Hey! So Glad You're Here.

Plants started growing into Betzy like fungal hyphae grows into roots early in her life, giving her a deep appreciation for their magic and gifts. She’s one of the founders of the Vermont Center for Integrative Herbalism, and currently serves on the faculty, as a clinical mentor and practitioner. Betzy has lived next door to Sage Mountain for the last 20 years, where she spends a lot of happy hours in the forest, giving herb walks and collaborating with Emily on weekend retreat programs. She’s also a professional member of the American Herbalists Guild. In 1987 she began formal study at Herbal Therapeutics School of Botanical Medicine (now David Winston’s Center for Herbal Studies) and went on to teach herbal pharmacy, field botany and other subjects as an assistant instructor at the school. Lucky to be in the only class of David’s that continued for 3 years, Betzy went on to complete two graduate courses in clinical herbalism at the school as well. During this time she was also staff herbalist and general manager at Herbalist & Alchemist, David’s herbal products company. Still an avid student, her focus is on the common threads between the ancient medical systems, which ultimately lead to Nature itself--the four basic elements and the qualities intrinsic to them. Betzy has taught classes in herbal medicine, wild edible plants and the medicinal uses of food throughout the Northeast for over three decades, including many herbal and agricultural conferences. Betzy also teaches at the ROOTS School in Corinth, VT. For many years Betzy served as the office manager for United Plant Savers, a non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of native medicinal plants and their habitats. She is currently a member of UpS’s Advisory Board, and actively advocates for forest conservation locally and nationally. Admittedly more of a forager than a gardener, Betzy loves to cook nourishing food, make ferments, knit warm things, and pursue various other creative endeavors. Plants are truly her friends, and she feels ever inspired by the natural world—all its varied beings and the amazing interconnections and beauty that make up the great web of life. Betzy loves to share the herbal wisdom she feels very blessed to have learned. Her goal is to help students and clients understand the plants’ “personalities” and relate to them as fellow living beings and guides to better health.