Workshops
I have taught herbal medicine for many years and at many different levels. I am passionate about helping people develop the knowledge and confidence to use plants as foods and medicines.
I often teach at Dilston Physic Garden which is a beautiful and unique herb garden near Hexham. I run a 10 day in depth herbal medicine course in association with this garden and two other herbalists (Jill Schnabel and Sarah Hughes) and Nicolette Perry , called the foundation in plant medicine. This is a diploma course and is now recognised as a foundation training for Heartwood - a professionsal Herbal Medicine course.
For many years I have been interested in a more intuitive and spirtiual approach to plant medicine and teach a workshop entitiled Plant Spirit Medicine with my wife.
Details of courses for the coming year are given below.
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Seasonal Retreat Days
Dates for 2024 will be announced soon
Location: The Peace Garden , Minsteracres, DH8 9RT
Come and join us for a spacious day in the tranquillity of the Peace Garden, celebrating the arrival of Spring. We will have time to reflect, nourish ourselves and to seek guidance.
Tools to aid our enquiry will include poetry and spiritual texts, meditation, reflective writing, working with intuition and simply bringing mindful awareness to being in nature.
Led by Ross and Katrina Menzies of Let's Get Growing, a gardening therapy project at Minsteracres, which helps people find healing and meaning through connecting with nature. Ross is a practising medical herbalist. Both Ross and Katrina are ordained as interfaith ministers
Booking info: Cost for each day is £55, to include seasonal, home-cooked lunch provided by us. Please call Ross on 07762 244381, or e mail rossherbalist@gmail.com, to book a place. (£30 deposit to be paid at time of booking please).
PLANT SPIRIT MEDICINE - 2 Day
Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th June 2024 , 10am -4pm
(places still available)
Venue: Dilston Physic Garden (between Hexham and Corbridge)
Tutors: Ross Menzies and Katrina Padmore
Working with plants as living, evolved, complex beings and coming to them from a place of reverence, allows access to a deeper medicine. In this way plants can act as our allies and be profoundly helpful, not only for physical ailments, but also on our personal spiritual journey.
This is an opportunity to develop your capacity to access sacred experience. During the weekend you’ll find your own plant ally to work with at this stage in your life’s journey and prepare an essence from your plant to take home and use. Using a range of intuitive practices, including meditation, perceiving with the heart , using subtle senses and journeying to the beat of a drum, we will work towards a deeper connection with a number of our wonderful native medicinal plants and trees.
Please bring a packed lunch; hot drinks will be supplied. You may wish to bring a camera or sketch pad to help identification of plants after the course. Please bring waterproofs or an umbrella if it is wet, as the course will still run.
Cost: £120 for the 2 day course (deposit £60 on booking).
Wild ,Medicine, Wild Food
Saturday 18th May
and Sat 24th August 2024 (places still available)
10am - 4.00pm
Venue: Dilston Physic Garden (between Hexham and Corbridge)
A walk in the countryside will never be the same again!! Discover how to identify, harvest and use many wild plants for medicine and food.
Recognising plants when out in nature, and working with them to make medicines and foods can be a wonderful journey of deepening your connection to the natural world.
Becoming more aware of the meaning of symptoms and understanding which herbs can be used to help restore balance is a life affirming adventure.
This day will provide the skills, knowledge and confidence to start treating many minor ailments with plants and to begin using them to help stay healthy and vital.
We will learn how to identify medicinal plants, which time of year to harvest them, which parts of each plant to use and and how to process them in order to make a range of medicines. In each of the courses we will focus on those plants that are most relevant at the time of year.
You will make an ointment and a tincture to take home as well as several other preparations and we will also explore some of the delicious and nutritious foods to be found in the wild.
Ross has been a practicing herbalist for 20 years, he has a clinic in at his home in Hexhamshire (map and directions are on the location page of web site). He is an experienced teacher and is passionate about sharing his enthusiasm and experience with others.
Booking – The course costs £60 - and a £30 deposit is required to secure a place, the full balance being paid on the day.