In the Field

• Does this course come with a certification?
• How is the Free School free?
• I registered, but I haven’t received my password setup email. What should I do?
• I’m enrolled, but I can’t see or access the course materials. How do I start?
• Are course materials provided, and will anything be shipped to me?
• I can’t find the handouts provided for each lesson. HELP!
• How do we ask a question about the course material?
• Is there closed captioning for the videos?
• How many hours is this course?
• Do I need prior herbal experience?
• Is this course self-paced?
• Do I have to complete everything in order?
• Can I use this course toward hours for other herbal schools?
• How long do I have access to the course?
• General technical troubleshooting
• What other free courses do you offer?

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Does this course come with a certification?

First, a little background: ‘Herbal Certification‘ does not exist in the United States at either a federal or state level of qualification. Since there is no set standard for certification, anyone can simply print out a certificate and insta-presto, you are a ‘certified‘ herbalist.

We hope the Free School helps people realize a sound start to their journey as community herbalists. We have worked hard to craft meaningful programing that both solidifies your foundational knowledge AND encourages hands-on engagement with the plants and your community. And so at this time, the only program we offer with certification is the Herbal Foundations Course. The ‘In the Field’ Course does not at this time.

How is the Free School free?

• At Herbalista, we believe that by freely sharing herbs and education, we can help create a more vibrant and equitable world. But like any free project, it isn’t actually free for us to produce. We spent tens of thousands of dollars to build this website and another several thousand each year to maintain it. Not to mention the many, many hours of labor to create all of the materials you find here.
• But thanks to all of our sustaining members, this show can stay on the road! Their small monthly donations have not only helped to build this Free School but is what has supported all of our other programming over the years – from Herb Buses to Fire Cider Brigades to Learning Gardens. In fact, most of our funding has come from small donors giving just $5 a month. We are proof, that just like the story of Stone Soup, if everyone gives a little bit, we all can enjoy a lot together!
• If you would like to support the work, please join us and become a sustaining member. Or please consider making a one time donation. Since we left our fiscal sponsorship, donations to Herbalista are not longer tax-deductible, but still very much appreciated!

I registered, but I haven’t received my password setup email. What should I do?

Account creation emails are sent automatically within minutes of registering. If you do not see it in your inbox:

• Check your Spam, Junk, and Promotions folders. Automated transactional emails are often misrouted by email providers. Search “Herbalista”.
• Wait 5–10 minutes. Some mail servers experience slight delivery queues.
• Use the “Lost your password?” link. Visit https://herbalista.org/my-account/, click Forgot Password, enter the email address you registered with, and submit. This immediately triggers a fresh password reset link.
• Check for typos during checkout. If you still receive nothing after requesting a reset, you may have misspelled your email address during checkout. Contact us and we will help get your account updated.

I’m enrolled, but I can’t see or access the course materials. How do I start?

If you completed checkout or enrollment but cannot access the lessons:

• Confirm you are logged in. Visit the My Account page [https://herbalista.org/my-account/]. If you see your course listed you are logged in. If you see a log-in box, please enter your details to begin.
• Visit your Dashboard. Head to https://herbalista.org/my-account/. All courses attached to your account will appear here. Click on your Course to begin.
• Scroll down to “Course Content.” On the main course page, scroll past the description to the curriculum section. Click the title of the first module or lesson to begin.
• Clear your cache or try an incognito window. If you just completed checkout, your browser may be serving a cached version of the page from before you enrolled. Perform a hard refresh (Ctrl + F5 on Windows or Cmd + Shift + R on Mac).

Are course materials provided, and will anything be shipped to me?

No physical materials are shipped. The Herbalista Free School is a 100% digital learning experience, and all essential educational resources are provided online directly within the course platform. Here is how the course materials are structured:

What is fully provided online:

• Extremely detailed PDF notes for each individual section of the course (perfect for downloading or printing).
• All recipes and worksheets required to follow along with the lessons.
• Video lectures to guide you through the curriculum.

What you will need to source yourself:

• If you wish to do hands-on experiments and craft the remedies yourself, you will be responsible for sourcing your own herbs, ingredients, field guides, medicine-making equipment or other herbalistic bits ‘n bobs.
• Any additional, non-required reference books you might want to add to your personal library are up to you to acquire.

I can’t find the handouts provided for each lesson. Help!

• All lesson handouts are located within the second topic of each lesson, titled “RESOURCES”. Here is how to access them:
  • Open the RESOURCES topic for your current lesson. There are two tabs at the top of that lesson.
  • The page will automatically open to the ‘TOPIC‘ tab by default.
  • Click the ‘MATERIALS‘ tab located directly next to the ‘TOPIC‘ tab.
  • Your downloadable PDFs are all loaded within this Materials section.
  • Below is a screenshot of where you need to be looking. See at the top circled in red is the materials tabs.

How do we ask a question about the course material?

• There are a few ways you can ask questions:
  • Herbalista Members: please ask away at our online monthly member study sessions. Open to sustaining members, these zoom sessions are a great chance to ask questions to Lorna and the other community herbalists on the call. Not yet a member? Learn more and join us here. You can also use your Member’s Forum located in the Toolkit to ask questions.
  • Non-members: Lorna hosts seasonal online Free School Study Sessions that is open to all enrolled students. Dates will be posted directly on the Free School Webpage and also announced in our monthly newsletter. (If you would like to receive our newsletter, you can sign up here.)

Is there closed captioning for the videos?

• YES. The videos loaded to this course are streamed from Vimeo, which creates autogenerated closed captioning.

How many hours is this course?

• This course includes approximately 3.5 hours of video lecture content. When combined with readings, quizzes, and optional Herbwork activities, most students can expect to spend about 20–30 hours engaging with the material. Because the Herbwork focuses on ongoing seasonal observation and community-building, students who choose to deeply integrate these practices into their daily routines will easily spend additional time expanding their field skills and local materia medica.

Do I need prior herbal experience?

• No. This course was designed to be a foundational course for beginners as well as a refresher course for those already walking the herbal path. It focuses on core concepts, practical skills, and ways to bring herbalism into everyday life.

Is this course self-paced?

• Yes. This is a self-paced course with open enrollment. You can enroll at any time and move through the lessons at a speed that works for you.

Do I have to complete everything in order?

• We recommend moving through the lessons in order for the deepest learning, as concepts build on one another. However, once you are familiar with the structure, you are welcome to revisit topics and move around as needed.

Can I use this course toward hours for other herb schools?

• Many students choose to list our Free School courses as part of their foundational herbal studies. Each school has its own requirements, so we recommend checking with the program you are applying to for how they accept outside coursework.

How long do I have access to the course?

• Once enrolled, you will have ongoing access and can return to the material whenever you like. Many students revisit lessons as their herbal practice grows. Of course, we never know what the world holds, so if at some point Lorna becomes sick of all the computer time, the expense of it all, and just decides to dynamite her website, spend her days with the plants, making and sharing remedies… well, at that point, your access will definitely end.

General technical troubleshooting

• Refresh your browser to load the most recent version of the page you are viewing.
• Update your Internet Browser if needed. For best results, we recommend using Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox.
• Clear your browser cache to clear stored website data.
  • Google Chrome
  • Mozilla Firefox
• Test your internet speed and connection.
• Restart your computer to establish a clean slate.
• Switch devices to see if the problem you’re experiencing is happening on other devices, or if it is just restricted to the one.

What other free courses do you offer?

We are currently rebuilding our free school courses after our move from Teachable. Here is a listing of our Free School Course Catalogue. Please note, the courses will be released over time as they are rebuilt. When we have a release date, we will post this to the newsletter and on the Free School Webpage.

Herbalista Free School catalogue consists of the following courses:

• Herbal Foundations (now open for registration)
• In the Field (now open for registration)
• Herbal Medicine Making (TBA)
• Community & Clinical Care (TBA)