NOTE: The Farm Trail at the Van Vleck Farm and Nature Sanctuary is temporarily closed.

New for Fall! Earth Medicine School

Join Dr. Lindsay Chimileski for a monthly class that provides a deep dive into holistic healing through the seasons. From fall through early spring, we’ll explore how to identify wild herbs and fungi, craft your own remedies, and align your life with nature’s rhythms.

Each class takes place on Thursday, from 3:00-6:00 PM. You may now register for individual classes. More info is on the registration page at the link below. Class dates are:

  • November 6, 2025
  • December 4, 2025
  • January 8, 2026
  • February 5, 2026
  • March 5, 2026
  • April 2, 2026
REGISTER NOW

Questions? Please contact Adele Falco.

A Monthly Class in Tune with the Seasons

November - Rewilding the Senses & Fall Foraging Foundations
  • Welcome circle, introductions, community agreements
  • Introduction to herbalism: vitalism vs. mechanist paradigms
  • Reconnecting to nature’s rhythms through food and medicine
  • Tea tasting: fall wild herbs for immunity and digestion
  • Safety, ethics, and respectful foraging
  • Introduction to Mushroom Medicine health benefits and autumn allies: maitake, hericium species, honey mushrooms, chicken of the woods, turkey tails, chaga
  • Fire Cider Workshop
  • Fungi + Herb Walk
  • Fungi + Herb ID skills: recognizing plant family patterns, how to use field guides
  • Hands-on practice in the field after classroom outline
  • Natural immune system foundations: items to stock in your pantry
  • Dual-extract tincture-making with dried fungi
  • Change of season soups and broths: demo & take-home
  • Amanita mushroom medicine highlight
  • Fungi + Herb Walk
  • Seasonal eating and vitality living with nature’s rhythms: winter herbs and allies
  • The power of herbal teas and infusions: demo & tea tasting
  • Formulating tincture concepts: practice designing your own daily immune support blend
  • Working with mushrooms and herbs for brain health, immunity, and mood
  • Personal plant relationship building + gratitude practices
  • Fungi + Herb Walk
  • Herbs for stress, vitality, burnout, and mood (local wild herbs, ones you can grow in your garden, and popular industry herbs)
  • Seasonal nervous system practices
  • Forest bathing & wild water immersion
  • Formulating tincture concepts: practice designing your own daily stress support blend
  • Salve-making demo
  • Fungi + Herb Walk
  • Culinary herbalism: broths, vinegars, fire cider, infused honeys
  • Incorporating foraged foods and herbs into everyday meals
  • Benefits of wild foods and herbs
  • Materia medica spotlight: what’s available in early spring
  • Fungi + Herb Walk
  • Review & repetition of key concepts, resources for continued learning
  • Toxic plant & mushroom review, quiz, and practice
  • Spring Kitchen Medicines: Ramp Pesto, Garlic Mustard, Violets, Lilacs, Hawthorn etc
  • Nettles Soup, Spring Wild Pestos, Spring Salads
  • Final Fungi + Herb Walk

About Dr. Lindsay Chimileski

Dr. Lindsay is a Naturopathic Doctor, acupuncture specialist, and registered herbalist with a lifelong passion for reconnecting people with the wisdom of the natural world. With over 20 years of experience in the field of holistic health, she blends science, spirit, and seasonal rhythms to help others remember how to care for themselves and their loved ones through nature-based medicine.

Her approach is rooted in vitalism—honoring the body’s innate intelligence—and she brings a grounded, heart-centered presence to every class. Whether she’s leading a mushroom walk, teaching formulation skills, or brewing broths and teas, Lindsay empowers her students to build confidence, curiosity, and resilience through plant and fungi allies.She owns and operates Hawthorn Holistic Health in Hamden CT, where she works with a wide variety of patients using an integrative, root-cause approach.