Medicinal Herbs 100 Hours Certificate Course

There are 8 lessons:

1. Introduction to Medicinal Herbs

• Scope and Nature of Herbal Medicine
• Being Cautious
• Growing and Knowing Medicinal Herbs
• Accurate Plant Naming
• Pronouncing Plant Names
• Finding Reliable Resources

2. Culture of Medicinal Herbs

• What is a Herb
• Soils and Nutrition
• Cultivation
• Fertilizing Herbs
• Compost, Mulch, Watering
• Propagation
• Pest and Disease

3. History

• Introduction
• Hippocrates
• Chinese Herbalists
• Egyptian Influence
• Greek Influences
• The Dark Ages
• German and English Herbals
• Other Influences

5. Main Medicinal Herbs

• Introduction and Varieties to Grow
• Production Plan
• Improving Soil Fertility
• Cover Crops and Legumes
• Cultivation, Growing Methods, Compost
• Growing and using Ginger
• Garlic Culture
• Echinacea Culture

6. Herbal Remedies

• Alternatives
• Anthelmintic
• Astringents
• Bitter Tonics
• Calmatives
• Carminatives and Aromatics
• Cathartics
• Diaphoretics
• Dietetics
• Demulcents
• Emollients
• Expectorants
• Nervines
• Relaxants
• Vulnerary Herbs
• Common Herbs with Medicinal Properties
• Nervines as Healing Agents
• Natural Chemicals in Plants and their Affect on Health; saponins, phenolglycosides, anthraglycosides, flavonoids, mustard oils, polysaccharides,
• prussic acid, glycosides, coumarin, tannins, bitters, essential oils, alkaloids, purines, essential minerals
• Chemistry of Herbs
• Herbal Sources for Human Nutrients

7. Preparing Herbal remedies

• Infusion
• Decoction
• Poulice
• Medical Preparations
• Problem of Accurately Formulating Herbal Medicines
• How herbalists used to work
• The Difference Today
• Harvesting Material for Herbal Preparations
• Post Harvest Handling of Herbs
• Post Harvest Preservation; Fresh, Modified Atmospere Packaging
• Herbal Preparations for Teas, Rinses and Baths
• Producing Essential Oils; Water distilation, Steam distilation
• Uses for Eucalyptus Oil
• Poisonous Plants
• Introduction
• Review of Plant Poisons
• Hazardous Herbs
• Carcinogens, Potosensitizers, Allergens, Hormone Like Affects, Teratogens, Respiratory Inhibitors, etc
• Toxic Plant Constituents

8. Developing a Production Plan

• Managing a Market Garden
• Deciding What to Grow
• Production Planning
• Types of Problems
• Standards
• Crop Schedules
• Farming Medicinal Herbs
• Production Requirements for Different Herbs

Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.