Join Melissa Laurita Kohl, founder of Little Lucania Farm & Folk School (formerly Fungi Flora Folk School) for a half day immersion into the beautiful and accessible world of herbalism and pasta making!
The near universality of pasta and noodles means that you don’t have to be Italian to have early and fond memories of pasta. Tapping into this hard wired love of noodles is the perfect way to increase the diversity of plants in our diet. Pasta making is fun, affordable, and at it’s heart, simple. It is a safe and delicious vehicle for plant medicine. If you are reading this, you are probably human, and if you are human, you are alive because of a long and beautiful relationship between your ancestors and plants. We evolved in a soup of phytochemicals – the plethora of compounds found in the banquet of wild plants humans and pre-humans consumed to survive and our bodies need wild plants and herbs to thrive. And there is no more fun way to take your medicine than to eat it as pasta.
In this introductory class on herbal pasta making we will review the following tasty topics:
Why Herbal Pasta?
Introduction to the Herbs - Garden Walk & Harvest
Pastabilities & Resources - How to make pasta
Pasta Making Demo & Workshop
Water-based decoction & infusion
Pasta Supper & Pasta Stories
Participants will dive right into pasta making and learn some basic herbalism. We will have hands on experience making pasta and will leave fed (obviously!) and equipped to make their own herbal pasta magic at home!
About Melissa
For 22 years, she followed her passion for plants, studying organic farming, permaculture, and herbalism. As an artist, writer, and a half Italian mutt from NYC, her many passions have pushed and pulled her from the concrete streets of her home city to the hills of Vermont. In 2015, she founded a small herb school in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. Fungi Flora Folkschool was a flurry of warmth, community, and the passion and excitement that is born of learning how to use herbs as food and medicine. The magic of pasta was only the first stop of her journey to rediscover her Italian roots and the mystery and wisdom inherent in these tiny but powerful mothers before me. La Via, as taught to her by some very chatty and helpful ancestors, her stregoneria teacher Gianmichael Salvato, and her Benedicaria teacher, Gail Faith Edwards, have added a depth to her practice and helped her realize that health should not be measured by productivity but by her ability to stay present in her life and enjoy the riches and power there. Melissa is also part of the 2020 cohort of Rootstock Retreat Conscious Creation Apprentices.
Cost to attend
This joyful, nourishing half day workshop is $85.00/person and includes instruction, all materials, a delicious pasta supper, and some organic flour & fresh herbs to make a batch from your home garden.