenda for our Ancestral Herbal Immersion
June 19 – 24, 2026
Each day will begin with yoga and meditation. We will share meals with one another, and have time for contemplation and reflection throughout the day.
Day 1 — Arrival & Ancestral Grounding
Connect with one another, meet the plants surrounding the outdoor classroom, and share our first meal together.
Day 2 - Botanical Dyes & Plant Colors + Elder Care
After a tour of Oshala Farm, we will let’s the colors roll! We will use fresh herbs and flowers from the farm to make custom botanical scarves.
Day 3 - Summer Solstice Celebration
We will spend the day foraging for herbs, foods and flowers to celebrate Midsummer (Summer Solstice). We will create a traditional flower crown, and create a maypole in the woods.
Day 4 - First Aid Plants and Physical Examinations
We will explore the most common plants used for first aid situations, and learn basic wound care and wrapping techniques. We will also learn physical examinations.
Day 5 - Herbal Crafts and Medicine Making
We will make rosaries with fresh flowers from the farm. After diving into contemplation with flowers, we will make flower essences and traditional incense.
Day 6 - Basket Weaving & Closing
Weaving together all of our time together, we will make simple baskets to close our week together.
Meet your Herbalist Facilitators for the Ancestral Immersion Retreat
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Swedish Herbalist + Forager
Lisen Sundgren is a Swedish herbalist, forager, nature & forest therapy guide, author, meditation teacher, and certified nutrition adviser with over 30 years of experience working with wild and cultivated edible plants. She has spent her life immersed in the natural world—gathering wild foods, exploring plant medicine, guiding forest bathing experiences, and leading courses and retreats that deepen people’s connection to nature. Lisen is a prize-winning author and has collaborated with chefs, restaurants, and wellness communities internationally to inspire sustainable, healthy, and joyful lifestyles rooted in nature. Lisen lives in Stockholm, Sweden and you can find her at lifebylisen.com
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RN & Clinical Herbalist
Tirzah Zbinden is a California-based integrative herbalist specializing in geriatric and elder wellness. With over 20 years of experience as a registered nurse working in hospitals and hospice care in Sonoma County, Tirzah combines clinical insight with the healing power of plant medicine for symptom management, comfort, and holistic support. She creates personalized herbal and lifestyle guidance rooted in compassion, nature, and whole-person care, including support for caregivers and individuals seeking alternatives to conventional treatments. You can find Tirzah at thegorillaherbalist.com
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Clinical Herbalist & Founder
Laura Ash is a Western clinical herbalist and educator with roots in the Sierras of Northern California, devoted to plant medicine and the ancestral traditions that connect people to land and community. She began her formal herbal studies in 2000 at the California School of Herbal Studies and continued training in clinical herbalism, ethnobotany, Ayurveda, and vitalist traditions with teachers including David Hoffmann, Dr. Aviva Romm, Chanchal Cabrera, and Dr. Vasant Lad.
Since 2006, Laura has run the First Aid Clinic at the Northern California Women’s Herbal Symposium, a role that has shaped her commitment to accessible, community-based herbal care.
Her work weaves Western herbal therapeutics with folk practice, plant spirit connection, and embodied learning. Through teaching, clinical practice, Laura supports people in remembering their relationship to the natural world and cultivating meaningful relationships with the healing plants around them. Laura is the founder of Land of Verse, you can find her here.
Testimonials from our Herbal Retreat 2024
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There is so much heart, realness and accessibility here. I love how much we were encouraged to explore, and guided without being micromanaged. I cannot get over how present and generous with your time and knowledge you were (an always are) Laura-- from first thing in the morning until time for bed. You passion for this work in palpable and that is also reflected in all of the teachers.
Megan
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Spectacular. I appreciated that everyone was encouraged and assured that the time was our own to relax, learn, or explore as we each saw fit.
Jenny
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I am so grateful to have the opportunity and flexibility to study at Land of Verse online, but this really illuminated for me how vital the in person dynamic is, both for community building and skill building... It feels so much easier to make genuine connection in person and the material is easier to learn bc it is hitting lots of different learning styles.
Becky
This payment is for people joining the Ancestral Herbal Retreat at Oshala Farm, and participating in the online Herbal Ancestral Guided Course.