Homer Elliott

Homer Elliott is a Goddess, Gaia, and Greenman inspired Pagan, and a denizen of the forest. He is also a Botanist and Ecologist by training and has conducted many classes, field-trips and workshops for universities, arboreta, museums, community, and volunteer organizations or other entities (e.g. TNC). Homer has a MS in Natural Resources from the University of Vermont and a BS in Horticultural Science from Temple University in Philadelphia, and is currently working on his PhD in Environmental and Plant Biology at Ohio University in Athens. He worked for a number of years for Temple University running their native plant propagation center, and managing various gardens of Temple's Landscape Arboretum as well as being involved in community outreach and teaching in ecology and botany. He specializes in our native flora and their mycobionts (symbiotic fungi), as well as the flow of energy and nutrients through these incredibly interconnected spatially and temporally stratified networks, especially in forests. Ecology and evolution are part of the context of these explorations. Homer is an avid forager of sustainably harvested medicinal herbs, ramps, and a wide variety of choice edible mushrooms. Woodland wildflowers, trees, shrubs, and mushrooms are familiar companions on his quest to explain the embedded memory of being a healthy, living planet.

Forest Wildflower, Herb, Plant and Mushroom Walks along Wisteria's Trails: an Interactive Experience in Plant and Mushroom Identification and Ecology, Greenman-Style.

In this workshop, we shall discover what the magical forests have to offer in their notable plant and mushroom diversity along the beautiful woodland trails at Wisteria. We'll explore the natural history, ecology, plant diversity from the canopy to the understory to the forest herbs and wildflowers, and mushroom diversity. We shall share and learn aspects of plant identification such as of woodland wildflowers, shrubs, trees, ferns and also discuss their ecology, evolution, interconnectedness, and medicinal and spiritual uses. We will learn aspects of mushroom identification and how to safely identify and use a few choice edible mushroom species such as chanterelles, ceps and others. We'll explore how to deeply respect and love all of these plant and mushroom beings, and discuss anthropogenic impacts to our forests, and where we fit into the picture. Two to three such interactive plant and mushroom walks along the trails of Wisteria are offered. We will meet in the grassy area near the sweat lodge, and use the trails in that area (unless another nearby trail proves more exceptional this year). Although the walks will not be strenuous or exceedingly long, participants should be in decent enough health such as is required to enjoy dancing around the drum circle, and have footwear suitable for the sometimes uneven woodland trails at Wisteria. The nature of these walks will be interactive and questions are encouraged.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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