ILC

Student or Group Info

Name(s): Zoe DeWitt
Term: Spring 2022
Credits: 4
Title of ILC or Group Project: An Exploration in Herb Garden Management and Usage – Spring

Sponsor

Name: Sarah Williams Organization: The Evergreen State College

Program of Project Description

Narrative: In this in-program project titled An Exploration in Herb Garden Management and Usage, the student will learn about the maintenance and usage of herbal plants through hands-on leadership in the Evergreen herb garden, along with individual research and participation in the Home Herbalism Series by Wintergreen Botanicals. The student will also learn about using a distillery system to produce essential oils, and will present their findings to the Practice of Organic Farming program and Taste: What We Hunger For program in the form of a distilling workshop. Work will be documented on a WordPress website where weekly posts of progress in the herb garden, as well as research and photos, will be posted. Texts that will be studied include: The Organic Medicinal Herb Farmer by Jeff and Melanie Carpenter. 

Learning objective	Activity	Deliverable
To learn about herb care and management in the context of the Evergreen herb garden	I will work with the farm manager each week to create plans for work within the herb garden, and I will take a leadership role in presenting and carrying out these plans during class on Mondays.	Weekly WordPress posts with write-ups of work plans/progress within the herb garden, along with write-ups of research done on herb care
To learn about herb harvesting and usage outside of the herb garden setting	I will participate in Wintergreen Botanicals Home Herbalist Series every other week, starting January 18th and ending May 24th. I will complete all homework assignments and participate in at-home remedy-making.	Bi-weekly WordPress posts with write-ups on my work and learning through the series and personal research
To learn about using a distilling system to make herbal essential oils	Working with another student, I will learn how to work the distillery system at the Organic Farm and will work towards distilling a cedar bark essential oil, which will then be presented as a workshop to the Practice of Organic Farming program and the Taste: What We Hunger For program. We will also compile a manual to leave for future use of the distillery system.	Weekly WordPress posts with write-ups on work and progress with distilling, a manual for future use of the distillery system
Participation in modules of the Taste: What We Hunger For program	I will participate in the Community Gardening, Tasting Labs, and Scholarly Ingredient portions of the Taste: What We Hunger For program	Weekly OneDrive submissions/Wordpress write-ups

Evaluation of Work

• WordPress ePortfolio
• Final week ten presentation
• Narrative evaluations from field supervisor and/or subcontractor
• Narrative mid-quarter and final self-evaluations