A Plant Lover’s Journey to the Green Mountain State
With Rosemary Gladstar & Robert Chartier
PLJ to Vermont has been Rescheduled for 2011.
Please inquire if interested.
“Leave Provence to the Provencals, and Tuscany to the Tuscans ~
the world is sweet enough right here”
~ Bill McKibben on Vermont
As we traveled the world on our Plant Lover’s Journeys, we often dreamt of offering a journey to Vermont. Last year we offered our first trip to Vermont and had such a great time and received such outstanding feedback, we couldn’t wait to do it again….Truly, one of the most beautiful plant rich places on earth, Vermont offers an endless variety of things to experience, enjoy and appreciate. There are the small charming villages, many unchanged since the 1700’s; the stunning Green Mountains; and Lake Champlain, considered the 6th Great Lake in North America. There are numerous small farms, goat farmers and artisan cheese makers, herbalists, vintage wineries, farmers’ markets and craft fairs. Beyond all of this, Vermont offers a sustainable and sane way of living that is hungered for in today’s world.
As environmentalist and naturalist Bill McKibben writes in Wandering Home, his wonderful book about Vermont, “In my experience the world contains no finer blend of soil and rock and water and forest than that found in this scene laid out before me ~ a few as fine, perhaps, but none finer. And no place where the essential human skills ~ cooperation, husbandry, restraint ~ offer more possibility for competent and graceful inhabitation, for working out the answers that the planet is posing in this age of ecological pinch and social fray.”
We’ll journey down the back roads and byways to some of our most beautiful villages and rural areas. Along the way we’ll visit small farms and meet with farmers and herbalists to discuss how they are revitalizing traditional farming methods. We’ll taste and sample all that’s delicious in Vermont from freshly baked bread, to newly harvested vegetables, herbs, fruits, local wines and cheeses. Dining will be a scrumptious affair prepared from delicious farm fresh food and local ingredients.
Plant Lover’s Journeys are designed to be part vacation, part inspiration, part educational ~ and lots of fun. We’ll visit some of our favorite sites in Vermont experiencing the beauty of nature. And along the way, we’ll learn from the farmers and herbalists that have made their homes in these little valleys and rugged hillsides and are renewing the farming traditions that honor the earth and the natural cycles of life. Our hope is that we each take a bit of this earthly wisdom home with us and use it to enrich our lives and communities, and as fertile compost to help fuel our personal vision of a sustainable future.
Renewing Our Traditions Features ~
- * Delicious fresh local food
- * Our home base is Sage Mountain, a beautiful Herbal Retreat Center and Botanical Sanctuary where we’re surrounded by lovely gardens and thousands of acres of wilderness.
- * Visit some of Vermont’s most scenic areas and special off the main road attractions
- * Meet with innovative farmers who are helping to restore organic and traditional agricultural practices
- * Visit farms that specialize in medicinal herbs, goats and goat milk products, organic dairy farms, wineries, organic vegetable farms, an Herbal Kids Camp, and a farm run on biodiesel.
- * Craft fair and farmers Market
These are only a few of the places and people we’ll be visiting. For a full itinerary please visit our website; www.sagemountain.com or call and request further information.
Please note, while we’ll definitely be looking at herbs, doing herb walks and visiting herb farms, this particular journey’s focus is less on herbalism and more on farming, food and nature.
Registration Information:
- $725 includes all activities, transportation within Vermont, camping or dormitory style lodging at Sage Mountain and delicious ‘localvore’ meals from Wednesday dinner through Sunday lunch. The program begins at 3 p.m. on Wednesday and concludes at 5 p.m. on Sunday.
- A $100 non refundable/non transferable deposit is required to hold your space.
- The remainder of the tuition is due by June 1st.
- If you prefer to stay elsewhere the cost is $625 and includes everything listed except lodging.
Make checks payable to Sage Mountain/PLJ and mail to:
Sage, P.O. Box 420, E. Barre, Vt. 05649
802-479-9825
sage @ sagemountain.com