Herb Society of America, Baton Rouge Unit
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Welcome to the Herb Society of America, Baton Rouge Unit


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Forage Where the Wild Herbs Grow
Saturday, July 26, 9:00 a.m.–3:30 p.m.
Ione Burden Conference Center, LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens, 
4560 Essen Lane, Baton Rouge, LA 70809

Long before grocery stores and instant delivery, it was normal to find nourishment and healing from the plants and fungi in our surroundings. Come join us as we spend the day wildcrafting at the beautiful LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at Burden and discover the wonder of indigenous plants that grow on its grounds! 

Forage Where the Wild Herbs Grow is a day-long mini-symposium on finding, learning about, and using the wild herbs and mushrooms that grow in our area. Our expert speakers will help foster a deeper appreciation of these powerful indigenous plants, showing you how to identify and experience the benefits of using these precious natural resources right outside your door!

Our special guest speakers for the event are Betty Sue O’Brian, natural physician and health trainer; Lynda Baker, forager and herbalist; and John Nettles, local foraging expert.
Here's our program schedule for the day:

8:30 AM – 9:00 AM
Registration

Sharon Kleinpeter, Membership Chair

9:00 AM – 9:15 AM
Introductions and Welcome

Kathleen Harrington, Unit Chair, and Daria Doyle, Co-Chair

9:15 AM –​ 10:30 AM
Introduction to Foraging

John Nettles, Local Foraging Expert, and Linda Baker, Forager and Herbalist
Participants will learn the basics of foraging and how to identify and harvest native herbs safely and responsibly. Note: We will NOT be harvesting the plants we identify; this is a session designed to teach the skills participants can use anywhere.

10:30 AM –​ 10:45 AM
Break

10:45 AM –​ 12:00 PM
Herbal Information / Green Smoothies

Linda Baker, Forager and Herbalist, and Betty Sue O’Brian, Natural Physician and Health Trainer

12:00 PM –​ 1:00 PM
Lunch

HSABR Culinary Committee

1:00 PM –​ 2:00 PM
Plant Energetics / Our Relationships with Plants

Betty Sue O’Brian, Natural Physician and Health Trainer

2:00 PM –​ 2:15 PM
Break

2:15 PM –​ 3:30 PM 
Creating a Flower Essence
Betty Sue O’​Brian, Natural Physician and Health Trainer

3:30 PM –​ 4:00 PM
Q&A and Closing Comments / Clean up

Door prizes will be given away at each break and at the end of the day!

Early bird registration is July 3rd through 19th. Admission is $10 for all active members of the Herb Society of America, $20 for families and friends of HSA members and members of other plant societies, and $30 for the general public. After July 19, all tickets are $50. This event is rain or shine and tickets are non-refundable.

Register at EventBrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/forage-where-the-wild-herbs-grow-tickets-1422731912449?aff=oddtdtcreator

Our special guests: 

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Betty Sue O’Brian
Dr. Betty Sue O’Brian, herbalist and naturopath, uses safe and natural therapies to help a person bring the body into balance. She is dedicated to teaching better ways to eat, drink, and “live it” through dietary and lifestyle adjustments that provide good nutrition and proper exercise for the body, mind, and spirit.
Betty Sue was always interested in food and diet, and studied food and nutrition with a minor in Dietetics from U.S.M. She says, “Later, when I had children of my own, I took my young son to a Traditional Naturopath and herbalist. Throughout his childhood, I grew to appreciate her simple approach to health…no scare tactics or ‘​bad news’​ diagnoses! I loved what I learned and was hungry for more. I studied iridology with Dr. Bernard Jensen and so loved what I learned that I began to share it by teaching others.”
For the past fifteen years, she has offered guidance and assistance to those looking for support in their healing journeys. Dr. Betty Sue has treated a full range of “dis-eases” in children, adults, and the elderly. She sees her role as one who helps people get to the cause of their imbalance via food-based healing, herbs, and lifestyle changes. She utilizes a variety of modalities including diet and nutritional counseling, functional medicine, chakra balancing, energy medicine, supplementation recommendations, botanical medicine, flower essence therapy, and detox strategies. She recommends iridology as a baseline, genetic marker. The body can heal given the right stimulus.
Her many years teaching in the classroom have provided Dr. Betty Sue with a command of the language (of health) and the ability to empower others to take charge of their health. When clients say, “my doctor has me on…”​ or “my doctor won’t take me off of…,” she encourages them to discuss how they feel and why they might want to make a change with their doctor and not just accept something they know is not right for them. Read more at https://bettysueobrian.com/betty-sue/.
Betty Sue has lived and worked on the Mississippi Gulf Coast all of her life. For twenty-five years, she taught at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. She is past-President of the International Iridology Practitioners Association. Follow her on Facebook at Betty Sue Says.


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Lynda Baker
​Lynda Baker wrote her first herbal paper, “Nature’s Medicines, So Misunderstood,” as an 11th grade
English requirement in 1977. She got the idea from a National Geographic book about plants and
medicine that her sister had brought home from college. Lynda received a BS in Geology in 1984
and an MS in Environmental Geochemistry in 1989. She held Chemistry positions at the Gulf Coast
Research Laboratory, Environmental Chemistry Section, and the United States Department of
Agriculture National Monitoring & Pesticide Residue Analysis Laboratory, Wet Chemistry Section
from 1990–1997. She studied with Darrell Martin, the founding Herbalist and owner of Blue Boy
Herbs, starting in 1995. Darrell is brilliant and unique in his approach to herbalism. He is versed in
the previous systems of Western Medicine (Eclectic, Thomsonian Schools and more), Ayurvedic
Medicine and Teachings of India, and the Materia Medica of our area. In 1997, Lynda co-founded
The Essential Herb Company, an herb shop, healing center, and herb school in Ocean Springs,
Mississippi. She completed and co-taught Rosemary Gladstar’s “Art and Science of Herbalism” during this time. She founded and operated Essential Herb Cottage in Long Beach, Mississippi (2001–2018). Essential Herb Cottage was focused on our local herbs and their identification and uses, as taught by Darrell Martin, The Herb Cottage served as a hub of healing and community herbalism, providing herb walks, classes, speakers, performers and drum circles; and as an Apothecary,
providing herbal formulas, herbs, and supplies for the community. Lynda currently lives in Biloxi, Mississippi, where she continues her herbal healing work, which includes writing, speaking, teaching, and crafting small-batch artisan herbal products with the seasons.

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John Nettles
John is a local foraging expert who aims to inspire a shift in which foraging becomes second nature in the South, making foraging a core tradition that reconnects people with the land, their roots, and each other. Visit his website at ​https://slowhikecompany.com/.

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​If you haven’t already renewed your membership in HSABR...

It’s time! Our membership year runs from September to August, so please get your renewals in by September 30. And if you’re not yet a member, now is a great time to remedy that situation!

Your membership in the Herb Society of America, Baton Rouge Unit (HSABR), includes all of the benefits of the national organization as well as our local unit. There are many wonderful benefits to membership, including numerous opportunities to learn and delight in the use of herbs. Our programs include lectures on a wide range of topics related to growing, cooking and using herbs. We also spend time tending to our community gardens in companionship with other members who are passionate herb devotees!

Membership in the 
Herb Society of America gives you access to the members-only area on the website and many HSA publications, including the HSA Quarterly Newsletter, Unit Connections, HerbalBytes, and GreenBridges™ newsletters, among others. HSA also offers informative webinars that provide our members with the opportunity to share their knowledge, delight, and use of herbs, as well as their varied experiences with a larger herbal community. Members can browse HSA's unique herb-related library, with over 3,500 volumes with topics ranging from vintage books on horticulture to modern fiction. Plus, you get exclusive discounts for online herb products, magazines, online herb classes, and reduced or free admission to public gardens and arboreta through AHS' Reciprocal Admissions Program.

Please visit the HSA's Membership page for a full list of benefits. In addition, being a member of HSABR puts you in contact with a pretty fine group of local folks who can help inspire you, assist you, and sympathize with you in your herbal pursuits!

Dues run from September to August, so the fee will be prorated if you join (not renew!) in a different month (click here for proration chart). You may pay by PayPal or check. The PayPal link will be on the confirmation page that comes up after submitting the membership application form, but if possible, please mail your check (payable to HSABR) to the address on the membership form, as that saves us PayPal fees and saves our treasurer a fair amount of hassle.

​Please note: Your renewal/application is not complete until payment is received.

New Members Join Here
Current Members Renew Here

HSABR webmaster: [email protected]
Herb Society of America